'It Got Me Ready for This': Nets Rookie Says Pro Experience Prepared Him For NBA

With the Brooklyn Nets training camp now underway, the team has a swarm of rookies scrambling to prove themselves before the start of the 2025-2026 NBA regular season.

Nolan Traore, one of the team’s most intriguing young players, has showcased enough potential during his overseas professional career to generate some excitement. After all, the 6-foot-4 point guard was once projected to be a top five pick in the 2025 NBA Draft but ultimately slipped to Brooklyn's No. 19 overall selection.

Traore began playing professionally for Nationale Masculine back in 2021 at just 16 years old. He quickly established himself as one of France's top young players, climbing through his home nation’s professional ranks before landing with Saint-Quentin, a team in France's premier LNB Elite league.

While speaking to Nets Wire's Sharif Phillips-Keaton at training camp, Traore explained that his professional background has helped prepare him for life at the NBA level

"I think it's kind of the same with every team. We all go through training camps like this, even in Europe," Traore said. "You go through the same type of things every year and being able to play pro last year of course helped me, and it just got me more ready for this,"

Last season, Traore was named the FIBA Champions League's Best Young Player after averaging 13.4 points, four assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game. During a game against Elan Chalon, Traore set the all-time league record for most points in a game (25) by a player under 18, surpassing future NBA stars like Victor Wembanyama and Tony Parker.

Viewed as the fastest player in the 2025 NBA Draft, Traore's explosive athleticism provides him with many of the traits needed to be a team's top floor general. However, in a league that continues to value the importance of players being able to shoot from long range, Traore will likely face an uphill climb as a scorer.

While playing with Brooklyn in the Las Vegas Summer League, Traore shot just 14.3% from three-point range. His accuracy with Saint-Quentin wasn't very impressive either, shooting 31.4% from beyond the arc.

When asked about how he expects his rookie point guards to acclimate to the NBA level, Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez explained that he plans to immerse them with as much experience as possible.

"They're going to get thrown into the fire. We're going to trust them... If the mistakes are honest mistakes, and we're trying to do the right things, we'll live with it, and we'll move on to the next game," Fernandez told the media. "That's how you get better. That's how we developed some of our guy's last year, and we'll continue to do that."