Veteran Terance Mann is proving his on-ball value among the Nets youth movement

Terance Mann knew this could be a possibility after arriving in Brooklyn.

There were instances last season – when he split time between the Clippers and Hawks – where he had to be on the ball during offensive possessions. But as the oldest player on the youngest team in the league, there could be scenarios where the Nets need their veteran to orchestrate the offense and set up baskets more often.

Only five games were needed for this.

During the Nets’ 117-112 loss to the Hawks on Wednesday, Mann collected a team-high six assists and 11 points and was tasked by head coach Jordi Fernández with being on the ball — especially down the stretch, when Mann and guard Tyrese Martin earned the final minutes against rookies Egor Dëmin and Ben Saraf. He finished with the best net rating of the young season (11.7).

And throughout his 30 minutes, Mann reminded that when the Nets inevitably encounter growing pains during the final tank-defined season of their rebuild, Mann’s ability to handle the ball and initiate an offense could provide a jolt.

“I mean, [Fernández] warned me it might be,” Mann told The Post on Thursday while at a Raising Cane’s event in Times Square to help unveil a carved 2,741-pound pumpkin that set a New York and United States record. “In some games I might have to be on the ball. Some games I might have to be off the ball, so I’m prepared for anything.”

Standing under an awning tent next to 24-year-old Nets teammate Ziaire Williams on Thursday, Mann joked that at 29, he doesn’t feel old. “These guys don’t give me the opportunity to feel too old,” Mann said. But in his seventh NBA season, Mann, a second-round pick in 2019, found himself on a Nets team that drafted five rookies in April and has already ushered in an era of what they could become years from now rather than what they will be in the present. Losses are expected. The word ‘refuelling’ has been normalised.

But that doesn’t mean Fernández won’t try to win games, and he won’t include players in his lineup and rotation that will give him the best opportunity to do so. Mann had the “energy I wanted to play with” on Wednesday, Fernández said after the match, so that’s why he operated with the ball so often.

Early in the first quarter, Mann curled up to catch a pass, drove into the paint and delivered a pass to Nic Claxton that led to an and-1 as Hawks center Kristaps Porzingis slid over to help.

To start the third quarter, Mann scored or assisted on six of the Nets’ first eight baskets, while also adding a steal, cutting their deficit from 13 to six. And late in the fourth quarter, after checking back in as part of Brooklyn’s closing group, Mann fueled the Nets’ comeback attempt by driving into the paint and delivering a pass to Martin on the right wing for a three-pointer.

“Terance generally has a good feeling for the match,” Fernández said on Wednesday. “He does a little bit of everything, and I like it when he’s aggressive and he gets assists when he gets to the rim and sprays the ball.”

In a way, Mann has contributed to the Nets’ youth movement. They acquired him from the Hawks along with the rights to first-round pick Drake Powell in a three-team trade in June, incentivizing Brooklyn to pick up Mann’s three-year, $47 million extension he signed with the Clippers that kicked off this season.

At least on paper, there is some stability that Mann could provide. He won’t hit free agency again until after the 2027-2028 season.

But the thing about a rebuild is that there is never a guarantee about any role. No roster spot is ever stable. Transactions happen. Assets are traded for draft capital. Mann may only be in Brooklyn for a limited time.

Until that moment arrives, Mann remains the oldest player on any of the three winless teams. And moments like Wednesday showed the value he can still provide in the present, even as the Nets’ vision remains focused on the future.

“Just being able to convey that energy,” Mann said Thursday. “That’s kind of what I feel like my role on this team could be. It’s only game five. That was only game five, so I just have to try it out and see what I have to bring to the team.” [Wednesday] In the evening it was assists.’