Brooklyn Nets Head Coach Jordi Fernández spoke with reporters over Zoom on Thursday afternoon, as his well-traveled team hasn’t had quite enough rest since returning from Macau to hold an official practice just yet.
“You guys were not as aggressive on Zoom, by the way. Okay, it’s like you’re a little shy,” joked Fernández after the 12-minute call.
We’ve already reported the main news of the day, that #8 overall pick Egor Dëmin has not only been practicing in a 5-on-5 capacity, but that he will make
his Nets debut in the team’s final preseason game, a Friday night tilt against the Toronto Raptors.
“So, good news is tomorrow he’ll have some minutes, and that’s exciting,”said Fernández. “I’m excited for him. He’s done a great job and now we’re ready to take the next step.”
It’ll be interesting to see where Dëmin falls in the rotation, not just to end the preseason, but to begin the regular season. Of course, he is the highest of Brooklyn’s five first-round picks and arrives with the heaviest expectations, but he has missed nearly the entirety of training camp and preseason. Ben Saraf has been impressive so far, while Nolan Traore has struggled a bit more, but both have seen much more live action than Dëmin.
Said Fernández of his young guards: “What I’m excited about is to see how the process is going to go. They’re all going to fight for some of the same minutes. They’re all going to fight for some of the wing minutes. But right now, for sure, the starting point guard and backup point guard [spots], those three are fighting for those minutes and that’s great, because we’re going to see a lot of the young talent we’ve drafted playing real NBA minutes.”
Emphasis mine, of course, as I imagine that’s just about the most exciting quote Fernández could have given Nets fans during training camp. Right now, it seems as though Dëmin and Saraf are the frontrunners for those early minutes with Traore lagging behind, perhaps destined for some G League minutes, but much is still to be determined. (Here’s Erik Slater and I discussing Brooklyn’s youngsters on Locked on Nets…)
As you might imagine, questions about the five rookies flowed. Next up was #22 overall pick Drake Powell, a staggeringly low-usage wing at UNC, particularly compared to the other four ball-handlers Brooklyn drafted. This is to say nothing of his ability or long-term projection, just that you don’t often see players on mediocre college teams come off the bench with a usage rate in the low-teens and immediately produce in the NBA.
Jordi Fernández, though, isn’t hearing all that: “I wasn’t there [at UNC], and I cannot judge whether it’s positive or negative, but I see Drake as an elite on-ball defender, as probably the best athlete of this draft, a player that can run a play on the second-side, a very good ball-handler. I don’t know if you guys know it, but he was a point guard when he was in high school, I believe, or growing up. So you can see all those things.
“And the thing is, he makes it look simple, and he does things that you’re like, ‘oh, that looks easy,’ but it’s not easy. And, you know, we’re going to see the growth. It’s not always going to be easy. He’s going to have to earn it. Like I said with the point guards, they’re going to have to earn their minutes and take advantage of their minutes. Same thing with Drake. He’s going to have to take advantage of his minutes. If he starts with opportunity, great. If not, the opportunity will come. So I expect all those guys to see the floor at one point.”
While there was no specific question about Danny Wolf, there was one about a big man — or perhaps a big wing — that may play in front of him to start the year. Judging by preseason rotations, Noah Clowney is firmly in Fernández’s top ten, the number he said he plans to use in a normal regular season game. Clowney and his suddenly buff frame have been a hot topic during the preseason, as NetsDaily contributor Brian Fleurantin just wrote about.
“Noah is exactly what we want,” said Brooklyn’s head coach. “From the culture perspective, he had an amazing summer. He’s developed not just his body, but also his personality, his growth as a person. He looks like a grown man now, he just turned 21 when we were in Vegas. So, very happy with Noah. What I’ve seen, the games he’s played, you know, he’s gonna keep getting better and better, and he has the shooting, the size, the toughness, the leadership that we want.”
With that, the Brooklyn Nets are onto Toronto, and then will surely make a pit-stop back in the borough before opening the regular season in Charlotte against the Hornets. Fernández was full of praise for the team’s trip to Macau, saying it went better than he expected.
“I was a little worried because of my inexperience, too, I’ve never gone through it as a head coach. But the reality is, the NBA and our organization did such a great job putting it together. We were treated extremely well, the experience was unbelievable, and all of that was very, very positive. Our guys could practice, get better, play two high-level games, and now we’re back here. We’re a little tired and we can feel the jet lag, but also you learn from your body and how you get back on track.”
We’ll see how the Nets get back on track on Friday night. Their final preseason game against the Toronto Raptors is scheduled to tip at 7:00 p.m. ET, where Egor Dëmin is expected to suit up.
