We’re all coming around on the Brooklyn Nets’ 2025 NBA Draft, so widely mocked that the Phoenix Suns didn’t mind gasping at it on social media. The Nets themselves are probably feeling better about their draft too, if you believe last summer’s rumors that Brooklyn tried to trade one or two of their five first-round picks, but couldn’t find a suitor. Since then, Egor Demin hasn’t missed a three, and there have been flashes from the others too.
I know I feel a bit better about it, though it hasn’t been
all smooth sailing. On January 23rd, I posted this: “32 rookies have taken 50+ two-pointers. Bottom three in 2P%: Danny Wolf, Egor Dëmin, Nolan Traore.”
For good measure, Wolf had the lowest 2P% among any NBA player 6’11” or taller, and Traore was tied for the lowest 2P% in the league. The case against the Flatbush Five was still very easy to make, and it wasn’t that they had redundant skillsets. That analysis was always lame.
Rather, Brooklyn drafted guys that struggled with either physicality, explosiveness, or both, and the one plus-athlete they did draft almost never handled the ball. That was a tough pill to swallow, particularly after watching the incredible physicality of last year’s playoffs. It’s a motor league.
But two-thirds of the way through this season, none of Brooklyn’s selections look particularly egregious. I’m still concerned about their high-end outcomes — how much ball-handling will Egor Dëmin provide in a playoff setting? how much can Danny Wolf compensate for a lack of vertical pop around the rim? — but we’re not talking about high-end outcomes just yet.
Not every member of Brooklyn’s 2025 NBA Draft class will become a valuable rotation player. Some may never crack a playoff rotation. But all of them still have a chance. All of them have shown something to put faith in.
Egor Dëmin
This is most true for Egor Dëmin and his 3-point shooting. At BYU, he shot 27.3% from deep on 10 3PA per 100 possessions. Through 48 games in Brooklyn, he’s shooting 38.8% from deep on nearly 13 3PA per 100 possessions. This just doesn’t happen. It doesn’t make sense.
Yes, his stroke always looked better than those numbers did, and yes, he played through a knee injury at BYU, and yes, his pre-NCAA shooting numbers were better. It’s still unfathomable. Given his pre-draft profile, Dëmin may be in the midst of the most miraculous 3-point shooting season a rookie has ever put forth.
Get to know Dëmin, though, and it makes sense. The baby-faced Russian teenager will talk your ear off about his cat, or about English words he’s struggling to pronounce, or why roasting marshmallows around the campfire at BYU beats tapping the keg anywhere else, everything except his unprecedented shooting turnaround. Only then will Dëmin revert to a cliché, shrug his shoulders, and cite the work he’s put in. He really isn’t surprised by this.
It’s enough to warm a cynic’s cold heart, to believe that this cherubic sniper will take over the NBA with overwhelming levels of being dope, having fun, smiling, etc…
No rookie has changed their perception more than Dëmin through 50-something games. Sure, he makes a cool extra pass here and there and an intriguing kick-out with the snap of a wrist, but my man was getting Josh Giddey comparisons last summer. He is not a jumbo-handler, nor a primary ball-handler with excellent vision. Dëmin is a catch-and-shoot threat with everything else to work on, and while his worst games — when the shots don’t fall — are indeed worrisome, Nets fans don’t have to panic too much about that yet.
Look at this, man…
Every live-game rep is valuable. And you can trust Dëmin, universally praised for his work ethic and attention to detail, to make the most of them. But in terms of analysis, we don’t need to see much more from him this season. Are there really going to be ball-handling/driving improvements before he spends much more time in the weight room over the next couple years?
At 6’9”, his block/steal/deflection rates are all average, giving him something of a defensive floor. He often guards opponents’ low-usage wings — against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, he started on Dean Wade.
I find his processing/playmaking to be most intriguing. The common refrain, for now, is that we don’t get to see his high-level passing much because he can’t get downhill, and while that’s partly true, it’s also an oversimplification. Dëmin has tossed some dimes as a spot-up guy, taking advantages of defenses rotating over to him — he loves looking off help defenders — but I think he’s also missed high-level opportunities. Ziaire Williams should probably have a layup here…
Dëmin has tossed just 54 rim assists in 1205 minutes, per PBP Stats, or one every 22.3 minutes. That matches, almost exactly … Cam Thomas. There’s no doubt Dëmin is a willing passer, particularly hungry to make kick-outs, but I’m most curious to see how his playmaking progress over the next season or two.
The Brooklyn Nets drafted a weird player at #8 overall, but that’s not an inherent negative. Egor Dëmin is a certified sniper and a powerfully optimistic young man. He scares the hell out of me sometimes, given how reliant he is on spot-up threes, but I’m rocking with him.
Nolan Traore
Nolan!! He was so bad early on. Teenage point guards are rarely productive, but it seemed like Traore was two years away from being two years away. On January 23rd, he was shooting 33.3% inside the arc. As I mentioned up top, that was tied with the minuscule Rob Dillingham for the worst mark in the league. Turns out my reverse jinx worked.
That night, he had the finest game of his career to date, putting up 21 points in that double OT loss to the Boston Celtics. With the necessary caveat that the stretch run before All-Star Weekend marks the true dog days of the NBA, Traore hasn’t looked back since.
The French teenager is 40-of-75 from two since January 23rd; he’s now shooting 44.4% on the season. At this rate, he could clear 50% by daylight savings time. What the hell happened?
First, Jordi Fernández gave him some tough love after a big loss to the Washington Wizards: “I need him to use his superpowers and touch the paint. It felt like he got caught shooting the unders. And a lot of times they’re going to go under because that’s what they want you to do. And if you keep shooting it, missing them, you know, sometimes if you keep doing the same thing and seeing the same results, I think that’s the definition of insanity … I’m okay with a pull-up three, [but] I don’t love it because he hasn’t shown that he can make it consistently.”
And here’s what that adjustment looks like for Traore…
Fernández is right: Per Synergy Sports, Traore is scoring just 0.79 points per off-the-dribble jumper, a 26th percentile mark league-wide. (Compare that to his 1.03 points per catch-and-shoot jumper, 38th percentile league-wide.)
But when Traore is using a screen, then a re-screen, then finding an angle to attack, you see his prodigious speed in action. Of course, he looks so much more comfortable than he did at season’s beginning, putting defenders in jail and getting to two feet to pivot around. His assist-to-turnover ratio is nearing 2:1, and those jump-stops in the lane are a big reason why.
Other than patience and poise, the big key for Traore is how far he can probe into the lane with a live-dribble. That was the most worrisome part of his prospect profile to me — here was a speedy, penetrating guard whose handle was suspect in tight spaces. Traore has done a much better job lately extending his dribble, though old habits still rear their ugly head from time to time. You can see the difference in these two plays:
Is Traore bendy/crafty enough to excel with his skinny frame? We’ll see. But this past month of play has been thrilling. Perhaps he’s not two years away from being two years away.
Drake Powell
I don’t really have a ton to say about Drake Powell because he doesn’t really do a ton on the court. He’s fallen below 15% usage, though that shouldn’t be a shock for a first-round pick with one of the lowest usage-rates of all time in his pre-draft year.
That by itself isn’t particularly worrying, though after some early season performances like his 15/3/3 game against the New York Knicks, where he moonlighted as lead ball-handler for the second unit, I thought we’d avoid Kris Dunn-level offensive responsibility. I mean, the flashes are there, including his 47% conversion rate on mid-range shots, per Cleaning the Glass…
Alas, the handle/processing is pretty far away from being able to shoulder any real offensive burden. Oh well.
I’m more concerned about Powell’s catch-and-shoot deficiencies: After scoring 1.18 points per shot on catch-and-shoot jumpers at UNC, he’s down to 0.87 points per possession (16th percentile) in the pros. Small sample, rookie year, I get it. But if defenses don’t feel the need to close out to Powell, it gets a little spooky.
Not to pile on, but the defensive creation hasn’t been there either. Low block/steal rates, and he’s tied with Danny Wolf and Michael Porter Jr. in deflections per minute, toward the bottom of the team. The rebounding numbers are low, too. So right now, the question is simply: What does Drake Powell do?
I don’t know yet. He probably needs to put on some real muscle this summer and next, but before then, Powell can keep taking advantage of Brooklyn’s increased pace. The Nets are no longer one of the slowest, fastbreak-avoidant teams in the league, and that should grant Powell more opportunity to explore.
Thanks to his archetype, raw athleticism, and flashes of on-ball defense, coaches and front offices will keep giving him the benefit of the doubt. That includes Jordi Fernández. But over the final third of this season, I’d like to see one consistent skill from Powell, whatever that may be.
Danny Wolf
Danny Wolf is no longer shooting the lowest 2-point% of any player 6’11” or taller, minimum 50 attempts. Hooray! (That’s because, since January 23rd, Christian Koloko and Hansen Yang have qualified. Wolf hasn’t passed anybody.)
Wolf had a couple strong games against a couple really bad teams before All-Star Weekend, where Fernández put the ball in his hands a bit more. He opened up about the experience: “The last month, two months, it’s a lot of learning. I was playing off the ball, and for me, it’s just like, I felt a little bit too sped up. But there’s gonna be games where that’s my role. And then when coach does give me the ball and trusts me with it, it’s on me to make the right play. I think for me, it was just — I know I’m a work in progress, especially off the ball.”
Wolf will have to make 3-point shots; only time will tell if he’s capable. But now that he’s not shooting 50% from three anymore, like he was when he burst onto the scene, it’s been pretty rough going on offense. Some of it certainly is being too sped up — you can see it when he tries to dribble through a crowd — but so much of it is a lack of vertical pop.
He gets fouled here, but at 6’11” with a full head of steam and taking off from the restricted area, you gotta try and dunk this or something…
So yeah, I’m pretty worried about his scoring profile. Not much else to say there.
That being said, Wolf’s defense in isolation has been a pleasant surprise of his rookie year. Anytime a (non-Jimmy Butler) player tries to size him up, it typically does more to stunt the offense rather than truly expose Wolf. Considering his above-average block/rebound numbers in a beefy front-court next to Day’Ron Sharpe, I’d say that end of the floor has been a positive in his rookie year.
Elsewhere, his assist:turnover ratio is also nearing 2:1, and as we saw at Michigan, many of his best passes go to Day’Ron Sharpe or Nic Claxton as pick-and-roll lobs or dump-offs around the rim. Given his 3-point heavy shot diet and particular passing strengths, I think it’s safe to say the Nets have a position in mind for him going forward.
Over the final third of the season, I’d love to see Wolf either sweep his arms through the lane and draw some more fouls á la Noah Clowney, use more deceleration driving to the rim, or get to two feet and create more kick-out opportunities.
Alas, Danny Wolf has to score to reach his high-end outcome. That’s his sell. Bully little guys and embarrass the oafs. The defensive flashes and occasional spot-up three (though he needs to improve his %s there) are cool, but let’s hope to see some more reliable finishing over this final third of the season.
Ben Saraf
Ben Saraf may be the true dud of the bunch, but it’s too early to be sure. He was picked #26 overall, and has struggled with both Long Island in the G League and with the Brooklyn Nets. However, he did just go for 18/6/8 in Long Island’s most recent game.
Saraf is shooting just 25% from deep with the big league club, and the stroke doesn’t look great either, though he’s in the mid-30s with Long Island. Either way, it’s an incredibly small sample that’s tough to draw conclusions from, but of all Brooklyn’s rookies, Saraf is the one who desperately needs to show some shooting improvement next season, if not right now.
He’s simply lacking confidence, especially when he’s up with Brooklyn. Perhaps this G League stint will do him well, as it did Traore before him, but right now, he’s not showcasing his strengths. Saraf’s drives are wayward; he was never the most explosive athlete, but he had more counters than this…
Where’s the behind-the-back, the spin, the jump-stop and pivot? Watch a couple highlights of Saraf as a prospect, and you’ll know it’s in there somewhere. He might not be an NBA-level scorer — Saraf is shooting just 38.7% from the floor in the G League, despite nailing some threes — but he’s gotta die trying.
Hey, eight assists per 100 possessions ain’t so bad.
Alright, maybe I’m not as high on this rookie class as I thought I was.
It’s still early, though. And Egor Dëmin has stones no spreadsheet can quantify; just look at the end of that Orlando Magic game. And Nolan Traore is improving, while Drake Powell just threw down a huge dunk…
Since I harped on his 2-point scoring here, Danny Wolf will probably just 10-of-10 next game out, same for Saraf.
The Flatbush Five are entering the home stretch of their rookie season. They may not save the Brooklyn Nets in one fell swoop, but such a drastic rebuild was never going to be easy. Plus, you can’t discount how they might improve playing next to the blue-chip talent the Nets hope to add in the 2026 NBA Draft…but it’s too early to talk about that.
For now, Egor Dëmin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf are all just trying to make it work. Their next opportunity to show out comes on Sunday afternoon as the Brooklyn Nets face the Atlanta Hawks with tip-off scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
