C.J. Holmes: Nets fans have 5 good reasons to watch the Final Four this weekend

C.J. Holmes, New York Daily News on Mar 31, 2026

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NEW YORK — The Nets will enter this year’s draft with their own first-round pick and the NBA’s third-best lottery odds entering Tuesday, along with two second-round picks.

Brooklyn is hoping the pingpong balls bounce its way and put AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer within reach, but that’s never guaranteed. So as the men’s Final Four tips off this weekend, there are still a handful of players Nets fans should be watching closely.

Keaton Wagler, Illinois

Wagler is probably the easiest name for Nets fans to latch onto in this group. If Brooklyn ends up outside the very top of the board, he feels like the kind of guard you start talking yourself into pretty quickly. The appeal is not hard to see. He can create, he can score and he looks comfortable with the ball in his hands in big moments.

Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

Lendeborg is a different sort of prospect, but he’s worth the attention. He does a little bit of everything, and there’s real value in that for a team like Brooklyn. The Nets are still in talent-collection mode, but they also need players who can fit around other pieces and help good basketball happen. Lendeborg’s versatility is what makes him interesting. He is not the flashy name at the very top, but he is the kind of player teams end up liking for good reason.

Brayden Burries, Arizona

Burries feels like the kind of player Nets fans should watch closely because the fit is easy to imagine. Brooklyn needs more juice on the wing. It needs more players who can make something happen when possessions start to break down. Burries brings that kind of intrigue. He’s one of those guys who can look the part of a modern scoring wing, and if he plays well on this stage, it is not hard to see why the Nets would be interested.

Koa Peat, Arizona

Peat stands out because he already looks built for the next level. There’s a sturdiness to his game that pops right away, and that usually gets teams’ attention. For Brooklyn, the draw would be pretty simple. He offers size, physicality and the kind of frontcourt flexibility that becomes more valuable the deeper you get into roster building. If the Nets don’t land where they want in the lottery, Peat is the type of name that could start making more and more sense.

Braylon Mullins, UConn

Mullins is the swing of the bunch. He is the player Nets fans should watch if they are thinking less about floor and more about upside. The shotmaking grabs you first, and so does the confidence. On a rebuilding team, those bets can be worth thinking through. Brooklyn is still in a position where it can afford patience, and Mullins feels like the kind of prospect who would test how much a team believes in its development program.