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The Brooklyn Nets head into the 2025 NBA Draft with the eighth overall pick after a disappointing result following the Lottery in which they started at the sixth spot. Despite the fact that Brooklyn fell from No. 6 to No. 8, they are still looking for ways to get what they want in this Draft and that include them going after a talented, young guard with an interesting profile.
“I’ve heard there’s some teams that really like him and there are some teams that feel like they would probably have to move up to get him,” NBA Draft expert Rafael Barlowe said of Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears during his appearance on Yahoo! Sports’ “The Kevin O’Connor Show” that was published on Saturday. O’Conner mentioned that Barlowe wrote that Fears could be moving into the top-5 of the class, meaning that teams may have to trade up for him.
“Brooklyn is a team that I’ve heard that that probably has some interest there,” Barlowe continued. “I’ve also heard from scouts from other teams that say that their scouting staff believes that he could be a a better long-term prospect than Dylan Harper as far as just being like an exciting league guard and they talked about him being being younger and just what he did at Oklahoma was more impressive than what Dylan Harper did at at Rutgers.”
While Barlowe mentioned that the Nets are one of the teams that could have interest in Fears, it remains to be seen what that means in practice given that Brooklyn has the eighth overall pick. There have been reports throughout the offseason that suggest that Brooklyn could attempt to move up in the Draft, but if they are going to trade up to be in range of Fears, they would probably have to find their way into the top-5 based on Barlowe’s intel.
Brian Lewis of the New York Post recently said that it appears that the Dallas Mavericks (first overall pick), San Antonio Spurs (second), and Charlotte Hornets (fourth) are keeping their picks, but that the Philadelphia 76ers (third) and Utah Jazz (fifth) could be open for business for their picks. If the Nets are interested in Fears enough to trade for him, they will have to pull something off with the 76ers or the Jazz.
