The Brooklyn Nets aren’t exactly known as a successful NBA franchise, and they didn’t do themselves any favors this summer.
This summer, the Brooklyn Nets added five (5!) first-round picks. They drafted Egor Demin, Nolan Traoré, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf, and traded for Drake Powell the following month.
Even though Demin was the only top-ten pick, one would expect the Nets to land at least one high-end talent. After all, the draft is a crapshoot, and the Nets had more dice than anyone.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. Even with the Nets having ample playing time for each of their prized youngsters, none of them have shown much—if any—promise. It took Demin, a 6-9 point guard with slashing prowess, six games to attempt even a single shot inside the 3-point line.
The 2025 draft class was expected to be the first step in a rebuild for Brooklyn. If this is step one, fans shouldn’t be excited for step two. The Nets’ draft was one of the worst additions of any team ever, and even in the moment, it looked ill-fated.
Nets’ Draft Was a Masterclass in Poor Execution
Egor Demin? Point guard. Nolan Traoré? Point guard. Ben Saraf? A combo guard who is best suited to play point guard. Danny Wolf? The closest thing to a point-center since Nikola Jokic and Domantas Sabonis, minus the instinctive feel for the game. Drake Powell? An actual NBA wing, although he was picked by the Atlanta Hawks before the Nets traded for him.
As if that wasn’t enough for five rookies to all have in common, none of them are very good basketball players.
So far, 44 drafted players have made their debuts this season. On average, the Nets’ rookies rank 28th in points per game and, somehow, 16th in assists despite four of them being pass-first players.
Not a good look. Nic Claxton leads the team in assists. League-wide, he is 62nd. None of the Nets’ rookies rank in the top 100 in that category.
When the dust settled on draft night, the Nets and New Orleans Pelicans, by all accounts, had the worst performances. The Pelicans gave up their future for Derik Queen, and the Nets squandered their present.
No team has ever added five first-round picks in a single summer. These Nets are the first. Of course, it doesn’t help that their veteran leader is noted podcaster Michael Porter Jr., but some degree of talent has to be expected.
Only two other teams have ever selected four first-round players: the 2009 Minnesota Timberwolves and 1990 Sacramento Kings.
The Wolves twice passed on Stephen Curry in 2009, but they ended up with Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn, both of whom made the All-Rookie team. Wayne Ellington had a long career, mostly elsewhere, and Ty Lawson was also a good pick, although he was traded on draft night for a future pick, who was then traded for Martell Webster.
Even Minnesota had the sense not to add four rookies.
The 1990 Kings were a different story. They drafted Lionel Simmons, Travis Mays, Duane Causwell, and Anthony Bonner in the first round. Simmons and Mays actually had very solid rookie seasons for the Kings, and Causwell and Bonner were at least servicable, unlike any of the Nets’ picks so far.
Interestingly enough, the Kings’ second-best pick (by VORP) was Bimbo Coles, taken in the second round, 40th overall, although he was traded on draft night to the Miami Heat for Rory Sparrow.
Sparrow had one of his better seasons in 1990.
While the Wolves can be mocked relentlessly for picking two players not named Stephen Curry, they at least ended up with quality talent. The same can be said for the Kings.
Neither the Kings nor Wolves had a very good season after their massive drafts, and it would be several years before either team would make the postseason. However, Brooklyn has won only a single game.
In that contest, Demin, Traoré, Saraf, Wolf, and Powell combined for 13 minutes, and the Nets barely beat the Indiana Pacers, who are also 1-7 on the season.
It’s early in all five rookies’ careers, but the writing is on the wall. 16.6% of the NBA’s first-round picks are playing on the Nets this season. None of those players averages even 24 minutes per game.
Even the coaching staff knows this summer was a total waste.
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