Mikel Brown Jr. is wasting no time making noise for the Brooklyn Nets.
The rookie guard dropped 20 points in a 91-65 Summer League win over the New York Knicks, and the performance only added fuel to the buzz around the Louisville product. Even without facing the same group that had just won a championship, Brown still turned heads and backed up the kind of praise Stephen A. Smith has already been handing out.
Smith didn’t hold back in his assessment of Brown.
"Let me tell you something right now," Smith told Brown. "Your mentality, your approach, your everything like that, I've seen your game.
I know your game is legit. I hope that you're as healthy as they say you are.
You stay healthy. You're a really impressive kid.
Keep doing what you're doing, and you got star potential. Make no mistake about it.
"Brother's special, y'all," Smith added. "Brother can ball.
I'm here to tell y'all right now. I've seen him.
He can ball. And you got a lot of people that's looking at him and they say this brother's gonna be a superstar in this league someday.
Listening to him talk right there, that's what you wanna hear from your point guard. That leadership.
That team chemistry. That ability to hold others accountable.
And yourself as well. He seems to be the total package."
That kind of language is not thrown around lightly, and Brown’s game is giving people reasons to lean in. He can create off the dribble, rise up from deep, and get into the paint with force - the kind of shot-making and pressure that Brooklyn has been missing at the guard spot. The bigger question is whether those tools hold up when the competition gets tougher, but the early signs are encouraging.
Brown has also made it clear he wants to be seen as more than just a scorer. He has spoken at length about wanting to be known as a good person and teammate, and that mindset fits the idea of him becoming a floor general in Brooklyn for years to come.
There’s been promise on the other end, too. Brown has shown he can use his size and length to stay in front of his man and work through ball screens, giving the Nets a two-way guard to keep watching.
His fit with backcourt partner Egor Dëmin will be one of the more interesting things to track over the next few years. Brown’s ability to get downhill pairs naturally with Dëmin’s catch-and-shoot touch from 3-point range, and that combination could help Brooklyn pile up points.
Like most rookies, Brown is likely to hit some bumps along the way. Still, there’s enough here already to put him in the Rookie of the Year conversation.
In Other News...
Julius Randle Sends Clear Message About Brooklyns Rebuild Patience
Julius Randle is already making the case for patience in Brooklyn, where the offseason trade that brought him in from Minnesota also signaled a broader reset. The veteran forward met with the media this week and framed the Nets approach for the coming season as one built around belief in the rosters talent, even after a brutal 20-62 finish last year.
Randle did not sugarcoat the challenge ahead, and that is part of what makes his voice matter for a team trying to climb back into relevance. Brooklyn is still leaning into development while trying to add real structure around its younger pieces, and Randles arrival gives the Nets a more established presence as they try to turn potential into something sturdier, even if the next step may be more incremental than dramatic. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Sign Joshua Jefferson To Multi-Year Deal With Real Rookie Buzz
The Nets have locked in another piece of their young core, signing forward Joshua Jefferson to a multi-year deal after taking him with the 28th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Jefferson arrives in Brooklyn with a reputation that stretches well beyond draft night, built over four college seasons at Saint Marys and Iowa State, where he became one of the more versatile forwards in the country.
His rsum includes All-America Second Team and All-Big 12 First Team honors, plus a standout 2025-26 season that put him in rare company nationwide. Jefferson led Division I in triple-doubles and set a Big 12 mark for multiple triple-doubles in conference play, the kind of production that gives the Nets a different sort of frontcourt option as they continue shaping the roster around their latest wave of talent. [Read more 🡒]
Joshua Jefferson Just Got His First Real Nets Test
Joshua Jefferson finally got a real look in a Nets uniform in Las Vegas, and it came only after the trade that brought Julius Randle to Brooklyn was officially finalized on Friday. The rookie forward made his Summer League debut with nine points and two steals, giving the Nets a first glimpse of a player whose passing and feel are part of what intrigued them in the first place.
For Jefferson, it was also his first competitive game since March after an injury interrupted his spring and kept him from even getting practice reps. He sounded confident about how his game can translate into Brooklyns rotation, especially with the way he sees the floor and keeps the ball moving, but the bigger question is where that skill set fits once the roster is set and the minutes start getting divided up. [Read more 🡒]