SB Nation • 11 min read

Danny Wolf presents Brooklyn Nets with ‘uncommon’ opportunity

Danny Wolf came out of the 2024-25 NCAA season with a reputation as the best passing big man in the June draft. But as Adam Silver started calling out names on June 25, Wolf’s stock seemed to drop. Projected

at No. 18 in ESPN in its final mock draft, he had to wait until No. 27 for the Brooklyn Nets to take a chance. In the interim, the other sweet passing 7-footer, Hansen Yang of China’s Qingdao Eagles, got taken at No. 16 and wound up in Portland.

Now though where a prospect got picked matters little. They’re no longer draft prospects but NBA players and their success will be about what they do on the court, not on their college or international resumes.

Wolf was a late bloomer, in part because of how he was used in college. At Yale, where he spent his first two seasons of college ball, he was used as a traditional center and he did not look much like an NBA player. Then at Michigan, head coach Dusty May freed him up. He became a point center, averaging 17.3 points, 12.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists on 49.7% shooting. Suddenly, people, particularly NBA scouts, started to notice.

“I think that the coaches [at Michigan] didn’t even know what my role was going to be,” Wolf said. “At Yale, I was more of a traditional 5, and then at Michigan, I don’t even know what you would call my position or how I played, but I think here, confidence is earned… At Michigan, that [confidence] was derived from me having the ball in my hands a majority of the game and being able to play through a bunch of mistakes. I think in the NBA it’s about continuing to get better within the confines of the roles your coach wants you to play.”

Even though he dropped precipitously by Draft standards, Brooklyn’s brain trust was willing to take a chance, something easier to do when you have five chances at success as the Nets did on Draft Night. So far, so good, as Clutch Points’ Erik Slater pointed out Saturday night…

Indeed, Wolf has shown some promise both in Summer League and the preseason opener against Hapoel Jerusalem. And Jordi Fernandez, who was an assistant coach when a No. 41 pick showed how a big even if unathletic center could dominate the NBA. He says it taught him a lesson.

“I think that you have to be creative with players that are uncommon,” the Nets coach said. “I was very fortunate to work with Nikola [Jokic], and we had to let him show us what he was able to do. Otherwise, if you see him as a traditional player, then you could fail, and I think that’s what Coach [Michael] Malone did very well. Nikola showed certain things that were so different for his position and a seven-footer, and that’s why he makes all these plays and plays in situations and positions where no other big man plays.”

Now, that is heady stuff and to be fair, Fernandez seems to be comparing skillsets and body types, not suggesting Wolf is the next Joker, winner of three MVP awards and an NBA ring. Still, it’s an interesting take.

Wolf did show off some stuff vs. Hapoel Jerusalem. In 15 minutes, he scored five points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists. He had the ball in his hands much of the time.

“I mean, when the coaches trust me with the ball in my hands, it’s up to me to make a play,” Wolf said post-game. “I think a few times, I got a little too sped up and made a few — I made an errant pass and kinda lost the ball on a ball screen. But when coach Jordi draws me up or tells us to run a play and it breaks off, it’s up to you to make a play, and I tried doing that to the best of my ability.”

You won’t hear Wolf compare his game to The Joker’s. He’s currently just happy with where he is, what he’s doing.

“I was getting taped before the game, and I’m just like getting ready to go out, and it’s just — you dream, you literally dream about walking out of the tunnel to an NBA game,” he said. “It’s really cool. Obviously, it’s a preseason game, and it’s not against an NBA team, but it’s still, you’re playing in an NBA arena with an NBA team. It’s a pretty cool feeling. It’s a culmination of a lot of feelings but it’s just the start. It’s the first step in a long season, and its gotta go day by day.”

At 21, he’s the oldest of the Flatbush 5. The four others were 19. He may still spend some time on Long Island. It’s likely all five picks plus Fanbo Zeng will don Long Island uniforms at some point. It doesn’t bother him, he said.

And he does work to do. His defense is troublesome and he on the slow side. While he averaged 4.7 assists at Michigan, he also turned the ball over 3.2 times. He has two turnovers Saturday. His deep shooting, an underrated part of Jokic’s game, needs work as well. Fernandez believes in patience.

“We gotta use all our resources, the G League, if needed, not just with him but with all of [the rookies],” Fernandez said. “So all our resources are NBA minutes, Long Island minutes, all the development with the coaches. That goes for all five rookies. And I think, following the proper steps, we believe each one of them will find minutes in the NBA at some point. They just gotta be ready, and Danny’s done a great job so far.”