Nets Could Shut Down All Healthy Rookies After Sitting Traore, Saraf in Vegas

Wednesday night may have marked the beginning of the end for the Brooklyn Nets' 2025 draft class' Las Vegas experience.

After falling to the New York Knicks—Brooklyn's third-straight summer league loss—the Nets opted to sit Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf in tonight's clash with the Orlando Magic. That's two of Brooklyn's five first-rounders who won't be suiting up.

Factor in Drake Powell, the versatile three-and-D guard from North Carolina who has been dealing with knee tendinitis, and that makes three members who will likely see their next in-game action during preseason.

Danny Wolf and Egor Demin are both available for the bout with Orlando, but the opportunities the two receive could give fans and media alike a good idea of what Brooklyn's plans are for its Friday evening finale against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Obviously, summer league head coach Steve Hetzel will have final say in his rotations, but two separate situations could present themselves depending on Wednesday night's outcome.

First, Demin and Wolf play sparingly at best, signalling that their stints in Vegas are over. However, the opposite scenario, one where Demin and Wolf play virtually the entire game, could lead one to the same conclusion.

So which will it be?

Perhaps the Nets are holding out to see just a few more flashes out of the BYU and Michigan products. Traore looked every part of a future starting point guard, and Saraf's crafty skills proved his value to Brooklyn's coaching staff.

But theoretically, that logic should apply to Demin as well. He hasn't been fantastic, but he's put some very encouraging highlights on tape—especially from beyond the arc.

The real odd man out here is Wolf, who honestly may benefit from being the only Nets rookie on the floor, and here's why:

Demin, Traore and Saraf are all facilitators. They all excel with the ball in their hands, but so does Wolf.

Wolf starred as essentially the lead guard at Michigan last season, and the summer league lineups thus far may have just been too crowded to fully unleash him.

While this is all speculation, the blueprint would allow for the Nets to better evaluate each of their rookies individually in game settings rather than attempting to throw all of them on the court together at the same time and hoping for good results.