Patience is a rare currency in NBA training camps. Yet, at HSS Training Center in Sunset Park, the Brooklyn Nets have plenty of it when it comes to Mikel Brown Jr.<\/p>\n
The sixth overall pick rolled his left ankle working out before the start of camp. On Media Day, Sean Marks mentioned that he isn\u2019t expecting him to miss \u201cconsiderable time at all.\u201d That\u2019s a sigh of relief compared to September 2025, when the Nets revealed that eighth overall pick Egor Demin would miss time due to a left plantar fascia tear that at one point had put him in a wheelchair.<\/p>\n
As for Brown Jr., it\u2019s becoming obvious the 20-year-old is very eager to get on the floor, but as he continues his recovery, the Nets\u2019 performance team is taking a cautious approach. He has resumed light on-court work, but he hasn\u2019t been cleared for full-contact work as Brooklyn prepares for its preseason opener against Charlotte on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, as of right now they\u2019re just telling me you could get back moving a little bit, really just trying to get the strengthening it up back,\u201d Brown said at Thursday\u2019s practice. \u201cI mean, I am back on the court moving. That\u2019s all I\u2019m really worried about right now. I\u2019m just taking it one step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
For any rookie, the mental adjustment to rehab is often harder than the physical one. The organization hasn\u2019t provided a firm timetable for his debut. Brown Jr. acknowledged the learning curve required to yield to the medical staff \u2013 something worth getting used to in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I have no choice but to be patient,\u201d Brown Jr. said. \u201cI want to be out there so bad, but they\u2019ve just been emphasizing to me, \u2018Let\u2019s take our time with this stuff and get you back 100 percent,\u2019 which me, I\u2019m trying to play as soon as possible. So really just attacking this rehab, focusing on stuff that I can control.\u201d<\/p>\n
The real games don\u2019t begin until October 21 with preseason games beginning next Tuesday and running through October 14. The Nets aren\u2019t going to risk Brown Jr. getting more injured over practice \u2014 whether he likes it or not. But this will also be Brooklyn\u2019s second preseason in which its highest-drafted prospect will miss some time in training camp due to injury. Demin played only one preseason game last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, that\u2019s up to the performance staff,\u201d Brown said when asked if he expects to play in the preseason. \u201cI\u2019m just doing what I can to get back on the court as of right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keon Ellis Stock Rising Early in Camp<\/p>\n
While Brown\u2019s on-court debut is on pause, another backcourt piece is making noise. Keon Ellis has turned heads early in training camp with his defensive intensity and perimeter shooting. When asked which teammate has made the strongest impression during the opening slate of practices, veteran forward Michael Porter Jr. didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeon has been hooping these first [few] days,\u201d Porter Jr. noted. \u201cHe plays the right way. He plays defense. He can really shoot the ball, and he\u2019s been just overall very solid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellis, known for his relentless point-of-attack defense and efficient floor-spacing, provides the exact operational pace head coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez is preaching: quick choices, defensive versatility, and zero wasted motion.<\/p>\n
Day\u2019Ron plans to pace himself<\/p>\n
Day\u2019Ron Sharpe cemented his status as one of the league\u2019s top rebounders \u2014 on average \u2014 last season. As Brian Lewis wrote Thursday.<\/p>\n
Over his career, Sharpe has averaged 18.7 rebounds per 100 possessions, including a staggering 8.3 on the offensive end. The latter figure would rank second best in league history, per Basketball Reference.<\/p>\n
But he didn\u2019t play a lot of minutes, coming off the bench for Nic Claxton playing a total of 1,160 minutes on the season. Now, though, the Nets are penciling in the 24-year-old as a starter. So that means for the first time in his five year NBA career, he\u2019ll be pacing himself. He says he understands the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I played against starters last year as well,\u201d Sharpe said. \u201cSometimes, when I would come in the game, they would put the more physical guy in the game to deal with me. So just do my thing, just keep playing hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd even if it\u2019s double the minutes, learn how to pace myself during the game, learning what opportunities to take [to avoid] getting in foul trouble, saving myself for later on in the game. But I\u2019m just going to play hard until the wheels fall off. That\u2019s all I can do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really look at it how many minutes I\u2019m playing. I look at it more so just stints. So I probably get more stints of me getting in the game. Last year, it was two stints coming off the bench where I play 10 minutes at a time. So I really don\u2019t look at it like that. I\u2019m just trying to win. So when the whistle starts, when the game starts and it\u2019s time to play, I\u2019m playing. When the game\u2019s over, game over.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the moment, Brooklyn has one certified back-up big in Moe Wagner and Noah Clowney could also see minutes as a \u201csmall ball\u201d 5. But the job will be Sharpe\u2019s to begin the season, barring a big surprise. And he\u2019ll have all the incentive in the world. His two-year, $20 million deal has a team option.<\/p>\n
Closing Out The Work Week<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez shifted the team\u2019s workload on Thursday, making it a non-contact practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re tired, you can lose it easily,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez explained. \u201cAnd [Thursday] being a non-contact session and a session that it\u2019s more mental with the film and the walk-throughs and installing new things, your brain needs to be there. It was very positive like an active recovery where you still need to advance\u2026 It was a great day. And then [Friday], it\u2019s going to be a big high-load game day with a lot of playing. And players, they love to play, so they\u2019re excited about tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fast-paced scrimmages have also served as a testing ground for lineup experimenting. Interestingly, Fern\u00e1ndez has kept veteran forwards Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle on opposite sides during scrimmages, using the early portion of camp to evaluate different lineups.<\/p>\n
With Charlotte coming to town next week, Brooklyn\u2019s mix of developmental patience and physical evaluation is officially underway.<\/p>\n
Mikel Brown Jr. has no timetable as Nets prioritize full recovery<\/a> – Brian Lewis – New York PostNets\u2019 new starter Day\u2019Ron Sharpe looks to pace himself while keeping his edge<\/a> – Brian Lewis – New York Post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Patience is a rare currency in NBA training camps. Yet, at HSS Training Center in Sunset Park, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,389,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-363494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-nets-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}