Nets may have gotten lucky with construction of 2026 NBA Cup group

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The Brooklyn Nets are at the point in their offseason where not much will be happening between now and when training camp begins in the fall. Brooklyn does not know its entire schedule for the 2026-27 NBA season, but it does know who they will be playing in the preseason and as part of the 2026 NBA Cup where they may have gotten lucky with their scheduled slate.

The NBA announced in the beginning of July what the groups will be within the NBA Cup and the Nets will have a tough slate ahead of them given where they are in their rebuild. As part of being in East Group A, Brooklyn will be facing the Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, and Milwaukee Bucks, but there is a chance that the Nets could be competitive within the group.

The Nets (20-62) had the worst record of the five teams in the group with the Pistons (60-22), Raptors (46-36), Magic (45-37) were playoff teams with the Bucks (32-50) potentially making it to the postseason if Giannis Antetokounmpo was healthy for the majority of the season. To that point, Milwaukee traded Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat this summer for a package of players and picks so it seems like they're entering a rebuild of some sort.

Detroit should be the best team in this group once again with Cade Cunningham leading the way, but plenty could be unsettled by the fact that center Jalen Duren is yet another player experiencing the downside of restricted free-agency. Toronto could be better than they were last season if their trade for forward Kawhi Leonard goes through, but the investigation into the Los Angeles Clippers potentially circumventing the salary cap to sign him may not be solved until the season begins.

Orlando appears to be running it back with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner leading the way for their squad, but Brooklyn has made key moves of its own by trading for Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle along with signing guard Keon Ellis and center Mo Wagner in free-agency. Ultimately, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Nets finish the NBA Cup with a 1-3 record with the potential of pulling off upsets over the Magic and Raptors.

The groups are set for the Emirates NBA Cup 2026!

All 30 NBA teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2025-26 regular season.

The groups are available below. pic.twitter.com/bZHTlRGs29

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) July 1, 2026

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets may have gotten lucky with construction of 2026 NBA Cup group

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