Two weeks ago, the Nets tank brigade was in meltdown, terrified of missing out on the lottery altogether and any chance of a top draft pick.
Now?
The Nets lost to the Hornets 105-102 on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C., pushing their losing streak to seven games.
Both present form and the future schedule pave the road for a top five seeding in the all-important May 12 lottery.
“Those in the know and those in our Nets family understand we’re building this and we’re building this for hopefully sustainable success,” Nets GM Sean Marks told The Post earlier this season.
“That’s what we want. We want to get it to that. We’re going to have to be systematic with some of the decisions we make. And they may not always be in line with winning the next game or putting the most talent out there.”
To be clear, Marks was taking the 30,000-foot view. He’s not talking about a specific game.
But he relishes the game within the game, and in this case that meant getting a record five first-round picks (and a swap) for Mikal Bridges, and getting their own picks back to commit to tanking.
Or, some fans complained, half-committing.
Two weeks ago, the Nets had won seven of nine and sat seventh in the lottery odds, trailing No. 6 Philadelphia by a game and No. 5 Toronto by four.
But far worse, the Nets were just a half-game out of the final play-in spot in the East.
Advancing out of the play-in would’ve taken them out of the lottery altogether and likely seen them drafting in the middle of the pack.
But since then, they’ve dropped seven in a row, losing Saturday against a Hornets team without LaMelo Ball (whom they could be linked with in the offseason) because of an ankle injury. And they did it without Cam Johnson, sidelined by left knee soreness.
“They’re doing exactly what they should be doing,” a Western Conference scout told The Post.
Suddenly trailing the Bulls by 3 ½ games, the play-in seems unlikely with just 19 games left.
More to the point, they were in a tie with the 76ers in the lottery odds and just a half-game behind the fifth-place Raptors, who had won three straight and seem eminently catchable.
While a top four finish in the lottery odds looks out of reach for the Nets, just a half-game separates fifth from seventh.
If the Nets finish with the seventh-worst record, they would have just a 32 percent chance of drafting in the top four and 7.5 percent odds of landing the coveted No. 1 overall pick, expected to be Cooper Flagg.
But the schedule overwhelmingly favors the Nets to end up fifth, which would see those odds vault to 42.1 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively.
While their remaining schedule entering the weekend was 15th-hardest, according to Tankathon, Toronto’s and Philadelphia’s are far easier.
Philadelphia — a haf-game ahead of the Nets after Saturday — had the fifth-easiest slate, with two dates vs. league-worst Washington and Toronto, and games against Utah and New Orleans.
There are 76ers wins to be had down the stretch.
And the Raptors — who are trending upward after trading for Brandon Ingram — have the easiest remaining schedule in the entire NBA.
They have three games vs. the Wizards, two each against the Nets, Pelicans and 76ers, and another against the Jazz. The Nets could easily surpass Toronto as well.
Scouts and mock drafts unanimously place the Rutgers duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey behind Flagg, and then some combination of off-guards VJ Edgecombe and Tre Johnson, point guard Kasparas Jakucionis and center Khaman Maluach.
There is a noted drop-off after the seventh prospect.
Ending up fifth going into the lottery would leave the Nets with just a 9.3 percent chance of picking outside that top seven.
But finishing seventh would see those odds quintuple to a worrisome 46.8 percent.
It’s easy to see why these last 19 games — including two against Toronto — are so vital for the Nets.
And why May 12 is all-important.
