Earlier this week, Net Income defined Brooklyn’s decision to select Mikel Brown Jr. at No. 6 overall as the franchise’s “biggest decision since John Calipari muffed 1996 Draft and wimped out by deciding against taking Kobe Bryant.”
Debate the particulars if you want, but the point is clear: Mikel Brown Jr. has the weight of a franchise on his shoulders. Egor Dëmin had a promising rookie season, particularly shooting the ball, and profiles (potentially) as a nice contributor to winning teams for seasons to come. If that turns out to be the case, that’s a successful pick at #8 overall.
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But Brown Jr. is really who Brooklyn’s rebuild rests upon. There are other avenues to improvement; Brian Lewis of New York Post reported on Monday evening that the Nets have shown interest in Trey Murphy II and Cason Wallace in the trade market. Mitchell Robinson, Keon Ellis, and Rui Hachimura are free agents that have been linked to Brooklyn (perhaps simply because the Nets have cap space), but general consensus around the league is that the Nets are more active on the trade block.
Regardless, Brooklyn is not locked into this roster, but they are locked into Mikel Brown Jr.. He is either the 20-year-old star guard of the future or the representative of an outright tank failure (or, more likely, somewhere in the middle). And he is one heck of a fascinating prospect to tote such responsibility.
Obviously, there’s the pure talent gleaming off him, the logo-threes, the handles, the dunks … we’re all familiar by now. And he is now officially a Brooklyn Net; the team introduced him at the Brooklyn Basketball Training Center on Monday afternoon, along with fellow draft picks Joshua Jefferson and Tyler Bilodeau…
Brown Jr. touts many qualities other recent Nets’ picks have. He is incredibly polite, a bit soft-spoken, eager to talk about the good of the team rather than his own career. The 6’4″ guard is also undeniably, overwhelmingly confident in his abilities.
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Given that he met with the Nets three times before the draft, I asked Brown Jr. how deep certain X’s and O’s conversations went; he did not hesitate to call himself a “savant” in his answer: “They were pretty deep, but it’s nothing that I haven’t already learned and understood. That kind of made it, also, easier on them. You know, their player development could be more advanced, because I’m already a student of the game, I’m a savant when it comes to this stuff. So every type of action or terminology that they throw on me, I kind of already know. Just how they say it — you might call one action something else, but I’ve been known to call it something else, but we’re talking about the same thing. So it’s very easy. That was very easy.”
The Louisville product also shared his confidence level with the 85 children that attended his introduction. Before leading them through drills, he let the crowd know he had spoken with Julius Randle (though not officially a Net just yet), and that the conversation was simple: “We’re gonna shock the world.”
Sean Marks also spoke on Monday afternoon: “I don’t think anybody’s ever questioned the confidence that [Brown] has had, right? And these guys, they’ve got to this level by — as you heard them before — not believing in the doubters. And I think they’ve got something to prove, they’ve all got a chip on their shoulder, which I think you hear us talk about a lot with wanting guys that are self-motivated.”
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That piece of it is not new for the Brooklyn Nets. Over the past few seasons, we’ve heard players yearn for “second-chances” or simply an opportunity to prove themselves, whether that be Keon Johnson or Josh Minott or Ziaire Williams or Dennis Schröder. This is not Mikel Brown Jr. who (understandably, justifiably) thinks, or rather knows he is that guy. He is the man.
“When we interviewed him at the combine in Chicago, you know, he spent a lot of time interviewing us, which I love,” said Marks. “I love the interaction. Going back and forth, how would he fit in Brooklyn, how we see him and so forth, it was — it was great banter, going back and forth with him.”
Brown Jr., as he will tell you, is a coach’s son. You can tell. He speaks with great reverence of a point guard’s duty, and said he’s been studying game tape of Joshua Jefferson and Tyler Bilodeau to see how they can fit together once Summer League rolls around.
Both he and Joshua Jefferson smiled when talking about recent practice days at HSS Training Facility, admitting that they are both real happy to get back in the gym after a tiring draft process.
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Jefferson, the #28 pick, says that working on his outside shooting is his main focus right now but that he is indeed as versatile as they come, adding: “I think my defensive ability at the high level can be undersold a little bit. I think I can move my feet pretty well, guard one-through-five, so that’s what I’m going to try to prove on day one.”
Jefferson was not listed on Brooklyn’s initial Summer League squad…
…but only because the Minnesota-Brooklyn trade cannot be finalized until July 6th at the earliest. Therefore, Jefferson will not be able to play in the California Classic, which ends on the 6th. He is expected to play in Las Vegas Summer League though. However, Nolan Traore and Grant Nelson are not. Both players are rehabbing injury.
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Marks did clarify that Nolan is “expected to be full return for training camp in early September, so he won’t miss much time,” after a scope on his right knee. He also clarified that the issue cropped up during the season. Nelson had a leg procedure after the season.
Other than Traore, the Nets other four first rounders last year will be on the court, with each of them having put on ten to 15 pounds and at least one, Drake Powell, adding an inch to his height, jumping from 6’5″ to 6’6″ in barefeet. While some have speculated that Demin too has added height, the Nets said he’s been measured recently is just where he was last season: 6’8.5″ in barefeet.
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Following Brooklyn’s presser, Mike Scotto of HoopsHype reported that Ochai Agbaji and Jalen Wilson were not tendered qualifying offers, making them unrestricted free agents…
However, the Nets did exercise their team option on Malachi Smith, though it is a non-guaranteed contract…
It is unlikely Smith makes the team out of training camp, but you never know. Though not official yet, it seems likely that Brooklyn’s two-way contracts will belong to Tyler Bilodeau, Chaney Johnson, and Grant Nelson, with the latter once again joining the Nets for Summer League ball.
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Brooklyn tips off Summer League play at 5:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 4th, playing against the Sacramento Kings in SacTown. That’s right. Darius Acuff Jr. vs. Mikel Brown Jr.
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