The Brooklyn Nets are headed into a season built around rebuilding expectations, and that usually comes with a familiar tradeoff: development over wins, patience over polish. In that kind of setup, Nolan Traore could end up being one of the more interesting pieces in the rotation.
The Nets have added more depth at guard, with Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Demin lined up to handle the starting jobs at both spots. That should give Brooklyn a different look in the backcourt, but it does not necessarily push Traore out of the picture. If anything, the team may still want to carve out a real role for him after the way he flashed at times during his rookie season.
Traore’s performance was strong enough to get noticed by Victor Wembanyama, who had nothing but praise for him.
"The only experience I have with Nolan is pre-selection with the national team," Victor Wembanyama said. "So we practiced together for a few days.
In 2024, we were preparing for the Olympics. What I noticed from him was the maturity and the way he can control the game.
The way that like, whoever the opponent is, it doesn't matter. He's got real guts, and I believe that's a guy who will have incredible growth over his career."
That kind of endorsement says plenty, but the film has backed it up too. Traore’s floater has looked especially clean, and finishing that shot over Wembanyama is no small feat. His pace gives Brooklyn something different in the backcourt, and his ability to get downhill can force defenses to collapse, which would create better looks from deep for Brown and Demin.
There’s a clear fit there. Traore could be the first guard off the bench, giving the Nets another creator who can mesh with the starting group and keep the offense moving. Brooklyn struggled at times last season to get into the paint and make defenses react, but that changed once Jordi Fernandez started using the Frenchman more regularly.
Of course, Traore isn’t a finished product. He can drift too far toward the 3-point shot, even though that’s not his strongest area. But if the Nets surround him with more spacing, that should help him lean into what he does best: attacking the lane and putting pressure on the defense.
He also brings value on the other end. At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, Traore plays bigger than his frame suggests, and Brooklyn can use him as a kind of free safety around the painted area. He can absorb contact from bigger players and hold his own in ways that don’t always show up in the box score.
Traore probably won’t be in line for many starts this season, but he has enough on both ends to earn real minutes. For a Nets team trying to sort through its next wave of guards, that matters.
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