Slater: Brooklyn Nets have talked to four top prospects, led by Jeremiah Fears

The NBA Draft Combine runs through Sunday, and things are starting to sort out for both prospects and teams.

The luck portion of the Brooklyn Nets season of our times is largely over. The Nets fell to No. 8 position in the Lottery. Bad luck. Now, though, it’s mostly skill as Sean Marks & co. try to sort out the best prospects at the NBA Combine in Chicago.

Days after the lottery, the executives who sat waiting for the draft order are still in Chi-Town, watching 78 prospects work out at WInTrust Arena and putting them through mental paces and scheduling private visits to the home courts.

There’s no master list of where individual prospects are headed nor when. It’s up them and their reps to reveal that detail to reporters. So far, according to Erik Slater of Clutch Points, four prospects, all likely first round picks, have said they’ve met privately with Brooklyn: Jeremiah Fears, the 6’4” Oklahoma point guard; Kon Knueppel, the 6’7” Duke wing; Carter Bryant, the 6’8” Arizona wing; and Egor Demin, the 6’10” BYU point. All are scheduled for visits to HSS Training Center between now and the first night of the NBA in Brooklyn on June 25.

So far, the player who’s caught the most interest, is the 18-year-old Fears.

“The conversations were great,” Fears told Slater, the only Brooklyn beat writer in Chicago Wednesday. “They were just telling me how I could fit within their system and be an overall good piece for them… [Playing in New York City] is not a bad idea. I actually like New York a little bit.”

Indeed, a league source tells NetsDaily, that Brooklyn’s interest in Fears is real.

“You should spend a lot of time studying Jeremiah Fears,” he said unsolicited. “I think you will like him.”

Of the four players the Nets have spoken with, Fears is the one most likely to be gone by No. 8, which the source conceded. However, the source said, that doesn’t mean he’s out of the Nets range.

“They will need to navigate him to 8 or use some of those picks to move up,” he noted. The Nets of course have five picks in this year’s draft. In addition to No. 8, they have Nos. 19, 26, 27 and 36, all but the last one a first rounder. They also lead the league in most tradeable picks with 13 first rounders and 16 second rounders through 2031.

On the other hand, Knueppel, Demin and Bryant are all more likely to be on the board at No. 8.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the Nets are looking closely at Fears or Demin. It’s not a stretch to say Brooklyn most needs a point. Marks is famous for saying that the team will prioritize “best player available” when it picks but having multiple points available is a bonus.

There was also a flutter of fan excitement Thursday afternoon when Ron Harper, father of presumed No. 2 pick Dylan Harper, and a five-time NBA champion himself, engaged with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson and Nets fans on x.com (aka Twitter) suggesting that the Nets could make a play for the Rutgers guard…

Of course the Spurs would have to want to deal Harper, not something anyone in San Antonio is yet suggesting. However, there has been a lot of suggestions in Chicago that the final order of the 2025 Draft may not be settled yet. One big reason is that a number of prospects not previously seen a first rounders are now seen as top 30.

• Brooklyn Nets’ 4 best options at No. 8 pick in 2025 NBA Draft – Erik Slater – Clutch Points
• Nets being linked to young guard Jeremiah Fears — who modeled game after Kyrie Irving — in NBA Draft – Brian Lewis – New York Post