Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai’s comments at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles surfaced recently, and they caused a bit of a stir. Tsai stated that he wants a good draft pick in 2026 and that his comment should indicate what the Nets’ strategy will be in 2025-26. He all but seemed to say there that they’ll be tanking, and we asked head coach Jordi Fernandez about the comments after the 111-109 win over the Phoenix Suns in the preseason at The Venetian Arena on Sunday.
“Yeah, he says he wants a good draft pick because no matter where we pick, our front office is so good that we’re gonna pick a very good player,” Fernandez said. “And it’s been proved with Noah Clowney, [Jalen Wilson], I mean, all those guys, our five guys we have this year. So, he believes in the front office, and then we’re gonna develop those guys… So that’s why he’s excited because we’re gonna pick right.”
Jordi Fernandez on @BrooklynNets owner Joe Tsai saying he wants a good draft pick in 2026:
“He believes in the front office.” pic.twitter.com/ymw0YdhP93
— Fadeaway World (@FadeawayWorld) October 12, 2025
That was an interesting clarification. Here is exactly what Tsai had to say on that podcast.
“Well, I have to say that we’re in a rebuilding year,” Tsai said. “We spent all of our picks. We had five first-round draft picks this past summer. We have one pick in 2026, and we hope to get a good pick. So you can predict what kind of strategy we will use for this season. But we have a very young team.”
Some would remain unconvinced by Fernandez’s explanation. He has indicated that tanking isn’t the goal, and it will be interesting to see how this Nets team, which finished 12th in the East with a 26-56 record in 2024-25, fares in 2025-26.
As for Fernandez’s comments on the picks made by the front office, not everyone has been convinced by the selections. Tsai mentioned they made five selections in the first round in 2025, and league executives and agents were reportedly mocking their picks.
The Nets chose Egor Demin at eighth, Nolan Traore at 19th, Drake Powell at 22nd, Ben Saraf at 26th, and Danny Wolf at 27th. Of those five selections, four are guards, with three of them being point guards. This strategy has been questioned, but Fernandez believes in the selections.
Saraf was the pick of the bunch among the rookies in the win over the Suns. He had four points (2-5 FG), four rebounds, 11 assists, and one steal on the night.
Demin is the most highly regarded among the picks, but we haven’t seen him in action yet in the preseason. He has been sidelined due to a plantar fascia tear, and it remains to be seen when he’ll be back.
The Nets now return to the U.S. following their brief stint in Macau. They blew an 18-point lead to lose to the Suns in their first meeting on Friday, but managed to overturn a 15-point deficit to win on Sunday.
The Nets only have one preseason game left now, against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on Friday at 7 PM ET. They are currently 2-1 in the preseason and would be looking to enter the regular season on a high.
