The Brooklyn Nets received some unfortunate news on Sunday as they found out that they would not be awarded with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft in June. More to the point, Brooklyn not only did not get the No. 1 pick that they had a 14.0% chance of getting, but they ended up with the No. 6 pick and general manager Sean Marks gave his reaction.
“Hard to tell. I think it’s all about how these guys develop, right? I don’t think you want to make rash decisions before you’ve seen how they look,” Marks said after the Lottery about what Brooklyn’s front office will do in the offseason, per ClutchPoints’ Erik Slater. With the No. 6 pick, the Nets will not be able to select BYU forward AJ Dybantsa or Kansas guard Darryn Peterson so this summer will be an interesting one for the franchise.
“I think we all know there’s a group in this draft that could be game-changers, but I said could be because you never know,” Marks continued, per Slater. “Every draft there’s a guy who people didn’t quite expect to be [that high] if you do the re-draft. So for us, it’ll still be about having patience. But at the end of the day, we’ve got optionality, we’ve maintained flexibility, we’ve got the cap space and assets. So I think the word would be opportunistic.”
As Marks alluded to in his comments following the Lottery, there will always be players within a draft class that either meet their expectations or do something that the scouts and pundits weren’t projecting. The good news for Marks and the Nets is that the Combine will take place this week in Chicago so they will get a good look at all of the prospects that they could be considering with the No. 6 pick.
Despite the fact that Brooklyn likely won’t be able to draft Dybantsa, Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer, or North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson, there are still other players to consider. Given what most mock drafts have been putting forth up to this point, the Nets should be able to choose from Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr., Illinois guard Keaton Wagler, or Houston guard Kingston Flemings, among others.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Sean Marks reacts to getting No. 6 pick in 2026 NBA Draft
Reporting by Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire / Nets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
