The #26 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, one of the five first-rounders belonging to the Brooklyn Nets, did not have an impressive Las Vegas Summer League. Ben Saraf averaged 7/2/4 on 30% shooting in three
appearances, and despite an impressive drive here and there, the jumper looked even wonkier than advertised. But, as one anonymous front office member told Spotrac’s Keith Smith, “We’re not too worried about the shooting here. Both guys (including Nolan Traore) just finished up their seasons overseas. They were both pretty wiped out.”
Memories of Summer League, as they do, quickly fizzled away. Fast-forward to October, and Saraf was battling Tyrese Martin as the most hyped player at training camp. Both publicly and privately, Nets players and personnel praised Saraf as a poised, physical player who was further along than his 19 years would suggest. Jaws weren’t dropping, but eyebrows were certainly raising.
And over three preseason games thus far, you’ve seen why. After three preseason games totaling 59 minutes played, Saraf seems ready for the challenge of the NBA. That’s a half-step below being NBA ready; he won’t be good right away, but he doesn’t seem out of place, no small feat for a 19-year-old guard drafted at the end of the first round. In the second Macao game against the Phoenix Suns, he scored just six points, but dropped 11 assists compared to just three turnovers. He’s up to 17 assists in total vs. just six turnovers; Traore, for comparison, has six assists to nine turnovers.
It’s early, but it’s something. One studious draft analyst told me: “Just really like the strength with pace and feel. Can get to some spots and knows what to do with it. I think he has the fewest critical issues of the rookie group.”
Now, that may seem like an odd opinion considering Saraf still hasn’t shown much in the way of outside shooting, an issue this analyst concedes may limit the rookie’s longterm ceiling: “But I think I can throw him out there and feel more comfortable with how he’ll manage the game than the rest of the group.”
Ding ding ding. That sentiment right there is why Saraf may just start on Opening Night for the Brooklyn Nets, and why he may see very few minutes in Long Island this season, compared with his draft classmates. Missing jumpers is one thing, but as long as he takes them (no immediate guarantee), Saraf shouldn’t be such a terrible shooter that the offenses collapses around him. There will be moments of struggle, but he is a strong, physical driver who generally knows where the ball should go. On this Nets team, that’s enough to play on day one.
What did Ben Saraf show last season?
It’s only been six exhibition games for Saraf in a Brooklyn uniform, and just two against legitimate NBA competition. Thankfully, his solid start to the preseason comes as no surprise after a thorough investigation into his 2024-25 season, which he spent with Ratiopharm Ulm, the second-best team in Basketball Bundesliga (the highest level of German pro ball).
Saraf appeared in 30 regular season games, 16 Eurocup games, and 13 playoff games in a long season for Ratiopharm, per ProBallers, averaging about 12/3/4 on 30% 3-point shooting in those 59 total appearances. Yeah, he probably was wiped out by Vegas.
Over those 59 games, it was the aforementioned strength/pace/feel combination that made him a first-round pick…
These clips also demonstrate some of Saraf’s defining traits: He is always trying to get back to his left hand, and he is quite fond of the deceleration, those slow final steps on drives that often allow the NBA’s below-the-rim finishers to discard their defenders. And Saraf is certainly is that: of the 504 field goals he attempted in the halfcourt with Ratiopharm last season, he dunked it just three times. The 6’6” lefty clearly has gifts, but vertical explosiveness is not one.
However, physicality just might be. He loves to initiate contact on drives, a skill Nets fans have already seen in his incubatory NBA career. Once Saraf gets a defender on his hip, they will be treated to an elbow or a shoulder, and the first-round pick is pretty solid about making sure these don’t become offensive fouls.
“I think I started doing it like last year or maybe even a little bit before,” said Saraf during training camp. “I love this move. I feel like I can get my defender off balance, and then it’s going to be an easier layup. And I work on it here a lot. And I feel like also the physical part is really important. And I’m getting a lot bigger here, and nutrition and everything, it’s all part of it. So, yeah, I think this is the point.”
He’s not going to be consistently bullying NBA defenders right away, but this is a long-term, marketable skill that combats some of his other athletic limitations. Nolan Traore, for example, is clearly going to be a bit overwhelmed with NBA size and strength at first, but Saraf’s physicality might make him playable right away.
Outside shot pending, the Brooklyn Nets likely do earnestly believe that Saraf can retain some value off the ball. You can never have too many smart decision-makers and transition ball-handlers anyway, but betting that Saraf’s craft will translate to a variety of play-types does not seem so foolish to me. Here, he’s reading the floor, he’s decelerating into a bucket, it just starts with a closeout instead of a high pick-and-roll…
This was not the norm for Saraf at Ratiopharm — he controlled the ball on just about every half-court possession, and with a clap of his hands could restart the possession at the top of the key. In fact, he’ll have to work on that Trae Young-esque (sorry) tendency to loaf by half-court after he gives the ball up. But if the Nets are betting that Saraf’s skillset is a tad more versatile than many believe, they do have some proof-of-concept to work with.
As for the outside shot … who knows, really? That being said, he did shoot nearly 37% on catch-and-shoot threes last season, taking fewer than two per game. Saraf took the vast majority of his jumpers off the dribble, but his shot diet will undergo a major shift with the Nets. Synergy Sports tracked him as making 68 off-the-dribble jumpers last season; just a dozen were 3-pointers. In fact, well over one-third of his half-court shot attempts came from the midrange with Ratiopharm. That’s just not gonna happen in the NBA, nor should it; Saraf has acknowledged as much.
“It’s more 3-point shots or shots at the rim, free throws, less mid-range. Those are things I used to like to do, but now I need to adjust and they’re really helping me with that. So, I’m working on my 3-point shot, my ability to get to the rim, so I think those are the main differences for me.”
What to look for this season
To be clear, Brooklyn Nets fans should be excited about Saraf. Again, it’s been just two exhibition games against NBA competition, but between that and training camp, a 19-year-old picked at #26 overall looks like he belongs. That’s great news! So, what do we want to see from Saraf this season, aside from making as many jumpers and being as feisty on defense as possible?
First, I’ll be honed in on his conversion rate close to the bast. It’s no secret that to be a productive NBA guard, Saraf is going to have to do most of his damage at the rim, no matter where his career takes him. If he can approach a 60% conversion rate (55% might be more realistic) in the restricted area and supplant that with a high foul-drawing rate, that will be cause for celebration.
To that end, he’ll need to diversify his finishing bag a little big. Some more two-foot finishes here and there and a bit less reliance on the deceleration would do him well; occasionally, he’s prone to plays like these…
The deceleration doesn’t do any good on these plays; Saraf actually relinquishes his advantage and plays much smaller than his 6’6” frame would suggest. I guess the questions really are: how much can craft and positional size make up for a lack of explosion and flexibility (think Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his elastic limbs)? And how much craft does Saraf really possess?
Second, I’ll be honed in on his last-second decision-making. You can say this about every single young ball-handler in the NBA, of course, and Saraf is no different. Given his reliance on that deceleration and preference to play off of one foot, he can find himself lost on drives after picking up his dribble a bit early. Coupled with his lack of burst, this occasionally leads to turnovers like this one…
Of course, this dovetails with his ability to get to two feet and change pace a little bit more on his drives. Saraf’s handle is undoubtedly a strength; he can reject pick-and-rolls and respond to reaches with a quick change-of-direction move, but can he take that extra dribble in the lane a bit more often? (Long-time readers have seen me ask this question all. the. time.)
Other times, feels as though Saraf predetermines shot-or-pass before he’s really gotten to the last line of help defense…
That second play isn’t such a poor decision, but there is a wide-open 3-point shooter sitting in the corner. Saraf makes a lot of passes, and has some funky deliveries in his bag, but if he can throw some more dimes deeper into his drives…look out.
Third, as this is part of the outside shooting question, I’ll be locked in on what Saraf does against teams that play off him. With Ratiopharm, he saw two defenders at the level quite often, with the big man hedging out before recovering to the roller. This is a more common pick-and-roll coverage in Europe, where there are fewer Damian Lillards shooting 30-footers off the bounce and Daniel Gaffords catching lobs above the square. (The Nets, actually, hedge-and-recovered more than any other team in the NBA last season.)
But putting two defenders on the ball is willingly putting your defense in rotation — duh, three defenders have to guard the other four players. Ben Saraf made many of his best passes in these situations, seeing over the defense and reading the weak-side help. At times, he also just drove around the big man or split the two defenders, whichever way led him back to his left hand.
The NBA isn’t going to be a total 180 for Saraf…but it might be a 120? Besides simply going under screens, teams are going to play drop coverage against him, daring a midrange shot. Or they’ll simply switch, a coverage Saraf faced occasionally with Ratiopharm. The results were middling, with slower big men often being able to retreat and live with a jumper in isolation…
(Between that second clip and the fact Saraf wears #77, can you tell his favorite player is Luka Dončić?)
Skills! Areas for growth! Concerns! Two-and-a-half years after blowing up the remnants of a contender, the Brooklyn Nets are finally about to embark on a rebuild. At least the potentially rewarding part; a 26-win season in 2024-25 certainly qualified as the start of a new era, but without the young talent to match, it often felt like a time suck. Now, the Nets have a collection of young talent, and though we have no idea how good any of them will be just yet, it’s safe to say Ben Saraf is off to a decent start.
Ben Saraf could be a reliable, physical ball-handler for years to come, a perfect complement to the star Brooklyn hopes to land in either the ‘26 NBA Draft or on the trade market as they look to become relevant once again. Saraf likely won’t change the course of the franchise by himself, but he could be something. And at #26 overall, that’d be a win for the Nets.
Our next chance to see Saraf in action if Friday night at 7:00 p.m. ET, when the Nets visit the Toronto Raptors to conclude the preseason.
