Brooklyn Nets rookie guard Mikel Brown Jr. is starting to climb the league’s rookie ladder, and the latest bump says plenty about how his first NBA season is being viewed.
NBA.com moved Brown up to No. 8 after he had what Jeff Zillgitt called his “best two-game stretch of the season over the last week, averaging 18 points and shooting 45.8% from the field.” Brown had been sitting outside the top 10, but that recent run was enough to push him into the mix.
The 20-year-old has been productive in limited run, even with a minutes restriction still in place. Through seven games, Brown is averaging 12.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists while shooting 34.6% from the field and 31.3% from behind the three-point line. He’s doing it in just 23.1 minutes per game, which makes the production stand out even more.
Brown’s numbers don’t jump off the page the way they do for Sacramento Kings guard Darius Acuff Jr. or Golden State Warriors forward Yaxel Lendeborg, but he’s still making his presence felt. The former Louisville Cardinal has shown flashes of the point guard the Nets believe he can become, and his confidence seems to be building with each game.
That was on display Saturday in Brooklyn’s 124-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Brown scored 18 points and handed out three assists, and Jordi Fernandez trusted him enough to keep him on the floor for the entire fourth quarter.
“I know it’s the NBA, but all of my career, I’ve been that person to go to down the stretch, and be somebody that coaches could depend on,” Brown said after the game.
How long the minutes restriction stays in place remains to be seen, and that could end up being the difference between what Brown is doing now and what he might do with a larger workload. For now, the Nets have seen enough to keep praising his adjustment to the league, and the rest of the NBA is starting to take notice too.
In Other News...
Nets Backcourt Plan Hits Another Snag At The Worst Time
The Nets backcourt shuffle is getting harder to manage at a time when they can least afford it. Mikel Brown Jr. will miss the upcoming game against the New Orleans Pelicans because of illness, adding another obstacle for a team already trying to steady itself through a rough 2-8 start. Brown has been under a minutes restriction and has yet to start a game this season, so Brooklyn has been navigating his availability carefully while trying to keep some continuity in place.
Egor Demin is expected to give the group a boost by returning after a six-game absence, which at least gives the Nets another option as they try to find some rhythm. The timing matters against a Pelicans team that has dropped three straight, but Brooklyn still has to sort out how much it can lean on its guards and how quickly the rotation can settle. For a team searching for traction, every absence changes the equation a little more. [Read more 🡒]
Nets May Have A Frontcourt Option Worth Watching Closely
Grant Nelson keeps making himself harder to ignore. In Long Islands 142-106 win over the College Park Skyhawks, the forward turned in one of his best outings yet, scoring 18 points while pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds. He also flashed the kind of energy Brooklyn has been looking for in its frontcourt pipeline, running the floor well and showing he can affect the game around the rim.
The defensive side may be what gives him the most traction with the Nets. Nelson added two blocks and looked comfortable protecting the paint, which only adds to the momentum he has built with a strong preseason showing. For a Brooklyn team always monitoring its next internal option, he is starting to look like more than just a name in the system. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Suddenly Have An Early Minutes Puzzle Fans Should Watch
Egor Demins return gave Brooklyn a timely lift after a stretch of injury absences left the backcourt and wing rotation thinner than usual. The Nets had been without Nolan Traore and Mikel Brown Jr., and Demins presence helped steady things in a recent win while the team continued sorting through how to cover minutes with bodies coming and going.
The bigger question now is how Brooklyn handles the next wave of availability, especially with the roster still being managed carefully on the fly. Jordi Fernandez had to navigate the late news on Traore, and the way the Nets balance those unexpected absences against Demins re-entry into the mix could shape the early rotation picture in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]