So much for not having enough to write about in this column. It\u2019s December 5th, about one quarter of the way through the NBA season, and the Brooklyn Nets are regularly playing four of their five first-round draft picks, the other starting for their G League affiliate.<\/p>\n
Tune into a Brooklyn game at any point and you\u2019re guaranteed to catch a rook playing real minutes, maybe even two or three. Which means\u2026these preambles have to get shorter.<\/p>\n
Season stats: 20 GP, 22.9 MPG, 8.4\/3.3\/3.5 slash line, 37\/35\/86 shooting splits. 1.7 TO + 2.0 PF + 1.3 stock (stl+blk) per game.<\/p>\n
Stats last two weeks: 7 GP, 26.9 MPG, 10.1\/3.7\/3.7 slash line, 37\/29.5\/80 shooting splits. 1.6 TO + 2.4 PF + 1.6 stock (stl+blk) per game.<\/p>\n
During Brooklyn\u2019s depressing 0-7 start to the season, Egor D\u00ebmin was averaging<\/a> 2.1 deflections per 36 minutes. Since then, he\u2019s up to 3.5 deflections, playing a heavier dose of minutes but upping his activity throughout; after playing both nights of a two-city back-to-back this week, it seems that his plantar fascia injury is becoming less of an active concern.<\/p>\n The defense is still not great, specifically guarding the ball, but I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s a total disaster either. Those 3.5 deflections per 36 minutes rank second among Nets in that span, and that combination of long arms and anticipation means D\u00ebmin can also wall up at the rim and force tough shots (you can tell what Nic Claxton thinks of it)\u2026<\/p>\n Deflections aren\u2019t everything. Ziaire Williams was (and still is) leading Brooklyn in deflection per minute when he got justifiably benched for his efforts on that end. But for those that hoped D\u00ebmin\u2019s size and length would combat his lack of foot-speed on that end, it\u2019s a point of evidence.<\/p>\n Offensively, Egor continues to be a fascinating prospect. So far, 50 of his 70 assists<\/a> have gone to 3-point shooters; per this post<\/a>, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the only other player to have at least 70% of his assists go to 3-point shooters (min. 35 assists), perhaps D\u00ebmin\u2019s polar opposite in terms of rim pressure.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not necessarily a positive or negative, and it shows that D\u00ebmin clearly understands the game. He knows where defenses will help from when he drives, and he acts on that prior knowledge; this was true of his play at BYU as well. For now his reads are a bit prescriptive rather than reactive, missing some late-developing cuts or early lobs in the pick-and-roll. I\u2019m real interested to see how his floor-processing develops over the course of this season and his career.<\/p>\n Growing as a driver will help him there. His best tool getting to the rim is his long strides, but occasionally, that can speed him up a little too much. I explain here, sound on\u2026<\/p>\n This is all pretty granular, but Nets fans should be comforted by the fact that D\u00ebmin has shot 29.5% from three over the past two weeks and hasn\u2019t been unplayable offensively. Frankly, that\u2019s a better outcome than most thought he could achieve as a 19-year-old rookie.<\/p>\n It\u2019s far too early to rush to any judgements about D\u00ebmin, other than him being \u2014 and I mean this affectionately \u2014 a weird-ass player. I\u2019m glad he\u2019s a Net.<\/p>\n Season stats: N\/A (garbage time skewing the samples)<\/p>\n Stats last two weeks: 5 GP, 23 MPG, 12.4\/5.8\/2.4 slash line. 20-of-44 FGA, 11-of-25 from three, 11-of-12 FT. Ten TO + nine fouls + one stock (stl + blk) total.<\/p>\n Well, if Danny Wolf is going to be a 44% 3-point shooter, he\u2019s going to be good. That much is clear. Head Coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez is undoubtedly pleased with Wolf\u2019s willingness to shoot the three, even from far beyond the arc, and so far Wolf has been rewarded by catching something of a heater.<\/p>\n The defense has been as expected: He\u2019s been pretty poor in space and has accumulated just one block, no deflections, and no steals over his first five games of real NBA action. That being said, he\u2019s forced a couple misses at the rim, and as part of a jumbo lineup playing next to Noah Clowney and either Nic Claxton or Day\u2019Ron Sharpe, opponents are shooting around 42% from two-point range. It\u2019s a small sample size, but the Nets may be onto something here.<\/p>\n I like how Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez is putting Wolf in positions to succeed early and often. Much like his time at Michigan, where he played next to fellow 7-footer Vlad Goldin, the Nets have run a good amount of 4-5 pick-and-roll with Wolf on the court, and it produced his best pass of the season so far\u2026<\/p>\n Not only is Danny Wolf going to play consistent minutes with the Brooklyn Nets going forward, but he\u2019s going to be featured in the offense.<\/p>\n In Thursday\u2019s home loss to the Utah Jazz, the visitors were switching all actions 1-through-4, as many teams do. Needing to change momentum, Fern\u00e1ndez drew up the opening play of fourth quarter for Wolf, as he was designed to catch it on the block after a cross-screen from Ben Saraf, hopefully getting a small on him. Though the Nets didn\u2019t score on the possession, the plan worked\u2026<\/p>\n Saraf probably needs to swing it, but Utah \u2014 despite voluntarily switching Walter Clayton Jr. onto Wolf \u2014 recognizes the mismatch and helps heavy into the paint. There\u2019s an advantage on the weak-side, and Wolf finds it. A few minutes later, he\u2019s running the two-man game with Nic Claxton at the top of the key and creates a driving lane, baiting the big man\u2026<\/p>\n Defenses may not know exactly what to do with Wolf, but the Nets sure do. There\u2019s intent behind his opportunities, and for a rookie who spent the first month of the season in the G League, that speaks pretty well to how the Nets feel about him.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to keep shooting 44% from three and 90% from the line; when those numbers regress, he\u2019ll really have to cut down on the turnovers. But Wolf, the last of Brooklyn\u2019s five first-round picks, has had a real fun start to his career, looking like quite the matchup problem.<\/p>\n Oh, and his obliteration of Miles Bridges of all people was the best moment of the Nets season so far.<\/p>\n Season stats: 15 GP, 19.1 MPG, 6.5\/1.8\/2.0 slash line. 49\/37 shooting splits, 17-of-18 FT. 1.1 TO + 1.8 fouls + 1.0 stock (stl + blk) per game.<\/p>\n Stats last two weeks: 7 GP, 23 MPG, 7.4\/1.4\/2.1 slash line. 16-of-32 FGA, 6-of-17 from three, 14-of-15 FT. Six TO + ten fouls + seven stocks.<\/p>\n