Latest news with #then-Nets
New York Post
12-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Nets hoping to beat NBA draft lottery odds, change franchise — like they did 25 years ago
All of the Nets tanking and retooling was about Monday, about getting to the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery and, hopefully, winning it as they did a quarter century ago. That started their turnaround from also-rans to conference champs. Can it happen again? Advertisement The Nets head to Chicago with the sixth-best odds to win the lottery — a 9 percent chance of winning the right to select Cooper Flagg. Coach Jordi Fernández will be their representative on the dais — and hopefully bring them good fortune. 'We're just ready to be lucky,' Fernández said recently. Right before the Knicks will tip off their huge Game 4 playoff tilt against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Nets will face a defining moment of their own, hoping to see deputy commissioner Mark Tatum reveal their logo for the first pick. Advertisement 4 Jordi Fernandez will represent the Nets at the NBA Draft Lottery on Monday. JASON SZENES/ NY POST The Nets can end up almost anywhere from first to 10th, with seventh or eighth likelier than all other spots combined. Their odds of each spot are as follows: No. 1: 9 percent No. 2: 9.2 percent No. 3: 9.4 percent No. 4: 9.6 percent No. 5: zero percent No. 6: 8.6 percent No. 7: 29.7 percent No. 8: 20.6 percent No. 9: 3.7 percent No. 10: 0.6 percent Advertisement This will be the first lottery pick they've possessed since 2010. Where it lands Monday will go a long way toward determining their future. Winning could be franchise-altering — as it was when they beat even worse odds back in 2000. Playing in New Jersey then, the Nets went into the lottery with the seventh seed and just a 4.4 percent chance of winning. Tucked away in the NBA's Secaucus, N.J., offices just four miles from the Meadowlands, they got lucky when one of their 44 number combinations — 6-8-9-14 — was drawn in the pingpong ball lottery. 4 Sean Marks addresses the media at the Brooklyn Nets HSS Training Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA, Monday, April 14, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST Advertisement 'Being in the room as deputy commissioner Russ Granik started pulling them out … I shouted 'bingo' as they fell our way,' then-Nets co-chairman Finn Wentworth recalled to The Post. But Wentworth, locked away in a secure location with the other team representatives, couldn't share the news with the rest of the Nets brass. In another room on another floor, they didn't find out until the envelopes were opened and principal owner Lewis Katz started joyously pumping his fist in the air. 'I was sequestered in the secure room upstairs in Secaucus NBA offices,' Wentworth said. '[I] had to wait approximately two hours after pulling 'bingo,' until halftime of [the] Knicks-Houston playoff game, for envelopes to be opened downstairs … and Russ Granik finally releasing me and other team reps to share the Nets joy downstairs.' Unlike this loaded class — with Flagg backed up by the likes of Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey and VJ Edgecombe — that group 25 years ago was notably weak. Still, the Nets' lottery luck let them not only draft their top prospect, but land somebody even more important. 'Fortunately, the best player was Kenyon Martin, and we got him,' Wentworth said. 'Not only did we get Kenyon, but with the No. 1 draft [pick], I was able to attract Rod Thorn out of [the] NBA [league office] where he was 'Dean of Discipline' to become the president of Nets before the actual NBA draft.' Thorn coming aboard was the jumping off point for consecutive NBA Finals berths. 'With Kenyon onboard, it was Rod who truly turned around the Nets with his trade to acquire Jason Kidd for Stephon Marbury the following year,' Wentworth told the Post. 'Next stop, golden era of Nets basketball.' Advertisement 4 New Jersey Nets to introduce number one draft pick Kenyon Martin. ( L-R ) Rod Thorn, Nets President, Kenyon Martin, and Byron Scott, Head Coach. New York Post 4 Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) shoots over Alabama Crimson Tide forward Mouhamed Dioubate (10) in the second half of the NCAA Division I East Regional Final at the Prudential Center, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Newark, NJ. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST These Nets are further along the path already. Fernández earned high marks in his first season. And general manager Sean Marks has amassed the most draft capital in the league and finished eighth in NBA Executive of the Year balloting. Advertisement Monday will decide what kind of star they get to build around. 'The Nets beat the lottery odds before,' Wentworth said. 'And it could happen again.' If the 76ers finish outside the top six, their pick conveys to Oklahoma City, and the Nets get their first-rounder next year. But if Philadelphia lands inside the top six, the selection coming to Brooklyn will be pushed back to 2028.
USA Today
14-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Nets' Cam Johnson still participating in 3-point contest this weekend
NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson will be representing the franchise this weekend as he participates in the 2025 Starry 3-Point Contest on Saturday as part of All-Star Weekend. Johnson being in the competition will allow Brooklyn to be represented in San Francisco, but there looked to be a chance that he wouldn't be able to participate after turning his ankle in Wednesday's 100-96 over the Philadelphia 76ers. "I'm going to be fine," Johnson said following Wednesday's win over the 76ers. Johnson played 32 minutes against Philadelphia and put up 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals, but there was a moment in the game where he tweaked that right ankle that has caused him so much trouble over the past month, but he seemed to imply that he will be fine moving forward. "I'm really excited for it," Johnson said when asked about his expectations for the three-point contest and All-Star Weekend in general. "I'll be shooting and praying. Prepare myself as best I can and go out there and shoot them and live with the result. I'm excited for it, I'm excited to spend a little bit of time at home and kind of recharge the batteries and get ready for these last 28 games." Johnson has a tough task ahead of him as he will be up against a field of: New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland, Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro, Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield, Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell, and Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard, who has won the past two three-point contests. What Johnson has on his side is the fact that he is having a career-year as he is averaging 19.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game while shooting a career-high 48.8% from the field and 41.3% from three-point range. While Johnson is looking to have fun and make the most of the experience whether he wins the competition or not, he has been preparing to potentially win it all. "Shoot 'em and pray," Johnson said when asked what his strategy is for the competition. On a serious note, Johnson will be looking to do something that hasn't been done since 2019 when then-Nets guard Joe Harris won the three-point contest for the first time in franchise history, something that most Brooklyn fans remember to this day because of how well Harris shot the ball for the Nets.
