{"id":76007,"date":"2025-12-19T22:09:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T22:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/76007\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T22:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T22:09:08","slug":"injuries-illness-flashes-too-in-brooklyn-nets-rookie-report-no-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/76007\/","title":{"rendered":"Injuries, illness, flashes too in Brooklyn Nets Rookie Report \u2014 No. 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sports fandom is increasingly an exercise in mock GM\u2019ing. The rise of fantasy sports certainly played a role as well as the shift from analysis in mainstream sports media to trade\/free agency rumors and clips of \u201cdebate shows\u201d on YouTube Shorts, or maybe it\u2019s just the technocratic optimization of pro sports along with every other cultural pastime that we have.<\/p>\n

Yes, fans have always had opinions on trades and free agency signings. But, faced with irrefutable evidence that better ball-players are often selected higher in amateur drafts, and that middling or losing teams shouldn\u2019t pretend a first-round playoff exit is worth more than a higher pick in said draft \u2014 if the one true goal is a championship \u2014 we clamor for our middling or losing teams to lose. To tank, which is to say so much losing that there is no shame, only embarrassment, a feeling mostly washed over by the fact that players on tanking teams are place-holders for the unknown future players that will eventually come in and do the winning.<\/p>\n

Even the curmudgeons adapt to the world of optimized sports. You miss Andray Blatche taking stepback 16-footers (welcome to the club), but deep down, you know he probably should\u2019ve just taken those catch-and-shoot threes. You miss the idea of a menacing cleanup hitter, but you understand why a team\u2019s best hitter shouldn\u2019t be placed 44.4% of the way down the lineup.<\/p>\n

These are the rules that have been laid out for us sports fans. Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez benching Egor D\u00ebmin after a few defensive mistakes or the Brooklyn Nets keeping Danny Wolf in the G League for the first month of the season can seem like a violation of the rules. If Brooklyn tanked to draft these guys, and game reps are the most valuable thing for a young player, as Fern\u00e1ndez often likes to say, and if the Nets\u2019 future depends upon developing their young players \u2026 then why didn\u2019t they arrive in Brooklyn with the keys in their hands? Doesn\u2019t seem very optimal.<\/p>\n

I think teams break the rules more than the fans. The Nets don\u2019t want to have a miserable locker room losing day in and day out. The Nets want to hang onto Cam Johnson just a little bit longer because people love him. Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez doesn\u2019t want the locker room to ask why a 20-year-old Drake Powell can play through the mistakes that a 24-year-old Ziaire Williams cannot.<\/p>\n

Human emotions are still resent in every decision, minor or major. What\u2019s gonna happen with this tank, I have no idea. But with Brooklyn\u2019s rookies continuing to entrench themselves in the rotation, not to mention that Cam Johnson trade looking pretty decent, maybe it\u2019s okay to simply grimace and hope for the best. (Seriously though, what\u2019s gonna happen with this tank?)<\/p>\n

Season stats: 24 GP, 23.1 MPG, 8.7\/3.1\/3.4 slash line, 38\/34\/84 shooting splits. 1.7 TO + 2.0 PF + 1.2 stock (stl+blk) per game.<\/p>\n

Stats last two weeks: 3 GP, 24 MPG, 11.3\/2.0\/1.7 slash line, 12-of-33 FG, 6-of-20 3P, 4-of-5 FT. Five TO + five PF + five stocks (stl+blk) total.<\/p>\n

Over the last two weeks, the Nets have played just three games thanks to the scheduling shenanigans of the In-Season Tournament, but Egor D\u00ebmin has nonetheless seen some ups and downs. He was invisible in Dallas, scoring three points on seven shots, playing just 18 minutes, before a 17-point performance vs. Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something coaches kind of want from me, obviously. That\u2019s something I\u2019m looking for, trying to look for, and the adjustment is now me doing it every game, but that\u2019s something I really have to try to follow it every single game,\u201d said D\u00ebmin of maintaining his aggressiveness.<\/p>\n

Facing the Miami Heat on Thursday night, he was constantly harassed by Davion Mitchell but he did follow through on his promise to be more aggressive. It was quite the challenge\u2026<\/p>\n

D\u00ebmin shot 5-of-18, tying his season-high in attempts, and recorded just one assist, tying a season-low.<\/p>\n

He took 12 of his shots from three, including some prayers like the one above, and while that might not be exactly what his coaches have in mind when they ask for more aggressiveness, it\u2019s all part of the trial-and-error. Particularly if you\u2019re asking him to create from a standstill\u2026<\/p>\n

The Nets are asking Egor to try and touch the paint, first and foremost. Aggressiveness and scoring are not wholly synonymous \u2026 but maybe they\u2019re a little synonymous. Per NBA tracking, D\u00ebmin passes<\/a> out of 51.2% of his drives, the highest share of any Net, and second-highest mark of any NBA player that is at least 6\u20198\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2026where Egor eats up all the space in front of him and realizes he can beat both PnR defenders to the rim are major highlights. He\u2019ll eventually have to blend these takes with his passing; he often commits to either the shot or pass a bit early, and it\u2019s why he hasn\u2019t assisted on many two-point baskets this season, including zero lob passes so far.<\/p>\n

Season stats: 12 GP, 18 MPG, 8.8\/4.3\/1.8 slash line, 42\/35\/89 shooting splits. 1.5 TO + 1.0 PF + 0.7 stock (stl+blk) per game.<\/p>\n

Stats last two weeks: 3 GP, 23 MPG, 11.3\/5.3\/1.7 slash line, 13-of-33 FG, 4-of-14 3P, 4-of-6 FT. Five TO + one PF + five stock (stl+blk) total.<\/p>\n

Danny Wolf, on their other, needs no reminders to be aggressive. The Nets are still winning his minutes, nine points \/ 100 possessions better when he\u2019s on the court, though after just 200 minutes this seems like little more than a noisy small sample. They haven\u2019t been able to score well with him on the court, though their opponents have completely forgotten how to shoot, and while Wolf hasn\u2019t been terrible on defense, it seems unlikely that that accurately reflects his impact. (I\u2019ll admit, though, that when he plays next to Day\u2019Ron Sharpe as he often has, that\u2019s a fearsome defensive rebounding duo.)<\/p>\n

Naturally, the turnovers have been a big point of contention so far. Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez has called them out a couple times, including before Brooklyn\u2019s contest against the Heat. A friend who works in NBA Draft scouting half-jokingly said to me, \u201cOkay, Wolf might be a real NBA player, but I don\u2019t know if I could ever trust him in the last five minutes of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, you\u2019d typically associate a high-turnover big with a lower feel, lesser basketball instincts, whatever\u2026but I\u2019ve been quite impressed with this part of Wolf\u2019s transition to the NBA. He\u2019s slow when rotating and closing out, sure, but he knows where to go. And offensively, he consistently makes plays like this: a timely sacrifice cut to create an open three, then burning Cooper Flagg by relocating and driving off the catch\u2026<\/p>\n

Of his 18 total turnovers, only two of them have been \u201clost ball\u201d turnovers, according to Basketball Reference, as opposed to bad passes or illegal screens\/charges\/3-second calls. Though an incredibly small sample size, that\u2019s a promising start, because one of Wolf\u2019s best attributes is how he keeps the dribble alive. This play doesn\u2019t happen if Wolf picks the ball up early\u2026<\/p>\n

And this persistent drive against Flagg gets him all the way to the cup\u2026<\/p>\n

Can Wolf cut down the turnovers? Can he keep shooting 39% from three? If he does both, he\u2019ll be a pretty good offensive player, but he\u2019s already a promising one.<\/p>\n

Season stats: 19 GP, 17.7 MPG, 6.0\/1.8\/1.9 slash line, 49\/38\/95 shooting splits. 1.2 TO + 1.7 PF + 0.9 stock (stl+blk) per game.<\/p>\n

Stats last two weeks: N\/A (two games with three minutes played)<\/p>\n

Drake Powell rolled his right ankle again on Thursday, though again, he was walking around the locker room postgame without crutches or a boot or even a limp. Before that, he logged just three minutes of PT against the Mavericks due to what Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez termed a lack of \u201creadiness to play,\u201d though Powell responded with a 13\/4\/3 performance against the Bucks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect him [Fern\u00e1ndez] for that. It just shows that he cares, not only about me as a basketball player but as a human being,\u201d said Powell of the tough love.<\/p>\n

Despite the hiccup, Powell has been Brooklyn\u2019s most consistent rookie so far; barring a couple catch-and-shoot threes either rimming in or out, you know what you\u2019re getting on a night-to-night basis, an athletic off-guard trying to hound his opponents and expand his offensive game bit by bit. To that end, I wish Brooklyn ran in transition more, putting Powell in, like, some 3-on-3 situations instead of always having to play 5-on-5.<\/p>\n

Alas, per Synergy Sports tracking, Brooklyn has posted the third-lowest share of possessions in transition to this point in the season, and they run even less frequently with Powell on the court. The defense has improved, but it hasn\u2019t made them any faster, exactly.<\/p>\n

Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez explained why: \u201cWith the better rebounding, we saw an increase of opportunities. The problem was the amount of turnovers that happened in transition. So those are the things that we have to work on \u2026 The priority, I thought, it was rebounding and containing the ball, and I think we\u2019ve done a better job with that. Now we got to go the other way and run, so one step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell doesn\u2019t yet have counters for when he sees a crowded paint, but when he has space to attack\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026the flashes can be quite bright. Mind the cherry-picking (and the turnover rate), but Powell is one just three rookies shooting 50% from two, 35% from three, and 90% from FT (min. 50 FGA). Ice, elevate that ankle and then give us more please!<\/p>\n

In the last Rookie Report<\/a>, I praised Nolan Traore\u2019s 3-point shot, and hey would you look at that? Over his last nine games, Traore is shooting 25-of-49 from deep, over 50% on 5.4 attempts per game. That, in part, earned him a call-up to the big league club, where he played nine minutes against both Dallas and Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

\u201cNolan deserved to play because he\u2019s done so well with Long Island,\u201d said Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cHe\u2019s gotten better every single game, not just the numbers, it\u2019s how he was playing. He was playing the same way we want him to play here: confident, shooting the ball, assist:turnover ratio great, all that stuff about ball-pressuring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooklyn\u2019s head coach does not appreciate anybody trying to knock his small minute-count either: \u201cThose minutes mean so much. Real minutes mean a lot. So I know that, whatever, eight-to-ten minutes may not seem a lot, but you can really help a team win a game in nine, ten minutes. There\u2019s winning plays, there\u2019s winning stretches.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can see Traore\u2019s confidence growing. He hasn\u2019t been perfect down on the Island, but he less often looks overmatched. Anecdotally, some of his drives have felt more under control, even if he\u2019s not getting all the way to the rack\u2026<\/p>\n

He\u2019s recorded only six turnovers in his last four games with LIN, after posting three separate games of six turnovers earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

Traore didn\u2019t pop off the screen in his 18 NBA minutes this past week; however, he didn\u2019t commit a single turnover, even if he was a bit hesitant to shoot. He wasn\u2019t playing totally free out there, but he was far from shell-shocked. One more run of G League minutes might just be enough to push him back up to Brooklyn full-time, particularly if the tanking intensifies.<\/p>\n

Saraf has been assigned to the G League, as the Long Island Nets embark on a three-game road trip starting on Saturday in Mexico City. We\u2019ll see if he\u2019s recalled to Brooklyn anytime during the trip, though it might be nice to get him consistent run after he missed the last two games with an illness.<\/p>\n

Despite the occasional highlight, Saraf has really struggled in either location, and while it\u2019s not time to worry about his G League production, 25 assists to 24 made baskets to 23 turnovers likely isn\u2019t the ratio the Nets are looking for from the #26 overall pick. Don\u2019t be surprised if Saraf\u2019s G League stint lasts longer than expected.<\/p>\n

As mentioned, the Long Island Nets take on the Mexico City Capitanes on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET, where Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf are expected to play. That game will be available for ESPN+ subscribers.<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn Nets take on the Toronto Raptors at home on Sunday evening, with tip-off scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET. We\u2019ll have to see about Drake Powell\u2019s ankle, but barring a surprise, Danny Wolf and Egor D\u00ebmin will suit up for that one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sports fandom is increasingly an exercise in mock GM\u2019ing. The rise of fantasy sports certainly played a role…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,4049,3282,13919,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-76007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-news","11":"tag-long-island-nets","12":"tag-nets-analysis","13":"tag-nets-film-study","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76007","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=76007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}