The Brooklyn Nets’ historic five-player 2025 draft class has one season under its belt, but the real evaluation starts now. With questions surrounding four of the five rookies, Year 2 could be crucial for Brooklyn’s rebuild.
The Brooklyn Nets’ 2025 draft class is already being put under the microscope.
Bleacher Report recently identified Brooklyn’s entire 2025 first-round group as the players with the most to prove on the team heading into the 2026-27 season. After one season, it is tough to argue with that assessment.
The Nets entered the 2025 NBA Draft with five first-round picks and walked away with Egor Dëmin, Nolan Traoré, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf. It was an unusual approach, but Brooklyn was clearly betting on quantity giving it a better chance of finding several long-term pieces during the rebuild.
Now, those players are heading into Year 2, and there should be more expected from them.
That does not mean the Nets need all five to become stars. Far from it. But with so much draft capital invested in the group, Brooklyn needs to start seeing which players can actually become important pieces of the team’s future.
Dëmin is probably the easiest player to feel good about right now.
The No. 8 overall pick showed plenty of promise during his rookie season, averaging 10.3 points per game while shooting 37.5 percent from three. He also showed that he could make an impact defensively and looked more comfortable attacking the basket during Summer League.
There are still questions about his ball-handling and ability to consistently create offense, but Dëmin has already shown enough to make it reasonable to believe there is another level to his game.
The other four have a little more work to do.
Traoré showed flashes as a playmaker, particularly toward the end of his rookie season, but his efficiency was a problem. He shot just 38 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from three while averaging 2.3 turnovers per game. His speed and creativity are obvious, but the Nets need to see him turn those tools into more consistent production.
Powell may have the most to prove.
The athleticism that made him an intriguing first-round pick is still there, but it did not consistently translate during his rookie season. Powell averaged just 6.5 points per game and struggled to make a noticeable impact on either end of the floor.
The second season is an important one for him. Brooklyn needs to see more than athletic flashes. Powell has to show that he can consistently impact games, even when he isn't scoring.
Saraf was another rookie who showed some things to like. His court vision and ability to use his strength to get to the basket stood out at times, and he averaged 3.3 assists and 0.9 steals in 44 games.
The biggest question is whether he can clean up the shooting and turnover issues without losing the creativity that makes him intriguing.
Then there is Wolf, who arguably had the most well-rounded rookie season of the group.
Wolf averaged 8.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists while showing that he can do a little bit of everything. His defensive instincts were particularly encouraging. Still, his 40.5 percent shooting from the field and 32.2 percent from three leave plenty of room for improvement.
A lot is riding on this group, even if nobody in Brooklyn is expecting five stars to come out of the same draft.
The Nets have added another young group through the 2026 NBA Draft, which only makes playing time more valuable. At some point, Brooklyn has to figure out which of these young players are actually going to be part of the next good Nets team.
Year 2 should go a long way toward answering that question.
The 2025 draft class does not need to prove everything this season. But after five first-round picks and a full rookie year of development, it is time for the Nets to start seeing some real progress.
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