SALT LAKE CITY — The Nets are on their longest road trip of the season. And most importantly.
But it's probably not what many people think.
The Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith trades further solidified the Nets' commitment to improve through the draft.
And this marathon six-game journey could have a huge impact on that all-important lottery standings.
“We're building this, and we're building this to hopefully be sustainable success,” Nets GM Sean Marks told the Post. “That’s what we want. We want to get to that.
“We have to make some decisions systematically, and they don't necessarily equate to winning the next game or showing the most talent.”
Less than a month ago, the Nets were sitting at No. 15 in the draft with Schroder and Finney-Smith and not even a top-four pick.
But Brooklyn (13-25) has dropped seven of eight points and has led by a combined 77 points in its past four games. The Nets currently have the sixth-best odds in the lottery, giving them a 37.2 percent chance of finishing in the top four and a 9 percent chance of winning the top overall pick.
“Frankly, we still need a little bit of luck. We all know that,” Marks told the Post. “The hot topic is always the draft. We all know we still have to get lucky. After all, ping pong balls fall a certain way.”
The Nets entered the weekend a half-game behind the seventh-place Trail Blazers in the lottery standings and three games behind the fifth-place Jazz.
What are Brooklyn's next two tilts? Utah on Sunday and Portland on Tuesday.
It's clear how important the game is to ping pong balls.
“They're doing exactly what they're supposed to do,” a Western Conference scout told the Post.
At No. 7, the Nets' odds drop to 32.0% for a top-four pick and 7.5% for a top overall pick. Moving up to fifth place improves to 48.1 percent and 12.5 percent.
The Nets play Phoenix on Saturday and will face a Utah team on the second night of the back-to-back. However, the Jazz have won two of their past four games, and there are two games in which they could win three in a row, against the Hornets (4th seeded in the lottery) and the Pelicans (2nd seeded).
Brooklyn will then travel to Portland to face a Blazers team that had won four of eight games prior to Saturday's game against the Heat.
The road trip begins with a loss in Denver, followed by the next two games against the Clippers, Lakers and Thunder. Not only is this the longest season for Brooklyn, but it's just shy of the longest NBA season in 2024-25.
“We just have to focus on getting better,” Ben Simmons said. “We can't concentrate on every game that's coming up. We're focused every day and we're getting better and better. We have to continue to improve, watch film and try to get better.” It won't happen overnight, but we have to focus on it.”
Jordi Fernandes expressed a similar opinion.
“I don’t think you want to think, ‘Oh, this is a long journey.’ No… once [one game] When it's over, I'll think about the next team,'' Fernandes said. “That's our mentality. Continue to get better and healthier while working with new groups on the court. And that's what I want to see, that competitiveness, that development. That's what I want to see. This is what we are working on.”
To rebuild the team, that means developing young players like Noah Clowney and Keon Johnson.
“We know it's going to be a long journey,” Johnson said. “We're all over the place. But there's only a few of us, so the best thing to do is to squeeze in one day at a time and take it one game at a time. But it doesn't matter. Opportunities exist for many people, so we just need to take advantage of the moment we have in front of us.”
