Nolan Traore is wasting no time making his case in Year 2.
For the second straight season, the 20-year-old guard is the youngest player on the NBA’s youngest roster, and the gap is almost comical in places. At 20 years and five months old, Traore is six weeks younger than Mikel Brown, the Nets’ No. 6 pick in the 2026 Draft. Brown is also three weeks older than Ben Saraf.
But age only buys you a seat at the table. Traore is starting to show he belongs there.
The sample is still small, but the early signs are hard to miss. The 6-foot-4 point guard has steadily climbed offensively, scoring 10 points against the Charlotte Hornets, 12 against the Philadelphia 76ers and 17 on Monday. Through three games, he’s averaging 13 points while shooting 65% overall and 57.1% from 3-point range.
That’s a huge swing from where he stood at this point last year, when there were real questions about the No. 19 pick even within the Nets’ own executive offices at 168 39th Street in Sunset Park. By the numbers, he was viewed as a reach, just like the top four picks in Brooklyn’s historic draft.
ESPN’s final mock had him at No. 22.
That came despite the fact that he’d once been seen as a top-five talent in a generational draft and was widely regarded as the fastest guard available.
The expectation gap was obvious: fans wanted an immediate answer, while people inside the organization knew the development curve would take time. Traore was adjusting to the NBA, adjusting to the United States, and still building himself up physically and mentally.
Even as last season wound down, there were signs of progress. After a 13-game stint with Long Island, he was producing more consistently.
Over the final six weeks in Brooklyn, he averaged 13 points and four assists, and he looked more controlled. Still, there was plenty left to clean up.
Brian Lewis reported that among players with at least 100 layup attempts, Traore’s 44.4% mark was dead last.
Then came the offseason, and with it a noticeable change. After arthroscopic surgery on his knee, Traore added an inch in height and about 12 pounds of what sure looks like muscle. At Media Day, he explained the work behind the leap.
“Definitely the more I play, the more confident I’ve gotten,” Traore told The Post. “I get a little better every game. I just feel great, and I hope it’s going to keep going.”
“My knee is completely fine now, so there’s no concern,” Traore, 20, said. “For me, [the offseason] was more the physical aspect.
Obviously the shooting, too. I worked a lot on it and I feel good now.
Changed a few things, too.
“Offseason was a lot of [time in the] gym. That was the main thing.
Focusing on just getting better as a player, watching clips from the playoffs or watching reads. Working on my shot, too.”
The people around him have noticed the difference. Jordi Fernández praised Traore’s confidence from deep after a recent game, while also pressing him to keep improving on defense.
“I like his aggressiveness shooting the 3, and his shot looks very confident. Credit to the work he’s put in the whole summer.
And just want to challenge him to improve defensively. There’s just a couple of hiccups that he could’ve been better; but I know he is tough and he’s up for the challenge.”
Traore also pointed to Brooklyn’s more open offense as a major boost to his game.
“It’s helped me a lot,” Traore told Lewis. “I think I’m better when the defense is not set because I can take gaps quickly and make plays off of that. So the more we play fast, the better I’m going to be.”
That matters for the Nets, because the cleaner Traore looks, the better Brooklyn’s offense can function.
Thursday night in Miami will bring another wrinkle. It’s the team’s final preseason game, and Mikel Brown Jr. will finally make his NBA debut, adding more competition for playing time with him, Brown Jr., Demin and Keon Ellis. Fernández has started Ellis, valuing his point-of-attack defense and 3-point shooting, and Traore knows the minutes race is only getting tighter.
As Holmes wrote, the opening-night depth chart is still unsettled, and Brown’s return only complicates things further. Traore has put himself in a good spot with an encouraging start. Now the job is simple: keep producing when Fernández gives him the ball.
“It was more focused on just having the same form every time, basic stuff,” Traoré said.
In Other News...
Nets' Fast Start Is Giving Fans A Reason To Believe
Brooklyn kept its preseason roll going with a 131-122 win over the Wizards, moving to 3-0 while flashing the kind of offensive pace that can make October feel a little more meaningful. Michael Porter Jr. was a steady scoring presence, and the Nets got useful minutes from DayRon Sharpe, Egor Dmin, Keon Ellis and Julius Randle in a game that featured plenty of shot-making on both sides.
The part that stood out most was how Brooklyns second unit changed the feel of the game, helping the Nets separate in a third-quarter stretch that turned a back-and-forth matchup into a more comfortable finish. Preseason results rarely tell the whole story, but for a team trying to build habits and confidence, this was the kind of performance that gives fans something to watch a little more closely. [Read more 🡒]
Nolan Traor Is Turning Up The Heat In Brooklyns Guard Battle
Nolan Traor is starting to make his case the right way for Brooklyn, and preseason has given the rookie guard a chance to show how much his confidence has grown. In the win over Washington, he looked more comfortable as a scorer and a shooter, continuing a steady run of efficient offense over three exhibition games after spending the offseason working on his shot and his finishing.
For a Nets team that has made clear minutes have to be earned, that matters. The guard room is crowded, and Traor is trying to carve out space for himself while competing with Mikel Brown Jr., Egor Dmin and Ben Saraf, so every clean shooting night adds to the argument that he belongs in the mix when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Nets May Have Found A Core Fit Sooner Than Anyone Expected
The preseason has offered a pretty encouraging look at the Brooklyn Nets, and a lot of that early momentum has come from the wing tandem of Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. Randle has leaned into a primary playmaking role while also giving the group some veteran steadiness, and Porter has been the kind of scorer who can change the feel of a game in a hurry. Through three exhibition wins, the fit has looked cleaner than many might have expected this early in the process.
What makes it matter for Brooklyn is not just the box score production, but the way the two seem to complement each other as the regular season nears. Randle has talked about helping the Nets contend, and if this early chemistry holds, the team may have stumbled onto something useful before the games start counting. The real question now is whether that preseason rhythm can survive once opponents spend more time game-planning for them. [Read more 🡒]