Matching the franchise mark for the largest margin of victory Sunday night enabled the rebuilding Nets to get their most extended in-game look this season at their franchise’s future.
Four of Brooklyn’s league-record five 2025 first-round picks — Egor Demin, Drake Powell, Danny Wolf and Nolan Traore — shared the floor for much of the fourth quarter of a 127-82 pummeling of the Bucks at Barclays Center.
Acting coach Steve Hetzel, who was filling in for an ill Jordi Fernández, might have played all five first-rounders together, but guard Ben Saraf was unavailable due to an illness.
“I think with each one of them, we’ve been very, very pleased with the progress and their different moments,” Hetzel said. “They’ve all had their ups and downs, as rookies will.
“They’re 19, [three] of them are 19, Drake is now 20 and Danny is 21. So all of this experience, it’s going to be really, really good for them.”
The Nets also had four rookies share the floor for a few games during the 2021-22 season with David Duke Jr., Kessler Edwards, Day’Ron Sharpe and Cam Thomas.
But only the latter two of those players were first-round selections, unlike the entire current crop.
Thus, a season that began in tank mode with starts of 0-7 and 3-16 suddenly has taken a positive turn since the start of December, with a recent record of 4-2 entering Thursday’s home game against the Heat.
Saraf, the 26th selection out of Israel, began the season as the team’s starting point guard, but Demin — the No.8 pick in the lottery — moved into the starting five on Nov. 7. He’s averaged 9.9 points and 3.9 assists over 16 starts.
The 6-foot-8 Demin netted a team-high 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting in 26 minutes against the Bucks, leading nine Nets in double figures, including 60 points off the bench.
Demin’s aggressive showing came one game after Fernández had publicly challenged him to be better following a quiet performance (three points, 1-for-7) in Friday’s loss in Dallas.
“I think all of it is a process. Obviously, I want to do better in every game, but sometimes there’s days like that,” Demin said. “I just really gotta watch film and understand what I did wrong and what I gotta do to be better. Talk to the coaches and learn from it, and go to the next one because obviously it’s a lot of games and I haven’t [played] one [full] season yet.
“So I’m really trying to learn how to get over games like that and on to the next ones.”
Fernandez also had called out Powell — the 22nd pick — following the Mavericks game, and the rookie shooting guard contributed 13 points against Milwaukee with a team-best plus-31 rating over 23 minutes off the bench.
“I’m very, very proud of [Demin]. Jordi challenged Egor and he challenged Drake, and they both responded beautifully, with an edge,” Hetzel said. “It’s more than another step to their progression. They took a big step.
“Having a bad game and then responding, that’s what the NBA is all about. You play 82 of ‘em, and you gotta be quick to forget about the last one and move on and play better, which they both did.”
Hetzel joined Fernández’s staff in 2024 after assistant stints in Detroit, Charlotte, Orlando and Portland since 2009. The veteran coach sees increased confidence in Demin’s “play calling and his ability to handle ball pressure” during this recent stretch.
Hetzel also praised Traore, another point guard, who registered three assists in nine minutes late in Sunday’s blowout.
Traore, the 19th pick out of France, was making just his sixth NBA appearance after spending much of the season playing for Long Island in the G-League.
“I just like his confidence,” Hetzel said. “When he was assigned to Long Island, he spent some time down there, and he did really, really well. His numbers were great, the team played well, and you can see a different player.
“That game experience, playing against NBA-style basketball with Long Island, we have a great staff down there that coaches them the same way we do here. You can just see his confidence at a much different level than the last time he played here.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
