Brooklyn’s plan to get Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Demin on the floor together will have to wait again.
Brown was ruled out Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans because of an illness, even though Demin is set to return after missing six games. That takes away the chance for Nets fans to finally see the team’s first lottery picks of the Brooklyn era share meaningful minutes together, something that has barely happened 10 games into the season.
The two back-to-back top-10 selections have only played four minutes side by side all year, and that came in Brooklyn’s second game, a 125-121 road loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They didn’t share the court in any of the first four games before Demin went down with a bone bruise in his right leg.
There was at least a little more uncertainty around the lineup on Wednesday after sophomore point guard Nolan Traore appeared on the injury report. The French floor general, who has started Brooklyn’s last seven games, is questionable with right calf soreness.
If Brown and Traore both sit, Demin could slide back into a starting point guard role. He opened the season as Brooklyn’s starter at the position for the first three games, with Keon Ellis at shooting guard, but that setup never really clicked. The Nets averaged 111.0 points in those games, shot 41.7 percent from the field and coughed it up 18.7 times per night.
Danny Wolf has started the last two games at shooting guard next to Traore, and his ability to handle the ball and pass may fit better alongside Demin than Ellis’ more limited offensive game.
Brown’s absence also pauses what has quietly been a strong start from the rookie guard. In seven NBA games, he has averaged 12.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 turnovers while shooting 34.6 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from three. His last two outings have been his best yet: 18.0 points and 3.5 assists on 11-of-24 shooting, 6-of-13 from deep and 8-of-11 at the line in 22.5 minutes per game across the win over the Charlotte Hornets and the loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
He has also been Brooklyn’s most reliable clutch scorer so far, putting up 16 points in 13 clutch minutes while hitting 4-of-8 from three.
Demin, meanwhile, has had a rough opening stretch. The 2025 No. 8 pick has averaged 9.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers on 8-of-26 shooting from the field and 6-of-19 from three across his first three appearances. Before leaving the loss to the Boston Celtics with the leg injury, he had two points on 1-of-3 shooting, one rebound, two assists and one turnover in 10 minutes.
Brooklyn is also trying to stop the slide that followed back-to-back losses to the Hawks and Mavericks, which dropped the Nets to 2-8. Jordi Fernandez’s team ranks 28th on offense at 105.6, 23rd on defense at 114.8 and 25th in net rating at minus-9.1.
New Orleans comes in having lost three straight after a four-game winning streak, giving Brooklyn a chance to snap out of its own funk.
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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 🡒]
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Mikel Brown Jr. has started to make the kind of quiet climb that gets noticed around the league, even if the minutes have been limited. After a strong two-game stretch, the Nets rookie guard moved up to No. 8 on NBA.coms rookie ladder, and his recent play has given Brooklyn a little more reason to keep watching closely. He is averaging 12.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, production that stands out even with the restrictions on his workload.
Jordi Fernandez has already shown some trust in the rookie, and that matters for a team trying to balance development with caution. Browns role is still being managed carefully, but the way he has handled the opportunities he has been given suggests the Nets may soon have to make a tougher call on how much more they can keep him on a short leash. [Read more 🡒]