Michael Porter Jr. did not take up the mantle of ‘veteran leader’ following the Brooklyn Nets’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, a loss that placed them at 0-5 on the season and in a cage match with the New Orleans Pelicans for worst NBA team of the young season.
When asked about Brooklyn’s defense — which, by giving up an 80th percentile half-court offensive rating to the Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks actually turned in its best performance of the season — he pointed a bit more to the scheme than the (lack of) execution and effort: “Clax and Day’Ron are getting dragged out on ball screens, and then teams are able to hit the pocket and then from there, whether they make the shot or miss the shot — because once you hit the pocket, our big guys are away from the rim — I feel like that opens up everything offensively. So we got to figure out a way to let Clax and DayDay play to their strengths … Also, I think a lot of it comes down to hustle and flying around behind that.”
You can quibble with the strategy behind Jordi Fernández’s Brooklyn’s blitz-heavy defense early in the season, but with this current effort and attention to detail, any coverage would be getting torched. Then, when asked what the veteran leaders must do to prevent Brooklyn from spiraling (toward better NBA Draft lottery odds), Porter Jr. said: “Something’s gotta change, I think, in terms of maybe the groups that are on the floor together or certain things. Because we’re having good runs, and then we’re letting go of the rope and then teams are going on runs. But our job is to show up here and work hard and go out on the floor and give our full effort and the rest is up to the coaches and we trust them.”
It’s difficult to fully parse Porter Jr’s responses. As is well demonstrated, the highest-paid Net loves to think aloud, great news for reporters. If he has spare thoughts — even just inquisitive ones — about scheme and rotations, we want to hear them. But after five games, the gap between the #12 and #29 ranked defenses is the same as the gap between the #29 ranked defense and the league-worst Brooklyn Nets. Read that again.
If there was ever a time for some “we have to be better” and “it’s on us” veteran clichés, Wednesday night was that time. Lastly, I asked Porter Jr. the following: “In your experience, what are the things that — you know, it’s only been five games — that don’t fully form yet for a team, things that really change and grow over the course of the season?“
The answer that followed: “I think it starts off with the point guard spot. It’s really hard to win in the NBA when, you know, we have a lot of rookie point guards who are going to be great in this league for a long time, but they’re still rookies, and this game five against and they’re matching up. I think the point guard position may be the hardest position in the game and we got a lot of young guys playing that position.”
Michael Porter Jr. is right. It is damn near impossible to be an additive NBA player as a 19-year-old rookie point guard, and the Nets have three* of those guys, two of whom are receiving rotation minutes out of the gate. (*We’ll ultimately see what Egor Dëmin is.) Perhaps Porter is looking around the room, seeing by far the least talented NBA team he’s ever played on, and trying to offer some optimism by promising rookie growth. t
And yet, Brooklyn’s offense has actually been slightly above league-average with either Ben Saraf or Egor Dëmin on the court, which is to say, most of the time. For all their deficiencies, it’s tough to say they are the main culprits of Brooklyn’s 0-5 start considering nobody has played much defense on this team. Hell, the majority of Nolan Traore’s 30 career minutes have come only after Brooklyn’s main units find themselves down by 25 or so.
Does this MPJ comment — an answer to a question that did not invoke the rookies — really matter? I don’t know, maybe. Erik Slater of ClutchPoints posted the video above; at the time of writing, it has over two million views on X/Twitter. It just seems odd that Egor Dëmin could watch his veteran teammates play insultingly bad defense all night only to open his phone after the game and see the highest-paid of them imply he is a main reason the team is 0-5?
Or is that too moralistic? Point being, I’m about to outline what we’ve seen from Egor Dëmin, Ben Saraf, and Nolan Traore thus far. Most of it has not been great. But the rookies are not why the Brooklyn Nets have been so dreadful to start the year.
This is the first edition of the (hopefully weekly) Rookie Report, your one-stop shop for following the progress of the Flatbush 5 this season, one of the most critical draft classes in Nets history. Though the preambles will grow shorter, the true content will hopefully grow longer the rookies get healthier and see more minutes.
Egor Dëmin
Season stats: 4 GP, 20.5 MPG, 7.5/4.0/2.5 slash line, 41/41/75 shooting splits (no 2PA). 2 TO + 2.8 PF + 0.5 stocks (stl+blk) per game.
Stats this week: N/A
With 22 threes and zero twos attempted, Dëmin is just two long-balls away from breaking the NBA record for most consecutive 3-pointers attempted without a 2-pointer to begin a career, a feat saved by the Charlotte Hornets scorekeeper (rightfully, I think) counting this as an assist…
Here’s the good news: Egor Dëmin still looks like he can shoot the ball. He’s 9-of-22 from three, and most of his misses look good, too. When he gets an open catch-and-shoot three, the ball feels like it’s going down; he’ll draw frantic closeouts at the NBA level.
Outside of the shooting, it’s been expectedly tough sledding for the Russian teenager. Dëmin has gotten ripped trying to bring up the ball up the court a handful of times already, and while he’s long pledged to live in the weight room, strength isn’t the issue. The #8 overall pick can’t shake defenders right now, and as a primary ball-handler, his height is a challenge: shorter on-ball defenders can sit underneath his dribble, underneath his hips, and swipe at him. These plays have little to do with a lack of strength…
It’d be nice to see Dëmin force the issue a bit more when running pick-and-roll. He can’t undergo a physical transformation overnight, but he will never be a plus-athlete with that lack of explosion/wiggle. (See: two stocks to 11 fouls.) Still. it’s never to early to start figuring out solutions, whether it’s a pivot game or an in-between game or some handle combinations he’s comfortable with; right now, Dëmin probably can’t put much pressure on a defense, but he’s also not trying to…
To that end, I’m surprised by how little Brooklyn’s coaching staff has helped him out. Part of this, surely, is the fact that Dëmin missed most of training camp and the preseason with that plantar fascia issue, but through five games, there has been little organized offense ran for him. Cam Johnson is, of course, a way more accomplished NBA player, but he has a similar build with similar athletic limitations, and Fernández’s staff did everything they could to put him in favorable situations last season…
Egor Dëmin is a fascinating first centerpiece to this rebuild, not just because he’s the best interview and most talkative guy on the team. (He dressed up as Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender for Halloween.) He cannot create advantages with a live dribble, but he’s already shown the processing ability Brooklyn fell in love with; how those two qualities come together, I do not know, but at least he’s already made a couple great plays…
When asked about his short-term goals at practice Friday, Dëmin said: “I think, just trying to get to the paint as much as I can and to get these angles, not going around the player, but through and getting to the paint on two feet. Looking for finishing or the sprays, and just being more aggressive on the pick-and-roll, using the setups and after that, obviously, using our big as a gravity for the help.”
The main challenge so far? “Probably just physicality. Physicality.”
Season stats: 5 GP, 18.2 MPG, 3.2/2.2/3.2 slash line, 21.7/16.7/66.7 shooting splits, 1.6 TO + 2.6 PF + 0.4 stocks (stl+blk) per game.
Stats this week: N/A
Ben Saraf is the first #26 overall pick to start the first game of his rookie season since Vonteego Cummings in 1999. He has started all five games so far, but he has struggled mightily. Saraf played just a dozen minutes in the game Jordi Fernández tried hardest to win, Wednesday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, (wherein Fernández started switching Nic Claxton out on the perimeter rather than trapping, a tactic all of Claxton’s head coaches have deployed when the rubber hits the road).
Saraf is listed at 6’6”, has a wealth of professional experience overseas, and is the most physically developed with the tightest handle of the three point guards Brooklyn drafted in June. This does not mean his transition to the NBA would be easy, though; he is still a relatively poor athlete with a jumper defenses decidedly do not respect. Hence the spooky stat line.
Like Dëmin, he has also committed 11 fouls to just two stocks. Wednesday night against Atlanta was his roughest showing on the defensive end; he struggled to make timely closeouts, rotations, and to fight through screens. While that was all to be expected for the 19-year-old, his struggles from the field are eyebrow-raising. Before the season, I wrote:
Saraf is going to have to do most of his damage at the rim, no matter where his career takes him. If he can approach a 60% conversion rate (55% might be more realistic) in the restricted area and supplant that with a high foul-drawing rate, that will be cause for celebration.
It’s too early to put any stock into the numbers — Saraf is currently shooting 1-of-7 at the rim — but it’s clear the athleticism adjustment will be a big one for him. On this play, he shakes Clint Capela with a little jab step, trying to fly immediately to the rim…
There’s no outside shooter readily open, the take itself is fine. But we’ll see if Saraf can adjust to NBA-level defense in the paint, and how well he can counter their physicality/athleticism with pure craft.
On the plus-side, he’s already shown some off-ball utility. I like this cut to the paint and attempted alley-oop that he just leaves a little bit short…
Saraf will need to shoot (and improve on defense) no matter how much he has the ball in his hands. But despite the lack of statistical production, it’s clear that his feel for the game is off to a fine start. That’s at least something.
Nolan Traore
Season stats: N/A
Stats this week: N/A
I can’t include Nolan Traore’s stats in good faith yet; he’s only played 30 career minutes over two games, most of them coming in garbage time. At the very least, he’s looked like the quickest defender of the three point guards and has two of his five 3-point attempts. Anecdotally, his catch-and-shoot ball doesn’t look quite as smooth as Dëmin’s, but noticeably better than Saraf’s does. Hooray?
Traore, who has already taken a couple car rides from Industry City to Uniondale, should probably familiarize himself with the Belt Parkway. He and Danny Wolf were not at practice on Friday, instead scrimmaging with Long Island Nets.
“Development doesn’t stop,” said Jordi Fernández. “And you know, there’s different different layers to it, there’s different avenues. And I think that, you know, that’s great for them now to get a higher volume, more scrimmaging right now.”
Traore’s areas for growth seem clear, even after just 30 NBA minutes…
That first play is probably a foul, but Traore has to dribble through that weak dig at the 3-point line. Really, he has to extend that handle as much as possible to get the most out of his small frame.
On the second play, he misses a floater over Ryan Kalkbrenner; teams with capable big man will dare Traore to beat them in the intermediate area. He’ll either need to develop that pull-up jumper forcing them to get up to the level, or some counters that maximize his speed closer to the basket. Alas, this is nothing we didn’t know previously, and with Traore presumably on Long Island for much of the season, he’ll have ample opportunity to grow.
Drake Powell
Season stats: N/A
Stats this week: N/A
I have to draw the line at seven total minutes, which Drake Powell played against the Charlotte Hornets before spraining his ankle. Powell was available against the Atlanta Hawks but did not get off the bench; however, he was a full participant in practice on Friday.
Danny Wolf
Season stats: N/A
Stats this week: N/A
Danny Wolf is yet to make his NBA debut, but was finally cleared to play ahead of Wednesday’s loss to the Hawks. He did not get in the game, but Fernández confirmed he is healthy and the decision to have him practice with Long Island on Friday was not any sort of demotion.
I asked Jordi Fernández about MPJ’s comments on Friday. Specifically: “How do you think over the season, the rookies improving might change the outlook of the team?”
The answer: “I don’t know what Mike said, but the reality is these guys work every day. They have the right intentions, and they’re the right people here for what we’re trying to do. So, working every day, nobody’s perfect here, and we’re going to continue to get better. I think that this group is growing; it’s already grown in five games. We’re process-oriented, we’re not result-oriented, and at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing. It’s the growth. A lot of time, growth comes with pain, but that’s for everybody. It’s not just for one person. So I think, we all will have high standards for ourselves, and we all should look at ourselves in the mirror and think about, ‘what can I do better? How can I help the team, and how can I help my teammates?’ That’s what’s more important.“
Is Jordi Fernández subtly suggesting MPJ look in the mirror? Is he (rightfully) including the fans of this 0-5 team among those that will feel pain during this growth process?
What we do know is that the Brooklyn Nets are finally playing a couple homegrown rookies, and though they haven’t been playing well yet, there are flashes and plenty of time. That’s not to say we can’t draw any takeaways from Ben Saraf and Egor Dëmin just yet, that’s why you play the games after all. Here’s to seeing even more of the Flatbush 5 the rest of the way.