What we learned in a first look at looming Nets tank job

It’s no secret what kind of season Brooklyn is going to have, what kind of tank the Nets are going to trudge through. 

This is going to be a forced youth movement, one that will see them get their first taste of NBA competition Friday in China. After winning a preseason opener against outmatched Hapoel Jerusalem that amounted to light stretching and a warmup, now they’ll test themselves against the Suns at the Venetian in Macao. 

“Well, I have to say that we’re in a rebuilding year,” team owner Joe Tsai said recently at an event hosted by the All-In podcast. “We spent all of our [2025] picks — we had five first-round draft picks this past summer. 

“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 for this season. But we have a very young team.” 

That strategy will be tanking for the lottery pick that will be the single biggest part of their rebuild. But those aforementioned rookies — Egor Dëmin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf — are the first bricks in that foundation. 

With three teenagers and 14 players age 24 or younger, this isn’t just the most youthful team in the NBA but could be one of the youngest ever. 

“Goals can stay within ourselves. We know what we’re playing for. But proving ourselves right more so 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, that’s all we can ask for.” 

That learning and growth starts Friday against Phoenix. The preseason opener didn’t provide much of a challenge — though it did offer a chance for observations. 

Point Guards 

After the steadying presence of veteran point guards Dennis Schröder then D’Angelo Russell helped the Nets win too many games last season, this time they took no chances with three teenaged rookies. 

Young lead guards lose, at least early. In the prior decade, 26 of 33 lottery point guards underperformed their draft slot per Win Shares on Basketball Reference. But in the past four years all 11 have, while the older guards started to impact winning once they began to mature. 

Positions 

A left plantar fascia tear has sidelined Dëmin all preseason, while Saraf — drafted 26th overall — got the nod in the opener and was listed as the probable starter again Friday over Traore, taken seven spots earlier. 

Traore is quick and might be more solid defensively. But Saraf is more advanced running an offense, with game highs of six assists and a plus-25 in the opener. 

There are no veteran point guards. And though Kobe Bufkin played well against Jerusalem (plus-12 in 11 minutes), it was exclusively off the ball. The Nets seemingly view him as more of a smallish two-guard. 

Injuries 

Dëmin and Haywood Highsmith (right knee surgery) are the only players listed as out vs. the Suns, meaning Powell could make his debut. The athletic wing missed Summer League and the preseason opener with knee tendinopathy. 

Wolf toothless 

Fourteen Nets logged double-digit minutes in the opener, and all were a plus-12 except Wolf, just a disappointing minus-2. They drafted him largely for his playmaking, and he had five assists in just 14:47, but his defensive movement has to be better, and will be challenged by the Suns. 

Tank-killing vet 

Last season, Schröder and Dorian Finney-Smith helped the Nets to Pyrrhic victories before being traded. Terance Mann, with three years and $47 million left, is unlikely to be moved. But Highsmith says he wants to be back by Opening Night. Even if he doesn’t suit up until next month, a winning vet on a cheap $5.6 million expiring deal is a tank-killer … but also a trade chip. 

Misc. 

As of the team’s departure for China, they hadn’t installed many plays for Michael Porter Jr. or Cam Thomas. But shortly after arrival, they had gotten a visit from action star Jackie Chan.