Nobody expects the Brooklyn Nets to be competitive this season, but it’s never fun to root against your team. As they navigate the early stages of a rebuild (also known as dropping games for draft position), the Nets are focused on gathering youth, developing them and exploring the trade market for the veterans on the roster.

The development part of that process has been particularly difficult to start the season. We’re only a few games in, but the injury bug has already hit Brooklyn, including some of the rookies.

While Drake Powell and Danny Wolf are (seemingly) no longer injured, the two first-round picks have been assigned to the Long Island Nets, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

Powell sprained his ankle in the season opener against the Charlotte Hornets, while Wolf has yet to take the floor this regular season due to an ankle sprain as well. That leaves the team with fewer rookies to take the floor.

Unfortunately, that number has been decreased to two with Egor Demin being ruled out for tonight’s matchup with the Houston Rockets. The No. 8 pick of the 2025 draft will sit out to manage a plantar fascia tear suffered a few weeks ago.

Egor Demin will sit tonight, managing his plantar facia tear. Just because it’s a back to back. Nolan Traore next man up? #nets #rockets pic.twitter.com/xlR77PO1M4

— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) October 27, 2025

But the injury bug hasn’t just been limited to first-year players. While Haywood Highsmith will be out for the foreseeable future due to right knee surgery, Ziaire Williams suffered a lower back contusion in Sunday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The 24-year-old will also sit out against the Rockets.

It’s not that injuries matter so much for winning, considering that it isn’t expected out of the Nets right now. However, you never want to see people hurt, especially younger rotation players who have the chance to develop.

It’s even more unfortunate because the rookies have already shown flashes of their potential. Aside from Demin’s poor performance against the Spurs, he opened his career with back-to-back 14-point performances while shooting well from the field.

In the preseason, the rest of the rookies had chances to shine and took advantage of them. While many have been quick to criticize the Nets for their draft choices, the potential of the group cannot be denied. At the very least, the organization did the right thing by emphasizing younger talent and embracing the rebuild.

Hopefully, the injuries aren’t a trend throughout the season. With one of the more interesting rosters in the NBA, Brooklyn is at least heading in the right direction with its talent. The biggest problem thus far has been keeping it on the floor.