Brooklyn Nets First-Rounders React to 2025 NBA Draft

"I believe in the game of basketball as a creative place,” Demin said. “It's like art for me, and I want to play beautiful, I want to play pretty, I want to play efficient. [...] It’s about making the right decision, which I’m always trying to do.” 

The Russian playmaker averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists as a freshman at BYU. The 19-year-old’s 3-point shooting is the biggest knock on him. 

“I have no doubt I’m gonna be a solid shooter,” Demin added. “I’m seeing myself as a really good shooter in the future just because I know how much I [will] put into the work to become one.”

General manager Sean Marks dialed in on Demin’s IQ and “how he played the game.” Denim was the New Zealand-born executive’s highest draft pick ever as Brooklyn’s head shot-caller.

“Obviously, the size for his position is great when you have a 6-foot-8 combo guard/point guard, but he can move and play off the ball, too,” Marks said, via ClutchPoints’ Erik Slater. “We enjoyed watching him at BYU, and then we had multiple opportunities to see him in Brooklyn and get to meet him. I think his defense is great, how he guards pick-and-rolls. He has great length. There are a lot of attributes there.” 

The Nets drafted Nolan Traoré at No. 19. The French point guard is probably the fastest ballhandler in this class. He played for Saint-Quentin in France’s first division this season, and has already suited up for the French national team after impressing in multiple youth-aged competitions with them.

In quotes picked up by NetsDaily’s Lucas Kaplan, Traoré said: “We have a great coach, a great front office. So I think it's a great place to build something really, really impressive.”

Head coach Jordi Fernández will have the chance to mold the 19-year-old into his point guard of the future. Traoré was widely considered a likely top 10 pick before the season.

The Nets deviated slightly to select Drake Powell at No. 27. He’s a defense-first swingman with a five-star background in high school. However, his freshman season at North Carolina didn’t do his draft stock any favors. 

Powell largely spotted up in the corner and defended the other team’s best player. He stood out with the latter, but the former curtailed his offensive flashes. Brooklyn has to hope he rediscovers those. Marks called Powell “potentially the best athlete in the class.” 

The Nets doubled down on playmakers with Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf at Nos. 26 and 27. Both play for the Israeli national team and add dribbling, passing and scoring to some extent. The potential complication is that neither is a great shooter, which can also be said for Demin and Traoré. 

“I didn't exactly know how long I would've been sitting there for,” Wolf said, via The New York Post’s Brian Lewis. “I don't know if I would've said this long, but it's what happened and it's out of my control [...] I'm just going to use that as a chip on my shoulder as a motivating factor."

Overall, the Nets drafted five players who are capable decision makers, but shaky shooters, and who need the ball in their hands. The risk is too much positional overlap. The counterargument to that is that the Nets basically have carte blanche as far as their roster is concerned. There are no long-term pieces.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Wednesday night that executives and agents around the NBA were “making fun” of the Nets. Time will be the judge of who gets the last laugh.