The Brooklyn Nets are making headlines once again, but this time it’s not just about blockbuster trades or a record-breaking draft haul—it’s the NBA 2K26 player ratings that have Nets fans and analysts up in arms. On August 28, 2025, as the official ratings for NBA 2K26 dropped, the Brooklyn faithful were left scratching their heads, wondering if the game’s developers had paid any attention to the team’s busy offseason or the actual production of their rising stars.
Let’s set the stage: Brooklyn’s front office spent the summer reshaping the roster, swinging deals for Michael Porter Jr., Terance Mann, and Haywood Highsmith, while also acquiring a league-record five first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft—Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf. This influx of youth, scoring, and versatility was expected to mark a new chapter for the Nets, but the 2K ratings seem stuck in the past.
Take Michael Porter Jr., for example. Fresh off a campaign in Denver where he averaged nearly 19 points per game as a third option, he now finds himself as Brooklyn’s primary offensive weapon. Yet NBA 2K26 handed him an 82 overall rating—identical to last year’s mark. For a player with a deadly 83 three-point rating and legitimate three-level scoring ability, this feels like a snub. "You’re averaging 25 easily," Trae Young told Porter Jr. in a recent workout, echoing the sentiment that Porter’s ceiling in Brooklyn is sky-high. Even a Nets front office executive was bullish, telling Spotrac’s Keith Smith, "Porter will help us a ton there. I’m not saying he’ll win the scoring title, but I think it could be close." Still, the game’s developers didn’t budge.
Cam Thomas is another glaring case. The 23-year-old guard averaged over 24 points per game in limited starts last season, dazzling with his isolation scoring and boasting an 82 three-point rating. Despite this, NBA 2K26 slotted him at 81 overall—the same as defensive big man Nic Claxton. For context, players like Jordan Poole, with similar strengths and weaknesses, routinely hover around 83-84 in the game. Thomas, Brooklyn’s most dynamic scorer, is barely rated above role players like Terance Mann. It’s a running joke among fans, but it stings all the same.
Speaking of Claxton, his 81 overall rating is actually considered generous by some analysts. While he’s an elite rim protector and lob threat, his offensive game in reality doesn’t match the 64 three-point rating the game assigns him. Claxton averaged 10 points, seven rebounds, and a block per game last season—solid numbers, but not quite worthy of being grouped with more well-rounded bigs in the 80-82 tier. In a league and a virtual environment that prizes shooting and spacing, Claxton’s limitations are hard to ignore.
Then there’s Dariq Whitehead, the once-heralded high school prospect who finally looks healthy. Whitehead’s 86 three-point rating in NBA 2K26 hints at his potential as a breakout sharpshooter, yet he was saddled with a 72 overall—barely above end-of-bench filler. Comparisons to players like Drew Timme, who lacks NBA-level athleticism but sits at 71 overall, make this rating look even more suspect. If Whitehead stays healthy, expect his rating to rise in future updates.
Keon Johnson rounds out the list of questionable grades. While his 85 dunk rating highlights his athletic prowess, Johnson hasn’t proven enough at the NBA level to warrant a 77 overall. He’s rated on par with established contributors like Ziaire Williams and Terance Mann, but his offensive polish and consistency just aren’t there yet. A 74-75 would be fair, reflecting upside without overstating current production.
The underlying issue here isn’t just a few points on a scale—it’s about perception. Brooklyn doesn’t boast a clear-cut superstar, so 2K tends to lump their roster into the "average" tier, ignoring the potential for individual leaps. Only Michael Porter Jr. cracked the Top 100 players list at No. 67, the same spot he held a year ago. It’s a frustrating pattern for a team that’s clearly moving in a new direction.
But let’s zoom out from the virtual world and look at the real-life chess game Brooklyn’s front office is playing. According to Justin Verrier of The Ringer, the Nets’ offseason was "perfectly solid"—even if critics have been quick to pounce on their draft strategy. "Selecting five players in the first round of the draft was admittedly extreme—especially since most are of the same type: creators with iffy shooting histories," Verrier noted. Yet, he emphasized that the 2025-26 season was always going to be a bridge year for the franchise, with an eye towards the star-studded 2026 draft.
Brooklyn’s approach has been to amass draft capital, bring in young talent, and maintain flexibility. Even after the trades for Porter Jr. and Highsmith, the Nets are sitting on significant salary cap space. As of late August, Spotrac reported the team had over $14 million in cap space, not yet accounting for the signings of Ziaire Williams, Day’Ron Sharpe, Ricky Council IV, or Fanbo Zeng (expected to join on an Exhibit 10 contract). The Nets must still reach the salary cap floor of $139,182,000 before the season starts—a process that could involve eating a couple of contracts or acting as a trade facilitator for other teams.
One unresolved storyline is guard Cam Thomas’s contract. Despite his breakout season, Brooklyn hasn’t shown interest in meeting his $25-30 million annual asking price. With no other teams reportedly in the mix, Thomas is expected to return on the qualifying offer—about $5.99 million for 2025-26. This gives the Nets even more leverage and cap flexibility as they continue to shape their roster and prepare for a potentially transformative 2026 offseason.
As training camp looms, the Nets have key decisions to make—not just about how to allocate their cap space, but about which young prospects will earn rotation spots and how the mix of veterans and rookies will gel under the bright lights of Barclays Center. Fans are divided, analysts are cautiously optimistic, and the virtual ratings debate rages on. But one thing’s for sure: Brooklyn is a team in transition, loaded with potential and ready to surprise those who’ve written them off—whether in the real world or on the digital hardwood.
As the 2025-26 NBA season approaches, all eyes will be on how the new-look Nets translate their offseason moves and untapped potential into on-court results. For now, the only certainty is that Brooklyn’s journey is just getting started—and the conversation is far from over.
