I don't think there's any way a team can finish below the Nets at this point. And it's really difficult to see much of a change next season, either, unless they're able to steal a couple restricted free agents that pan out.
That's the crazy thing about it, too. I just don't see how they get better for next year. In fact, once they trade Lopez, which seems inevitable at this point, they'll get even worse in the short-term.
And this year the closest competition for the rest of the year is probably the Lakers, who are clearly in tank mode now that their early season success is done and over with, yet they're still seven wins over the Nets. I'm still not convinced that the Nets win seven more games this season.