It’s no secret what kind of season Brooklyn will have, what kind of tank the Nets will trudge through.
This will be a forced youth movement, a movement that will give them their first taste of the NBA competition in China on Friday. After winning a pre-season opener against the outmatched Hapoel Jerusalem, which came down to light stretching and a warm-up, they will now test themselves against the Suns at the Venetian in Macao.
“Well, I have to say we’re in a rebuilding year,” team owner Joe Tsai said recently during an event hosted by the All-In podcast. “We spent everything [2025] picks – last summer we had five draft picks in the first round.
“We have one pick in 2026 and we hope to get a good pick. So you can predict what kind of strategy we will use this season. But we have a very young team.”
That strategy will tank for the lottery pick that will be the biggest part of their rebuild. But the aforementioned rookies – Egor Dëmin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf – are the first stones in that foundation.
With three teenagers and 14 players aged 24 or younger, this is not only the most youthful team in the NBA, but it could also be one of the youngest ever.
“Goals can stay within ourselves. We know what we’re playing for. But proving ourselves right more than proving other people wrong,” said Wolf, 21. “I think we’re the youngest team – I know we’re the youngest team in the NBA – so just continuing to learn and get better and grow together is all we can ask for.”
That learning and growing starts on Friday against Phoenix. The opening of the preseason didn’t really present a challenge, although it did provide an opportunity for observations.
Point guards
After the steady presence of veteran point guards Dennis Schröder, D’Angelo Russell helped the Nets win too many games last season, this time they took no chances with three teenage rookies.
Young leading guards lose, at least early. Over the previous decade, 26 of 33 lottery point guards performed worse than their draft slot per Win Shares on Basketball Reference. But over the past four years, all 11 have done so, with the older guards starting to make an impact on winning as they matured.
Positions
A left plantar fascia tear has sidelined Dëmin for the entire preseason, while Saraf – drafted 26th overall – got the nod in the opener and was again listed on Friday as the likely starter above Traore, who had taken seven spots earlier.
Traore is quick and perhaps more solid defensively. But Saraf is more advanced in running the offense, with game highs of six assists and a plus-25 in the opener.
There are no experienced point guards. And although Kobe Bufkin played well against Jerusalem (plus-12 in 11 minutes), it was exclusively off the ball. The Nets apparently view him more as a small two-guard.
Injuries
Dëmin and Haywood Highsmith (right knee surgery) are the only players out against the Suns, meaning Powell could make his debut. The track and field wing missed the Summer League and the opening preseason game due to patellar tendonitis.
Wolf toothless
Fourteen Nets logged double-digit minutes in the opener, and all were plus-12 except Wolf, just a disappointing minus-2. They drafted him largely because of his play, and he had five assists in just 14:47, but his defensive movement needs to be better and will be challenged by the Suns.
Tank-killing knows it
Last season, Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith helped the Nets to Pyrrhic victories before being traded. Terance Mann, with three years and $47 million remaining on his contract, is unlikely to be moved. But Highsmith says he wants to be back on Opening Night. Even if he doesn’t become eligible until next month, a winning vet with a cheap $5.6 million deal expiring is a tank killer… but also a trade chip.
Miscellaneous
Ever since the team left for China, they didn’t have many plays for Michael Porter Jr. or Cam Thomas installed. But shortly after arriving, they were visited by action star Jackie Chan.
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