The Nets may have won just 20 games last season, but their newcomers are already bringing a winning mindset into the building.
At the Nets rookie news conference and basketball clinic Monday afternoon, sixth overall pick Mikel Brown Jr. said he recently spoke with veteran Julius Randle and that the team plans to “shock the world” next season by winning more than people expect.
“[Randle] said it best, man, we’re gonna shock the world with our competitiveness or trying to bring that winning culture,” Brown said.
“It’s gonna take day by day, step by step, just getting one percent better every day. I think that just goes a long way.”
While Brown didn’t get to attend the Knicks championship parade June 13, he said he’s inspired by what the Nets’ crosstown rivals recently accomplished and hopes he can bring a title to Brooklyn.
“It’s a dream to win a world championship. [The Knicks] just cemented history forever, that’s the goal,” Brown said. “And it shows you what it could be like in this city. Obviously we would love to have it here on the other side of the bridge. That’s what we’re trying to strive for.”
If the Nets hope to shock the world next season, whether it’s a playoff appearance or just substantial improvement, there’s a chance their success may be similar to when Randle surprisingly led the Knicks to the playoffs in 2021.
The Knicks were coming off a dreadful 21-45 season with little hope, but with first-year head coach Tom Thibodeau at the helm, the team defied odds and went 41-31, earning the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
A large part of that success was due to Randle’s heroics, as he earned Second Team All-NBA honors after averaging 24.1 points per game.
And just like he is with the Nets now, he was surrounded by plenty of young talent with the Knicks in players like RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley.
“It makes me proud that we all want to win right away,” Nets rookie Joshua Jefferson said. “We’re not going to be satisfied with losing or playing below our standards, so that’s the thing that’s going to be big for us, playing above our standard and competing every night.”
“I think that’s great,” 43rd pick Tyler Bilodeau said of the Nets’ desire to shock the world. “That’s what it’s all about. I think we have the tools to do that.”
After the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving-James Harden era ended without a conference finals appearance and with constant turmoil, the Nets have ushered in a youth movement the last two offseasons.
In 2025, the Nets had five first-round picks and kept them all, drafting Egor Dëmin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf.
With Brown and Jefferson, they added two more first-rounders in 2026.
But simultaneously, general manager Sean Marks is also trying to stay competitive — evident by adding veterans Michael Porter Jr. and most recently, Randle.
For Marks, having both several young players and multiple veterans is all about balance and ensuring the rookies and sophomores develop well.
“I think it’s important to surround this group of young rookies and our sophomores with the right type of veterans, right?” Marks said. “Hopefully these vets that come in are pros. They know the habits we have, and this is how you get to where you have a 15-year career. So learning from them is going to be really important.”
“Learning from the sophomores, that’s important. They felt what it feels like to play an NBA game,” Marks said of the rookies’ development. “I think it was 6,400 minutes [that the Nets rookies played last year], which is all kinds of records for rookies to be able to play that, but that’s exactly what we hoped to do last year.”
Marks added that the Nets rookies will get solid self-motivation when seeing the physicality and speed of actual NBA players.
