The Brooklyn Nets are walking into next season with a roster that looks a lot different, and the message coming from inside the building is pretty clear: character comes first.
Brooklyn has brought in two-time All-NBA forward Julius Randle, Keon Ellis and Moe Wagner, adding veteran experience to a group that was short on it before. With no reason to chase the bottom of the standings next season, those additions could help speed up the process a little.
Egor Dëmin said the organization’s approach matters just as much as the names on the roster.
“Everybody's great players," Egor Dëmin said. "I think what is better is this organization cares about personalities and it cares about characters.
So we can definitely know that whoever comes to the team, it's going to be a great people. So I think that is what is the most important part of that process is to build a great and healthy locker room, right?
And from there, build a culture on and off the court, which is going to lead us towards playing more together, right? Which benefits to winning.”
Michael Porter Jr. is expected to stay with Brooklyn at least through the trade deadline, and his 3-point shooting should give the offense another layer. That setup also gives the Nets a chance to surround Porter, Dëmin and rookie Mikel Brown Jr. with more veteran voices.
Coach Jordi Fernández said that’s exactly the kind of direction the team wants to keep going.
"I think that what we're the most important thing for us is character, right? And the way you build an organization and a team, it's with people that care about the same things, right?
It's not about themselves; it's about the group, it's about how hard they can work to accomplish things together," Fernández said. "And I think right now everybody that we're bringing in, that we brought in, it's going to help us take the next step.
"It's not about going from zero to 100; it's about getting better, right? And all these guys that we are either looking to bring [in], or we brought in. There are guys that are selfless, that they're willing to connect with their teammates, that they are willing to compete every single time, so very happy with, so far where we are as a group, and we're going to continue to work."
For Brooklyn, the rebuild is going to come with its share of rough patches. But the organization is making it clear that the habits it builds now are the ones it wants to carry for years.
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Sean Marks has spent the rebuild trying to balance present competitiveness with future flexibility, bringing in veterans like Julius Randle, Keon Ellis and Moritz Wagner while keeping the cupboard stocked for bigger swings down the line. The question now is whether those moves are enough to quiet the debate, or whether Brooklyn is still waiting on the kind of star trade that can change the conversation in one move. [Read more 🡒]