A Nets Five Finished Last Season at Minus-24.5
In 143 minutes together, this Nets lineup got badly outscored, and the split between its offense and defense explains why.
The number is minus-24.5. That is the net rating posted last season, in 2025-26, by the Nets lineup of M. Porter Jr., N. Claxton, N. Clowney, N. Traore and E. Dëmin. It is one of the more extreme marks any five-man Nets group put up all year.
The problem was not scoring. This lineup put up an offensive rating of 108, a number that would not stand out on its own. The problem was the other end. The same group allowed a defensive rating of 132.6. That gap between 108 and 132.6 is what produced the minus-24.5 mark. Whatever these five did on offense, they gave back more, and then some, on defense.
The sample is small. This lineup only shared the floor for 143 minutes across 8 games last season. A number this extreme, built on that few minutes, can shift quickly once more minutes are added. A single hot or cold stretch on defense can swing a rating like 132.6 hard in either direction.
For the minus-24.5 to hold, the Nets would need to keep running this same five out together and see the defense allow points at a similar rate over a longer stretch. For it to change, the defensive rating would need to come down toward the 108 mark on offense, closing the gap that produced the minus-24.5 in the first place. Until the minutes pile up, the number stands as a small-sample outlier worth watching, not yet a settled verdict on this group.