If you brought this report card home, you might be grounded…
How’d the Brooklyn Nets do in the NBA Draft? The report cards are all in and for the most part, the team’s historic draft — the first team to make five first round picks — underwhelmed the graders. There was one A (!) and mostly C’s and B’s.
Of the five players taken, the highest grades relative to Draft position went to the selection of Danny Wolf at No. 27, the lowest Drake Powell. Overall, the Brooklyn Nets’ picks were dunned for a lack of shooting. No surprise there. It was the prevailing feeling on Draft Night.
Some media broke it down by team, others by individual picks. In cases where individual picks were graded, we did a consensus grade, averaging the five. The best grade was an A from USA Today, the worst a C- from The Athletic/New York Times.
ESPN: C+
Brooklyn is betting on developing a remarkable number of teenagers, many of them with overlapping skill sets. Demin and Traore share a lot of traits as strong playmakers with size whose shooting and scoring efficiency need work. They can play together defensively, but spacing the floor with those groups could prove challenging.
Drafting so many raw players should help the Nets’ efforts to land in the lottery again in 2026, the last year they control their first-round pick before the Houston Rockets get it in 2027.
The Athletic/New York Times: C-
With their first three picks, the Nets took players I had ranked No. 26, No. 22 and No. 34. So, obviously, I’m not a massive fan of their choices. The bigger issue is that Brooklyn also took three point guards with its five picks in Demin, Traoré and Saraf. I’d also argue that Demin, Traoré, Saraf and Powell have serious questions about how they put the ball in the basket effectively in the NBA. Demin isn’t a great shooter yet and doesn’t get many paint touches around the rim.
Traoré is neither a great shooter nor a great finisher. Saraf struggles to shoot it from distance and doesn’t have much of a right hand to use to counter defenders. And then Powell posted the lowest usage rate of any college basketball player to be drafted since at least 2008.
It’s just a very strange blend of players if you’re going to use all five picks.
It’s the worst grade The Athletic’s Sam Vecencie gave out this other than F’s he gave to the two teams that didn’t participate: the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets.
Bleacher Report: B
Plenty of fans and analysts around the internet are clowning on the Brooklyn Nets for the players they settled on with their five first-round picks, but the real takeaway here should be the wheeling and dealing it took to get in this position in the first place.
Brooklyn’s future pick stash had been picked dry during the Kevin Durant era. As recently as last summer, the Nets didn’t have their own first-round pick in 2025. Now, they have a whopping five chances at a hit from that round.
And sure, there may be some skill and positional overlap here, but the modern NBA is positionless, and so are several of the players Brooklyn picked on Wednesday.
If just one develops into a high-end player, this draft will have been a success. More than that, and it’ll be safe to look back on it as a smashing one.
Yahoo!: B-
If you have lots of picks, some have to hit … right?
This is undoubtedly a huge swing for the Nets here.
Demin has a rare ability at his size to make dazzling passes, which would give Brooklyn a jumbo-sized ball handler. But he’s also struggled to shoot and create his own shot against lengthy defenders,
Traoré is the fastest player in this draft class. This is a good situation for him because it’s a clean slate roster. The best comparison is an early version of Dejounte Murray. All speed, but inefficient shooting across the floor.
Powell has a chiseled frame that he uses to barrel into defenders at the rim and to contain opponents when he’s on defense. He’s a switch-everything defender who plays with a high motor, and if his spot-up jumper translates he checks all the boxes to be a 3-and-D role player at a minimum for the Nets.
CBS Sports: B
CBS grades each pick on its own. The Nets five pick composite grade works out to a B, with the first three picks getting only C+ grades while the last two, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf at Nos. 26 and 27 get a B and B+ respectively.
Saraf is a jumbo southpaw guard with a strong frame. He’s one of the most creative passers off the dribble in the draft. He’s very creative and he puts pressure on the rim. The question is the shooting, which is a trend with these international guards that Brooklyn has selected tonight.
Wolf is highly skilled at nearly 7-feet tall, especially as a ball handler and passer. He was Michigan’s primary initiator for significant stretches last season and was a real playmaker. He has terrific hands and terrific touch and his ability to pass the ball is very rare at his size. He didn’t shoot it well from outside in college, a common theme with the picks from the Nets in Round 1. There are also questions about his defense.
USA Today: A
The Nets accumulated five first-round draft picks ahead of the draft and got: BYU’s Egor Demin at No. 8, France’s Nolan Traore at No. 19, North Carolina’s Drake Powell at No. 22, Israel’s Ben Saraf at No. 26 and Michigan’s Danny Wolf at No. 27.
Alas, no explanation for CBS outlier grade.
Sports Illustrated: B+
A composite grade, averaging each of the five picks. Best grade goes to the Nets selection of Danny Wolf at No. 27, an A-; the worst to Drake Powell at No. 22, a C.
The Nets somewhat surprisingly made all five first-round picks, rounding out a massive class with Wolf, perhaps the most unique player in this draft. He’s a jumbo 7-foot ballhandler that can really pass and has a crafty offensive game. He likely won’t get the same freedom in the NBA as he did in college, but Brooklyn clearly valued his size and feel for the game.
Powell came into the year with lottery buzz but largely flopped at North Carolina, struggling to find his footing in Chapel Hill, particularly on the offensive end. He’s a freak athlete who can jump out of the gym, but his slow processing speed sometimes neutralizes some of those athletic edges in game action. It seems fairly likely Powell would’ve been available with one of Brooklyn’s later first-rounders, but with five picks the Nets can afford to ‘overdraft’ players they really value.
NBADraft.net: B+
A composite draft with the most analysis other than Sam Vecenie’s at The Athletic. Two selections get A-: Nolan Traore and Drake Powell.
Had Nolan Traore been eligible for last year’s draft, he likely cracks the top 5. He was one of the hottest names heading into this year’s draft, but the scoring efficiency and attention to detail on defense unfortunately took a bit of a nosedive. Trarore is still one of the fastest prospects with the ball in his hands. He possesses terrific size and one of the best first steps in this draft class. He can make pinpoint passes with either hand and excels both in transition and in breaking down defenses in the half court.
There is a lot to love about Drake Powell’s fit in the NBA – much more so than his disappointing season in North Carolina would lead you to believe. The Tar Heels were one of college basketball’s strangest teams, and Powell rarely had the opportunity to showcase his skills alongside so many high-usage guards. He is not a “give me the ball and get out of my way” type of scorer – more of an opportunistic lane-filler and spot-up shooter. He already plays like a glue guy, which will suit him much better with the pace and space of the NBA.