Rookie introductions in any sport mark a pivotal moment of transition, not just for players, but also for the franchises that drafted them. Hope surges to its peak, matched by soaring expectations.
Tuesday’s news conference in Brooklyn offered the first glimpse into the personalities and mindsets of Egor Demin, Nolan Traoré, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf — five rising stars selected to ignite the Nets’ future.
While most NBA teams make do with a table or two to unveil their rookie class, the Nets, who etched their name in history as the first team to snag five players in the first round of last week’s NBA Draft, needed three sprawling tables to showcase their draftees alongside head coach Jordi Fernandez and general manager Sean Marks.
As each rookie settled into their chair, gripping the microphones under the glare of flashing cameras and the buzz of eager reporters, a vibrant new chapter of Brooklyn basketball began.
“We never have three tables up here, so that shows you the size of the draft class, right?” Marks said. “We’ve never had five picks in one draft, and to be able to draft all of them in a draft class that we just saw, that was unique and that was something that we want to take advantage of, especially in our build, where we see these young men fitting into our group and into our roster. So, it was about us capitalizing on the hand we were dealt.”
Last season’s youth surge, with significant court time for Noah Clowney, Dariq Whitehead, Jalen Wilson and others, is dwarfed by the Nets’ bold blueprint for the 2025-26 season. Five rookies now anchor the roster, all 19 except for Wolf, the sole player in the class old enough to drink legally.
The question now is how the Nets will nurture four teenagers and a 21-year-old alongside an already crowded roster of developing talent. Fernandez, stepping into his second season as the franchise’s head coach, appears to relish the challenge and trusts his staff is prepared to meet the demands.
“And they’re going to have to earn it; and I think that’s how it should be,” Fernandez said. “They’ll put the work in. They’ve already shown who they are: That’s why we drafted them. And they’re part of this amazing journey.
“Player development is going to be important. We’ve been very diligent. The coaching staff has done a great job making our guys work, and those guys have improved. And we believe they’ll do the same thing.”
To manage this wave of young talent, Fernandez said he intends to implement a 10-man rotation next season, ensuring enough court time to develop the rookies around veterans. He believes this approach will foster competition and growth across the roster, setting the stage for a cohesive and evolving Nets squad next season. Naturally, some rookies will likely spend parts of the season honing their skills with Brooklyn’s G League affiliate on Long Island.
“Long Island, they are exactly the same as the Brooklyn Nets,” Marks said. “Maybe in a different infrastructure and a little bit further away, but we want to make sure whenever our players from Brooklyn spend time in Long Island, there’s nothing amiss. So, it’s clear communication between the two groups.
“There’s no promises given to anybody, let alone the draft picks or all of the guys we currently have on our roster. Go compete and may the best man win.”
Versatility drove the Nets’ choice to draft Demin, Traoré, Powell, Saraf and Wolf. Each can play multiple positions, handle the ball and boast high basketball IQs with strong statistical similarities.
While the Nets have drawn scrutiny for selecting prospects with overlapping skill sets, the organization views it as an exciting opportunity to excel in their pursuit of mastering positionless basketball. Fernandez explained how this rookie class embodies that philosophy.
“Positional size is very important and you guys can see here with your eye test, I would play these guys almost one through four, one through five,” Fernandez said. “So that’s a good thing for us. You’ll see length, athleticism, and we’ll keep working on that physicality and communication, that’s one of the things, the multiple efforts, those are the things that we have to be on the same page and that’s my job as a head coach.
“And then offensively, we want to play with pace, right? In my opinion, we have the fastest guy in the draft [in Traoré], we have a lot of playmaking. All these guys can really pass the ball. All those paint touches and ball reversals, it just helps you when you have not primary ball handlers, but also secondary ball handlers and all these guys can do it. So, it’s all a positive. There’s no negatives here.”
