“There’s a blueprint in the NBA right now where some of the best teams — guys really really enjoy spending time with each other.”
I enjoyed this quote from Danny Wolf on Brooklyn Nets Media Day (which Collin Helwig admirably covered here, particularly all news items), because you typically hear “blueprint” regarding roster construction and team-wide traits like positional size and ball-handling, but I enjoy the idea of like, Sean Marks consulting his Friendship Coordinator to track what free agents
share the most common interests with Egor Dëmin. Not that Wolf is wrong. He is one of many Gen Z basketball fans inundated with stories of true killers like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant verbally abusing their teammates, only to see Oklahoma City Thunder’s youngsters and the “Power of Friendship” ‘Nova Knicks win the past two titles.
Rest assured, the Brooklyn Nets aren’t chasing friendship. Not exactly. But Danny Wolf was one of the last players to speak at Media Day, and his comments on locker-room chemistry were right in line with the day’s theme, and only a little bit because every player is smiley and eager to buy into his role on day one. Incoming veterans brought the energy, though. Mikel Brown Jr. again called himself a savant while Dëmin joked about his golf game, but if there was anything to learn about the 2026-27 Nets at Media Day, it was from Julius Randle, Keon Ellis, and Moe Wagner.
These are not late-stage-Garrett-Temple veterans, pseudo-coaches that just practice hard. They will play heavy minutes in direct competition with recent draft picks while fostering a fun, competitive environment at the same time. That’s the hope, anyway.
“They’ve been outstanding,” said Head Coach Jordi Fernández. “And the reason why is they’re not trying to do too much. What they’re trying to do is show how they’re pros, and you start leading by example. And then when you start earning that trust, because you work every day and you’ve done it for so many years and so forth, then you can keep taking steps.”
The Brooklyn Nets will not put 22 different players on the court this season in an overt race to the bottom of the league. There are expectations — maybe not of 50 wins, but that Malachi Smith, Tre Scott, and Tyson Etienne won’t lead the team in April minutes. Randle, Ellis, and Wagner personify those expectations, and though you can quibble with each player’s productivity, their presence was felt on Media Day.
Wagner had no shortage of feel-good quotes: “I don’t have to prove anything. Like, I feel very secure with who I am. I don’t want to steal anyone’s spots, I don’t want to compete with anyone on the team about minutes or anything, I want to win long term … I think the chemistry here in this building is amazing.”
The big German offered to take Day’Ron Sharpe, with whom he was sharing the podium, on the subway for the first time (it’s only Day’Ron’s sixth year in Brooklyn). Wagner complimented Day’Ron’s game extensively, congratulated him on marriage, and the two laughed about smack-talk and referee-baiting. Then Day’Ron, suddenly in his sixth year in the NBA, opened up about being a leader: “I just try to be there when [young players] need me … I try to just give them the words of advice, words of encouragement. I was 19, 20, you know, I wasn’t the best. I made some wrong decisions, I wasn’t the best professional. So I just try to lead by example, and you know, that’s all I can do.”
Sharpe is no Julius Randle, though. Entering his 13th NBA season, Randle discussed his evolution as a 3-point shooter, telling stories about being Kobe Bryant’s teammate, and even whatever the heck happened on his golf trip with Brown Jr. and Dëmin:
Randle already has love for his two baby-faced guards, and he echoed the classic line about leadership. It’s, spoiler alert, mostly done by example. But he at least explained why: “They’re obviously really, really talented, extremely talented. But they have a competitive nature, being around them early, just a hunger to get better. So when you have that, all you really just need is guidance and example.”
Fans of Julius Randle’s previous teams will tell you that he is incredibly moody. That his bad moods can swing a game, a season, a locker room. The Minnesota Timberwolves did not seem to miss him at their Media Day.
Brooklyn is a far cry from his previous situations, though. Julius Randle is now the stabilizing force for an up-and-coming team that probably won’t even be good, just hopefully competitive. Little stands in the way of his touches and minutes, while the 31-year-old father is also excited to live in New York City once more.
Randle gushed about the transition for his eldest son, who is back at his old school with his old friends, adding, “When things are easier off the court, when they’re great at home and they’re happy and all of those things, it makes the basketball part, the work part, that much easier. I don’t even consider it work, but it makes the basketball part that much easier. So I feel really balanced, really happy, at peace here.”
I believe that it will last. Am I also delusionally optimistic? Keon Ellis is a bit younger, 26 years old but still well into veteran-status on this neophytic team. Especially after his Media Day presser, where he gave textbook answers in a booming, made-for-broadcasting voice. For example, is he worried about minutes? No: “It’s the same problem that every team is gonna have. Everyone’s fighting for minutes, and I mean, it’s just the nature of the game too. So I think everyone, you know, trying to fight for spots, minutes, whatever, it just makes you know your teammate better. For whoever is going to play.”
Wagner, Randle, and Ellis are unlike the new faces we’ve seen at recent Brooklyn Nets Media Days. They are established veterans in both character and talent; Sean Marks wanted leaders, sure, but these guys want an opportunity to play for a winning club. Trendon Watford, Keon Johnson, and Ziaire Williams for example, were all veterans to some degree, but those guys just really needed to play. Even (or especially) for a crappy team.
Even when answering a question about Michael Porter Jr., Sean Marks went right to the leadership well: “We’re expecting big things from not only himself, but Mo and Keon and Julius, the guys we brought in who have seen other environments, and we’re asking them to lead and to lead by example, both on and off the court.”
Once again, that C-word. Culture. Character too, for that matter. Sean Marks and the Nets are all about it, and on Monday morning, it was evident. Will the rookies and sophomores benefit? This team has taken a minor step toward relevancy, but are these the right veterans to usher in the major step, the blockbuster trade(s) Nets fans are impatiently longing for? We’ll find out quite soon.
The Brooklyn Nets open preseason play with a road game against the Charlotte Hornets on October 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.
