Mikel Brown Jr. walked into Barclays Center a Louisville freshman, and walked out a Net — and the single biggest brick in Brooklyn’s rebuild.
The Nets picked Brown sixth in the NBA Draft on Tuesday night, while they suffered rough luck in falling from joint-best odds of winning the lottery all the way down the sixth – missing out on the absolutely loaded Top 4 – they ended up landing the prospect many feel has the most upside outside of that quartet.
“(Playing in Brooklyn) would mean a lot. Big city. It’s the big city, bright lights. A lot of big-time names come out of Brooklyn, so to be able to represent that means a lot,” Brown said Monday of joining the Nets.
Louisville’s Mikel Brown during a 2026 game against Clemson. Getty Images
“I would handle it. I’m very calm and down to earth. I’m about this basketball stuff. I keep the main thing the main thing; the focus is to try to win a championship.”
Brooklyn took three guards in the first round last year, but Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf didn’t keep them from going back to the well with an even more gifted one.
While a back injury and too-tough shot diet led to an inconsistent freshman campaign, Brown showed a rare combination of deep range, preternatural passing and downhill juice that they’ll hope to mold into an All-Star.
Brown joined Steph Curry and Trae Young as the only players since 2008 to post an assist percentage over 30, sink 84% from the foul line, have a free throw rate over 35 and take at least 14 3s per 100 possessions.
He’ll need to cut down his turnovers and improve his decision-making; but the rebuilding Nets can offer him playing time and plenty of runway to do so.
Mikel Brown Jr. prior to being selected by the Nets. AP Photo/Adam Hunger
The Nets met with Brown at least three times – including traveling to Orlando to meet with his family – and brought him to Brooklyn for a workout. GM Sean Marks picked him over guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Kingston Flemings.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a relationship built there,” Brown said. “Talking with them constantly, with Mr. Marks and Coach Jordi (Fernandez), the biggest thing that he emphasized – if I get selected to go there – is building that relationship with Jordi.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to have a great connection from point guard to point guard. Head coach (Fernandez) played point guard as well. So to be able to pick his brain on a lot of things and learn his system and to be able to come in and make an impact right away was big.”