Brooklyn Nets Draft Primer: March Madness update #1

With Brooklyn’s season nearing its most crucial moment — the NBA Draft Lottery — let’s take a look at some prospects playing in March Madness.

The Brooklyn Nets are 23-49. There are ten games left to play in the 2024-25 season. It’s prospect time, baby.

With the Nets locked in an intense race for the fifth-best lottery odds, currently tied with the corpse of the Philadelphia 76ers (which would present a coin-flip scenario) and two games clear of the Toronto Raptors, any pick from #1 to #10, technically speaking is still in play. The current NBA Draft Lottery system has quite a few oddities, like the minuscule chance of Brooklyn actually getting the fifth pick. Consult them all here, courtesy of Tankathon…

This will be Brooklyn’s first lotto pick since Derrick Favors in 2010. It’s a big deal, and not just because the franchise desperately needs an infusion of young talent.

Luckily, it’s March Madness time, and with the first weekend of the Men’s NCAA Tournament complete, quite a few potential future Nets just added to their tape on national television. Here’s a non-exhaustive rundown of prospects outside of the six we’ve covered already.

Derik Queen – Maryland

Baltimore’s very own Derik Queen just hit the shot of tournament, advancing the Terrapins to the Sweet 16, and it’s emblematic of his case as an NBA prospect…

He catches it at the top of the key, takes two dribbles before taking a fading leaner from an impossible angle off his right foot, and kisses it in off the glass.

The bet on Queen, an older freshman who will be 20.5 years old on draft night, is simple: Guys this skilled usually figure it out. No, he probably doesn’t have the athleticism to anchor a defense despite being listed at 6’10”. He’s not particularly explosive or long, and won’t excel as a rim-runner in the NBA.

But Queen can just hoop, man. He’s 6-of-31 from deep on the season, but he’ll break out a Sombor Shuffle just because…

He’s posting a sub-one assist:turnover ratio, but flip on a Maryland game and you’re guaranteed to catch a couple high-level passes from him…

So despite averaging 16/9/2 as a high-major freshman, including 14.5/10.5/2 in the tournament’s first weekend, his statistical profile doesn’t scream NBA. (That being said, his 5.9% steal+block rate suggests savviness on D, and his 75.5% from the free-throw line is a decent shooting indicator.)

Turn on the tape, though, and it’s easy to see why Queen is likely to go top-ten in this June’s draft, if not higher. You take the talent and bet on Queen to figure it out; as for the Nets, it’s not like they currently have any talent that restricts who they can draft.

If Brooklyn winds up in the 4-8 range, expect Queen’s name to pop up frequently this spring. Oh, and just for kicks…

Jeremiah Fears – Oklahoma

Fears and his Oklahoma Sooners were bounced after an opening round loss to UCONN, but the 6’2” guard availed himself well. (Somehow, Fears is officially listed at 6’4”, one of the 2025 class’ more ridiculous measurements.)

As ESPN’s Jonathan Givony notes, Fears had a whale of a game passing the ball, particularly in the pick-and-roll. That’s a tremendous sign for the freshman who will be just 18.7 years old on draft night.

Fears averaged 17/4/4 as Oklahoma’s lead guard this season, and as you might expect, had some ups and downs in that role. He averaged a whopping 3.4 turnovers a game and shot just 28.4% from three, but per Bart Torvik, shot 45.9% on long twos as well as 85.1% on many attempts from the line. As anybody who watched UCONN-Oklahoma can tell you, the kid likes to get downhill…

The sell is clear: Dribble/pass/shoot upside as a lead guard, and Brooklyn has nobody blocking his path to reps. Again, in the 4-8 range, Fears will be a name to watch out for.

V.J. Edgecombe – Baylor

Baylor’s tournament is over, so VJ Edgecombe’s collegiate career is likely complete. If you need one play to sum up his NBA sell, here it is…

Capital-A Athlete.

Edgecombe averaged 15/6/3 this season and scored 30 points in his two March Madness games. Though Baylor bowed out to Duke without much of a second-half fight, Edgecombe made a handful of nice plays, including a couple on dribble-handoffs or attacking closeouts…

Edgecombe, 19.9 years old on draft night, is a 3-and-D guard/wing on a good NBA team in the coming career, but optimists see more opportunity for him to grow offensively.

He will rack up steals and blocks, undoubtedly creating havoc, but the 3-point shot progressed nicely at Baylor, and there were even improvements to his ball-handling skills throughout the year.

If the Nets think Edgecombe going to feast in transition and off cuts while hitting the occasional spot-up three, creating many-a-turnover for their defense, that’s a fine pick in the middle of the lottery. If Brooklyn sees even more offensive upside than that, he’s in play as soon as Cooper Flagg is taken at #1.

Non-Lotto bets

On the morning of March 25, Brooklyn owns picks #19, #26, and #27, thanks to the Bucks, Knicks, and Rockets.

Of course, that’s subject to change, and speculation suggests the Nets likely won’t add all four selections to their 2025-26 roster. They could convert one or more of those picks into future draft currency — they own just one first-rounder in the ‘26 and ‘28 drafts.

Regardless, here are some potential late-first-round picks we’ve seen in the tourney thus far.

Bennett Stirtz – Drake

Stirtz was one of the best players in Division II basketball, then transferred to Drake for his junior year, and won Mountain Valley Conference Player of the Year.

He then averaged 21/2/6 in Drake’s two tournament games, both against high-major competition. That’ll really boost his draft stock, considering he’s a small, white guard who is sure to face an athleticism deficit at the next level. But Stirtz, graciously listed at 6’4”, can really play: high usage rate, averaged 19/4/6, turnover-averse, shot a tick under 40% from three, 54.5% from two, and 79.3% from the line.

Stirtz, who will be 21.7 years old on draft night, doesn’t have the twitch of Payton Pritchard, but can he be Ty Jerome? Picking around the 20’s, that’s not a bad question to answer.

Ryan Kalkbrenner – Creighton

Another safe-ish pick here. Kalkbrenner, a fifth-year senior, will turn 24 during his rookie season, but is 7’1” with great hands. He’s shot 70% from two his last three seasons, blocking around three shots per game. If Luke Kornet can be a solid role player on a great team, it seems to follow that Kalkbrenner will hang around for a while

And hey, he even shot 34.4% from deep on a couple attempts per game this season, in addition to shooting 71% from the line in his career. Not great, not terrible either. If Brooklyn thinks they’re going to seriously compete during Kalkbrenner’s rookie contract, here’s your backup center.

Though Creighton lost to overall #1 seed Auburn to end their season, Kalk showed up against National POY contender Johni Broome, posting 18-and-7.

Carter Byrant – Arizona

There are far more names to get to — and we’ll cover them before May’s lottery and June’s draft — but for now, let’s end on a fun note.

Carter Bryant is an older freshman coming off the bench for Arizona, who will play Duke in the Sweet 16; he’ll be 19.6 years old on draft night. But Bryant could be a fantastic, wing-sized 3-and-D bet if he makes it to the mid-20s. Think Kessler Edwards, but with more intriguing indicators, more fluid athleticism.

He’s shooting 37.4% from deep on healthy volume and 76.7% at the rim, though is just 68% from the line. More importantly, he’s an event creator on defense, blocking a ton of shots and racking up deflections. The guy is an NBA-quality athlete on the wing, and at worst, he can scrap for offense while hitting some spot-up threes. If Brooklyn sees more offensive potential, that’s a perfect 20s pick…

Is he the most cerebral player yet? Not quite. He’s going to struggle making quick decisions for a while, but if the Nets plan to draft high again next season, that’s just fine. Bryant is a guy who could use the reps early in his career.

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There’s a ton of meaningful basketball on in the spring, though the Brooklyn Nets aren’t exactly involved in that. There remain just ten games left in their season, and then, there will be an influx of young talent. That is the promise, the hope at this stage of the franchise’s rebuild anyway.

While the NCAA Tournament continues on Thursday, Brooklyn’s next game is on Wednesday in what’s sure to be a classic late-season tank-off against the Toronto Raptors. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.