The Brooklyn Nets got a much-needed lift from Nolan Traoré on Sunday night, even as the rest of the roster stalled out in a loss to the Indiana Pacers. While Brooklyn hung around through the first half, the game slipped away late, and the second-year guard ended up carrying the scoring load.
Traoré led the Nets with 17 points after Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle couldn’t get the offense moving the way Brooklyn needed. He hit two of his three 3-pointers, added five assists and blocked two shots, giving the Nets a burst of production that stood out in a rough team effort.
The outing fit the kind of role Traoré seems positioned to handle right now: not necessarily a starter, but a bench creator who can steady the offense and create something when the possessions bog down. He was sharp attacking downhill against Indiana, making the right reads and finding shooters on the perimeter. His best pass came on a pick-and-roll with backup center Chaney Johnson, when he came off the screen with pace and floated the ball up to the rolling big man.
That ability to stretch the floor is still the swing skill with Traoré. His playing time will largely come down to whether he can keep knocking down outside shots, and Sunday offered another reminder of why the Nets value that part of his game. He opened the scoring for Brooklyn after the first minute with a top-of-the-key 3, then settled in and started letting it fly with confidence.
The 3-point touch has been part of Traoré’s appeal since he was drafted, and he showed more signs of growth over the course of last season. In 56 games, with 31 starts late in the year as the No. 19 overall pick, he earned a bigger look and delivered a career-best 23 points in an early-April win over the Washington Wizards. In that 121-115 victory, he buried five 3-pointers and added seven assists, giving him a fourth straight game of double-digit scoring and strong passing.
He carried that progress into the preseason, too, putting up 51 points in just 68 minutes across four appearances while shooting 56.3% from the field.
With Mikel Brown Jr. still working back to full health, Traoré is the most likely of Brooklyn’s young guards to carve out meaningful minutes. Outside of Egor Dëmin, the other four first-round picks from the Nets’ haul two seasons ago are still trying to separate themselves, but Traoré looks best positioned to claim a real role in Jordi Fernández’s rotation as the season goes on.
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