Nets’ Recent Development Record Hasn’t Matched Reputation

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During Brooklyn’s first rebuild under the direction of its first-time General Manager Sean Marks from 2016-2019, the organization made its mark (no pun intended) through its highly successful development program.

It wasn’t just the mid-to-late first round Draft picks like Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen; young players from the disregarded pile (Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie) to the rejuvenated (D’Angelo Russell) thrived well over expectations here.

Much of the credit was given to Head Coach Kenny Atkinson and his assistants, but the team also has been employing a host of others to maximize player performance. The “Performance Team” was created to utilize the latest in sports science for maximum physical and mental production. It hasn’t been perfect—Nets players succumb to as many injuries as any other team—but the public feedback on how the organization manages development has been varying degrees of raves.

However, if one looks critically at the team’s record in this area since that period, the Nets’ grand reputation is probably no longer warranted.

According to NetsDaily.com, the organization will be on its fourth Performance Team head in four seasons. Not that the turnover is directly responsible, but, from the superstar era to the current mess, Brooklyn hasn’t been able to integrate many of its young players into becoming potential long-term fixtures.

There’s starting center Nic Claxton, who was absolutely a quality selection by Marks with the second round’s first pick in the 2019 Draft. However, I would argue Claxton has at best plateaued rather than progressed from the player who in 2022-23 led the NBA in field goal percentage and was second in blocks. He certainly hasn’t yet lived up to my fantastical ceiling of Chris Bosh 2.0; in six seasons, he is 8-for-40 (20%) from three-point lands.

Guard Cam Thomas and center Day’Ron Sharpe came aboard via late first-round picks two years later. We can all admire Thomas’ sublime bucket-getting, but the failure to develop other areas enough led to the organizational decision to lowball him into accepting a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent this offseason. Thomas now has one foot out the door in a season where the Nets have little motivation to satisfy his playing time needs.

Sharpe just got a two-year contract extension (with 2026-27 a team option) for his rebounding prowess, though I’d argue he has made at most marginal strides in rounding out what began as a very limited offensive game. Listed at 6-foot 9, Sharpe, though only 23, probably tops out where he currently sits--as a backup big.

I have not heard a reason to doubt that the Nets are still in on their late 2023 first rounders Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead, though they certainly endured rough 2024-25 seasons thanks to injuries and inconsistency, which to be fair is normal for 20-year olds. Still, Clowney and Whitehead are entering crucial third pro seasons, with team options that are slated to bump up their salaries to around $5.4 million due to be exercised by October 31. Clowney’s option, in my opinion, is a no-brainer; despite a regression, he’s shown enough stretch-4 ability to deserve a longer look. Whitehead, on the other hand, has to prove injuries haven’t deprived him of his athleticism, though his three-point shooting looks to be much improved in a small sample.

As for Brooklyn’s second rounders and pickups off the street prior to this offseason, all but forward Ziaire Williams, a 24-year old former first-round pick whom the Nets got for a song from Memphis last summer, might be gone by the end of training camp, if not sooner. Jordi Fernandez, in his first season as an NBA Head Coach, certainly got the most out of a relatively talent-deficient group, but I didn’t see a Harris or a Dinwiddie—unheralded players who parlayed their opportunity into earning relatively expensive new contracts--among them.

Of the team’s top two minutes leaders from last season, Keon Johnson was already waived on Wednesday while Jalen Wilson has to be considered as on the bubble. There doesn’t appear to be roster room for guys like Tyrese Martin or Drew Timme, who were promoted from G-League Long Island last season, either.

That’s because the Nets, in addition to leveraging their status as the only team with cap space this offseason to acquire Terance Mann, Haywood Highsmith, and, most recently, Kobe Bufkin, made all five of their first-round selections at the 2025 Draft and signed them to NBA contracts. Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf should be the focus of what is expected to be a horrible season.

They also represent an opportunity for Fernandez et al to reclaim their status as the place where young and/or disregarded players develop into pieces a contender would value.