The Brooklyn Nets surprised many around the NBA when they acquired yet another first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft as part of a multi-team trade with the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics. Many around the league are predicting that Brooklyn will trade some of those picks, but there is also reporting that the Nets still intend on keeping the eighth overall pick.
“The Nets are signaling to teams around the NBA that it’s unlikely they move down from this pick, as they are guaranteed to end up landing a player they’ve targeted throughout the draft process,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo wrote in their latest intel regarding Wednesday’s Draft. There have been rumors throughout the summer about the Nets trying to move up, but it sounds like the No. 8 pick will stay with Brooklyn.
“The front office is not deterred by the idea of adding five first-rounders, a scenario that is certainly in play right now,” Givony and Woo continued. “There’s a “wide open space” in Brooklyn for young players to come in and compete for immediate playing time with a coaching staff led by Jordi Fernandez that is friendly to the idea of developing young talent.”
As Givony and Woo mentioned, the Nets now have six picks in the entire draft, including the No. 22 pick that they received from the Hawks from their trade on Tuesday. The general consensus has been that Brooklyn would try to use some of their picks to achieve other goals, such as getting a second Lottery pick or potentially getting future picks from teams looking to get a pick for this year.
Developing six players would be a massive undertaking for the Nets’ player development staff especially when one considers that Brooklyn is still one of the youngest teams in the league even if veterans Cam Johnson and Nic Claxton remain on the roster. It could also be possible that the Nets are using this report to encourage teams to come with their best offers if they want some of the picks that Brooklyn has.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: 2025 NBA Draft: Nets unlikely to trade down from No. 8 overall pick
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
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