The Nets have no shortage of young players to develop this season.
Between the Flatbush 5, now in their second season, and their three rookies from June’s NBA draft, Mikel Brown Jr., Joshua Jefferson, and Tyler Bilodeau, the organization has drafted eight players over the past two years, including seven first-round picks.
Eight of their 15 players on standard NBA contracts remain on their rookie deal. Bilodeau, the second-round rookie, is on a two-way deal, while 2023 first-rounder Noah Clowney, in a prove-it
season, is Brooklyn’s eighth NBA player on a rookie contract. (Clowney is younger than Jefferson, Bilodeau and Danny Wolf.)
For the second straight year, the Nets are the NBA’s youngest team with a median age of 24.3 years, and the only team younger than their current squad over the past 25 years was Brooklyn’s group last season.
That youth movement extends beyond the organization’s regular-season roster. About 25 miles east of the Barclays Center, the Nets have another group of young players on Long Island, looking to develop their games and eventually land a consistent role in the NBA.
Bilodeau is a part of that pod alongside fellow two-way player Grant Nelson, who returns for his second season with the organization after patellar tendinitis cut short his 2025-26 campaign. He didn’t even have the opportunity to fully prove his value, as he found himself on a minutes restriction even when he was on the floor.
At Long Island’s Media Day on Thursday ahead of their November 6 opener, both Bilodeau and Nelson spoke with NetsDaily about their development and what it will take to eventually establish themselves as contributors with Brooklyn. As two-way players, Nelson and Bilodeau can each play up to 50 NBA games.
Bilodeau told us that he’s already seen growth since Summer League, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
“I feel like I’ve improved so much since Summer League,” the second-round rookie said. “I think a big improvement of mine has been defensively, trusting myself a little more, and getting used to guarding the perimeter. I didn’t do much of that last year.”
That’s encouraging, because the biggest concern regarding Bilodeau’s game entering the draft was his defense. At 6’9” and 230 pounds, he certainly has the frame to be a serviceable option on that end of the floor, but as he alluded to, there wasn’t much of an emphasis on him guarding the perimeter during his final year at UCLA.
The shooting ability is there. During his final NCAA season with the Bruins, he shot a whopping 46.4% from deep, topping this year’s draft class and leading all Big 10 players. His defense, though, was the main reason he fell to Brooklyn with the No. 43 overall pick.
More importantly, though, the Nets already have enough young players who need the ball in their hands, and that’s not the best path for a second-rounder to find minutes, especially on Brooklyn’s current squad.
Much of his attention seems to be going towards improving as an all-around player.
“Really, I feel like just improving on all aspects of my game,” he said.
Bilodeau also acknowledged that the transition from college basketball to the professional level will come with some adjustments to his play style.
“It’s a different game,” the UCLA product said. “The NBA is a different game, so I think making that transition from college to this level means just working on all those things.
While he’s with Long Island, Bilodeau should have plenty of opportunites to work through those adjustments and become a more well-rounded player. Long Island and Brooklyn operate with an eerily similar system and terminology, making it much easier for players to transition from the NBA to the G League. That’s especially valuable for a young player like Bilodeau.
“We’re one group. We’re one organization. Jordi [Fernández] preaches it all the time. We’re a club. We have a club system here, basically,” Long Island’s first-year head coach Shawn Swords told ND on Thursday.
The same goes for Nelson. While he is in a different spot, having already spent a year with the organization, their goals remain the same: eventually prove their worth on the NBA floor.
While injuries hampered Nelson last year, he spent much of his rehabilitation working on his shooting mechanics, in particular, which he discussed at Brooklyn’s Media Day last month.
Speaking with ND at Long Island’s Media Day, the Alabama product explained why he emphasized growing that facet of his game.
“I think it’s extremely important with the direction that the game has been going in,” he said. “I mean, I think it’s just adding another part to my game, being versatile in that way. Most bigs can shoot now. So being able to do that, I think it will definitely help me out in my career.”
At 7’0”, Nelson is a fascinating player, largely because of his size and athleticism. Now, his shooting could become an asset, too.
Up in Brooklyn, the Nets lack an established rim protector and established interior defense. Nelson has an opportunity to make an impression in those areas, especially with his size and mobility. His mindset, though, remains to continue developing on Long Island. The goal, however, is NBA minutes.
“Obviously, I’m trying to do what I can here in Long Island to become the best player I can be. And hopefully get some minutes with Brooklyn,” Nelson told ND.
Nelson still knows that there’s room for improvement. At the end of the day, he’s on a two-way deal for a reason: to keep growing and blossoming as a player.
“I’m not the player that I want to be yet,” he said.
That’s also the mentality Long Island’s general manager Matt MacDonald and the organization are looking for in their players, whether they’re on assignments, two-way guys, or standard G League players.
“We work hard here; we want good people,” he said on Thursday. “We want guys that are talented and have a chance to get to the next level.”
There’s plenty of basketball ahead for both Nelson and Bilodeau, but they also have plenty to prove. As the Nets continue building toward the future, discovering diamonds in the rough like these players highlights the true value of an organization’s development system, and Brooklyn has a strong reputation for theirs.
Long Island opens its season on November 6 in Greensboro before its home opener on the 13th vs. the College Paek Skyhawks.
