Nets could land new franchise face if NBA draft lottery is kind to them

CHICAGO — The Nets don’t have the face of their franchise.Lottery luck Sunday in Chicago (3 p.m.on ESPN) could change that.Brooklyn hasn’t drafted a homegrown All-Star in over a decade, dating back to Brook Lopez.

But in a generational class with a trio of projected franchise-changers, the Nets go into Sunday’s lottery tied for the best odds of winning the No.1 pick (14.0 percent) and of landing a coveted top 3 pick (40.15 percent).BYU wing AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson and Duke big Cam Boozer are all viewed as face-of-the-franchise stars, with North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson an elite prospect who could conceivably turn that Big Three into a Fantastic Four.“If I got another guy here who really is able to create and draw some attention, and now I’m getting two or three wide-open 3s a game, it would really help us,” Michael Porter Jr.

said on the Road Trippin’ podcast.“That’s what we’re [looking for].I’ve talked to the front office, and that would be a big thing for us.

I think we’re going to get a good draft pick, and then we’ve got the most money in the NBA to go get a really good playmaking two-guard or point guard; that would just help.”Despite a glaring need for a playmaker, Brooklyn is talent-poor enough that it will almost certainly draft the best available player and trade or sign a guard if needed.With the Nets owning Houston swap rights on next year’s pick — in a class already seen as weak — Sunday marks their best shot at a young star.Dybantsa, Peterson or Boozer are all perceived cornerstones, and Wilson could be as well.

If they fall outside the top 4, there are a host of guards in Kingston Flemings, Darius Acuff Jr., Keaton Wagler and Mikel Brown Jr.Could sliding as they did last year prompt Brooklyn to be more aggressive in the trade market? They can’t dip below the seventh pick, but their likeliest landing spots are sixth (26.02 percent chance) or fifth (14.82 percent chance).A franchise that has be...