The Nets’ 1-6 start has left plenty to sort through, but Nolan Traore has given Brooklyn something real to hold onto.
The sophomore point guard has stepped into a starting role and started to look like an NBA lead guard after an uneven rookie year. Over his last five games, Traore has averaged 14.8 points while shooting 27-of-53 from the field and 12-of-24 from three. He’s also added 4.0 assists per game against 2.0 turnovers, a stretch that has made him one of the few bright spots in a rough opening for the rebuilding team.
His biggest jump has come from deep. Traore shot 31.8 percent from three as a rookie, but this season he’s hitting 12-of-24, and every one of those makes has come off the catch.
That clean catch-and-shoot work showed up in a big way Sunday, when he buried four second-half threes against the Pacers to help Brooklyn pick up its first win. He stayed hot Monday too, going 5-of-6 from beyond the arc in the Nets’ 103-90 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
At Media Day, Traore pointed to his jumper as a major offseason focus.
“I worked a lot on [my shot], and I feel good now. I changed a few things… I won't have a completely different shot from last year. It was more focused on just having the same form every time,” Traore said.
Head coach Jordi Fernandez said the improvement has come from more than just reps with the ball in his hands.
“I think number one is development, and you can see it with the amount of games [Nolan] played last year, but also development through the summer and how he worked on his body and then the confidence that he's playing with,” said head coach Jordi Fernandez. “And you could see it [against the Indiana Pacers] that he was playing really hard to start and shots didn't fall for anybody, but then he stayed with it, and he made four huge threes that helped us win the game.
At the same time, he was touching the paint, spraying the ball, doing all the right things. So his growth has been great, but again, it comes with development through playing games, which I think I've already said: the best coach in the world is playing real games, and it's better to play competitive games and then all the hard work that you put in the summer [pays off].”
Traore’s scoring has also been helped by his work around the rim. Last season, he converted just 44.6 percent of his attempts at the basket, which ranked last among 230 players with at least 130 tries, according to Synergy.
Early this season, he’s up to 47.8 percent, hitting 11 of 23 at the rim. His assist-to-turnover ratio has climbed to 2.0, up from 1.65 last year.
“For me, it was a lot of the physical aspect,” Traore said at media day about his offseason training. “I spent a lot of time in the gym during the summer.
That was the main focus. It's going to help me [on the court] for sure.
It was just a good thing for me.”
The 6-foot-4 guard’s speed has always been part of the appeal, and if he ever becomes comfortable creating off the dribble, his three-point shooting could become even more dangerous. For now, the catch-and-shoot growth and the improvement inside have already changed his profile.
Nolan Traore across nine games this year (preseason included):
— Erik Slater (@ErikSlater_) November 2, 2026
12.4 points
3.0 assists
2.1 turnovers (1.42 ast/to)
28/51 on 2s (54.9%)
11/29 on 3s (37.9%)
This excludes the Cavs game during which he played only five minutes. Nolan shot 42.6% on 2s and 31.3% on 3s as a rookie. pic.twitter.com/8yXUkqjJtC
Traore has started the last four games with rookie No. 6 pick Mikel Brown Jr. on a minutes restriction, and Fernandez has made it clear that Traore is still central to what Brooklyn wants to do. Whether Brown eventually joins the starting group or not, the coach sees Traore as one of the team’s two featured point guards.
Fernandez also praised the way Traore has worked to find his voice.
yessirr NT https://t.co/SjBgLtMmW3 pic.twitter.com/M9ggY3tPiN
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) November 2, 2026
“I think that I can speak for that because when you're a foreigner, there is a language barrier,” Fernandez said. “When I came here, my English was very broken, and you have to communicate to play this game, whether you're a coach or a player, especially in the point guard position.
So [Nolan's] done a great job because of his willingness to try and do it with confidence, and it takes time. And I think right now, you see those 365 days or more, how much better he's gotten.
It's because he's put time into it, and we're going to keep having an accent, but I think people understand what we're saying.”
Brooklyn’s 2025 draft class has been under a microscope, and Traore’s rise matters even more because of that. Egor Demin was the main source of optimism from that group last season, while three of the team’s NBA-record five first-round picks in 2025 - Drake Powell, Danny Wolf and Ben Saraf - are out of the rotation to start this season.
If Traore keeps trending up, he could become the piece that gives the Nets’ massive draft haul some real traction.
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