The Nets rebuild starts with the June draft at Barclays Center, their home arena. And four of their league-high five picks are finally set.
The NBA settled five ties among teams with identical records Monday through random drawings, Brooklyn among them. And the second-best of the Nets’ five picks — the first-rounder acquired from Milwaukee — will end up being 19th overall.
“For obvious reasons — because for us developing doesn’t stop right now — we’re going into a very important summer for us,” Nets coach Jordi Fernández said.
Those obvious reasons include Brooklyn diving headlong into a rebuild, trading Houston four first-round picks to reacquire their own natural first-rounders this year and next to take advantage of consecutive strong draft classes.
Then the Nets extracted a record five first-rounders and a swap from the Knicks for Mikal Bridges, and proceeded to get their first lottery pick since 2010.
Brooklyn has the sixth-best odds, with a 9 percent shot of winning Cooper Flagg and a 37.2 percent chance of getting a pick in the top 4. They have 50.3 percent odds of landing either seventh (29.7) or eighth (20.6).
The lottery will be held May 12 and air on ESPN at 6:30 or 7 pm, depending on the playoff slate that day.
That’s the only uncertainty left about where the Nets will draft after Monday’s result.
The Nets had been stuck in a three-way tie for picks 18-20, with Brooklyn holding Milwaukee’s first-rounder from the Bridges deal, Washington having Memphis’ and Miami holding Golden State’s.
The NBA broke that tie — as well as four others — through random drawings conducted by President of League Operations Byron Spruell at its office in Secaucus, N.J., and overseen by Ernst & Young partner Marc Dieli.
The Nets will draft 26th (from Knicks in the Bridges deal), 27th (from Houston) and 36th, their own natural second-rounder reacquired from the Knicks.
Brooklyn could’ve forced that Knicks pick into a five-way tie for 22nd if only they’d held on at home to beat their archrival in Sunday’s finale. But they blew a double-digit, third-quarter cushion and saw that pick fall all the way down to No. 26.
Fernández, a first-year head coach, is expected to have a say in who the Nets pick.
“We talk every day, so there’s going to be no surprises at the draft, who we draft, because he would’ve had a say in it,” said GM Sean Marks. “His staff is empowered to voice an opinion and we truly collaborate on this stuff. That’s really important.
“We have a year under our belts of understanding Jordi’s system and how he wants to play and what sort of talent he’s looking for, what attributes he’s looking for. What’s important to him is super important, and vice versa. There’s an education piece on the draft. I didn’t know he’s had this role in the draft in the past, but I’m thoroughly looking forward to continuing to build this and build this with him.”
