Mikel Brown Jr. is on track to make his Nets preseason debut Wednesday in the finale, with Brooklyn ruling him out for Monday’s third preseason game against the Washington Wizards.
The rookie point guard has been a full participant in practice over the past few days, and unless something changes, he should get his first game action with Brooklyn later this week.
Brown said his early camp focus has been on absorbing the system and getting comfortable with what the staff wants.
“I'm just really learning the concepts and what our coaching staff wants us to do,” Brown said when asked about his focus while limited early in training camp. “I already got an introduction to it in Summer League, so I'm kind of already familiar with some of it.
So really being a sponge when it comes to that stuff and asking a lot of questions, just being vocal and being engaged… Taking a deeper dive into film, really just going back and watching the practices, watching the install. Just trying to make it second nature to me so when I come out on the court, when I get back to playing, I'm already knowing what I need to do.”
Brooklyn drafted Brown with the highest pick of its era, and the pressure that comes with that is obvious. He’s being paired with 2025 lottery pick Egor Demin as the long-term backbone of the Nets’ backcourt.
At Louisville, Brown’s freshman season was interrupted by a back injury, limiting him to 19 games. Even so, the 6-foot-4 guard showed enough in those minutes to hint at something bigger.
He carried that momentum into Summer League, where he put up 15.0 points, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 21.7 minutes per game over four outings. Head coach Jordi Fernandez likes what Brown and Demin could become together.
“The ability for both of them to shoot, the ability to create, and their positional size [stands out],” Fernandez said at Media Day. “I also can see the different timelines.
It's almost like Egor has already gone through that first year. Mikel is going through [that now].
I can see them building this relationship and trust, where one can help the other… I think that it's important for us that guys have to build that trust and relationship. If they have a great relationship as friends, that's great, but more so it's about building that trust on the court within the group, so when things get tough on the court, we can overcome those situations.
And I think these guys, at their age, will be very exciting to watch. You guys will see how they can complement each other.
But until we see it on the court, we're not going to be able to make the adjustments and [implement] what we work on in those things. But they definitely have been brought here for a reason, the same as everybody else.”
Demin was in a similar spot early on last season, missing Brooklyn’s first three preseason games while recovering from a plantar fascia tear. He then came off the bench for the Nets’ first eight regular-season games before moving into the starting five.
Brown could follow a comparable path as he eases into his rookie year. In the first three preseason games, free agent addition Keon Ellis has handled the backcourt spot next to Demin.
Brooklyn opens the regular season at home on Oct. 21 against the Charlotte Hornets.
In Other News...
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That growth matters because Brooklyn is looking for signs that the floor is rising, not just the ceiling. Demins progress gives Jordi Fernandez something to work with in shaping the guard rotation, while Julius Randle has also provided value with his play and his presence in the locker room. If those pieces keep moving in the right direction, the Nets may have a better chance of making home games feel like events again, which is part of the larger push to bring more fans back through the doors. [Read more 🡒]