The Brooklyn Nets may not wait long before they start sorting out their 2025 draft class.
That group already made a little history for Brooklyn, but now the harder part begins: figuring out which of those first-round rookies can actually grow with the team and which ones might be running out of runway sooner than expected. After last season’s unusual setup, Jordi Fernandez had to manage five first-round rookies at once, and that experiment now comes with a fresh layer of evaluation.
Brooklyn at least has a clearer sense of what it wants to see from the group going forward. The ideal path would be simple enough - keep giving all five reps and let the development continue into 2026-27. But the Nets also can’t afford to pour time into players who look like dead ends.
Egor Demin and Danny Wolf stood out more than the others in the rookie class last season, while Drake Powell, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf each had stretches where they showed real flashes and steadier play. Even so, none of the five currently looks like a clear star-in-the-making, and that’s where the pressure starts to build.
That reality makes Mikel Brown Jr.’s rookie year even more important, but it also complicates things for Brooklyn as a whole. The gap between the best and worst performers in the 2025 class is smaller than the Nets probably hoped for, which means the team may have to make quicker judgments than expected once the focus shifts toward winning games.
Last season, each of the first-round rookies started double-digit games and found at least one area where they had success. The Nets will need those traits to carry over in a different setting next season, but there’s still reason to think the group has something to build on.
At the same time, Brooklyn has to be smart about where it spends its attention. If that means moving on from someone in the class as early as next season, that possibility is very much on the table. With so much backcourt depth, Traore and Saraf could feel that pressure most directly.
The Nets could still choose to treat next season as another development year and work through the mistakes that come with young players. But it wouldn’t be a shock if this 2025 class starts getting split up before next season is even over.
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The 4 Names At The Center Of Brooklyn Nets History
Brook Lopez, Kevin Durant, Joe Harris and Nic Claxton sit at the center of Brooklyns modern basketball identity, each leaving a different kind of mark since the franchise moved to the borough in 2012. Lopez was the first real star of the Brooklyn era and remains the teams all-time leading scorer, Durant delivered the highest peak with the kind of playoff moments that reshaped the ceiling of the franchise, Harris became one of the leagues premier three-point shooters in a key supporting role, and Claxton grew from homegrown prospect into a defensive anchor.
What makes this group stand out is how varied the legacy is. Brooklyn has had plenty of shorter-term names come and go, but these four represent the through line of the Nets most relevant years, whether through production, longevity or the way they defined specific eras. For a franchise still measuring its identity in the borough, their cases offer a useful snapshot of what has mattered most since the relocation. [Read more 🡒]
Ben Saraf Just Put Real Pressure On Brooklyns Point Guard Plans
Ben Sarafs summer league run gave Brooklyn a better look at what it has in the 19-year-old guard, and it also made the teams backcourt picture a little more interesting heading into training camp. Across the California Classic and Las Vegas, Saraf showed enough playmaking to keep himself in the conversation, averaging 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals while logging steady reps against NBA-level competition.
The bigger question now is how that production translates once the Nets start sorting out actual point guard minutes. Saraf is set to battle Mikel Brown Jr. and Nolan Traore for playing time, and the competition is shaping up to be one of Brooklyns most notable camp storylines, especially with Brown viewed as the likelier starter. Saraf still has to answer concerns about how much pressure he can create as a perimeter scorer and whether he can consistently finish, but he has at least earned a real chance to make the decision tougher. [Read more 🡒]