The Brooklyn Nets exercised third-year team options on all five of their 2025 first-round picks — Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf — on Thursday. That decision comes ahead of the Nov. 2 deadline for teams to exercise rookie scale options for 2027-28.
Demin was one of the Nets' few bright spots during last year's tanking season. The 6-foot-9 guard/wing averaged 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .399/.385/.831 shooting splits in 25.2 minutes per game across 52 appearances (45 starts). He was one of three rookies to average over 10.0 points and 3.0 assists with a true shooting percentage above 56.0, alongside Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel and San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn's other four rookies showed promise in spurts but collectively underwhelmed. Outside of Demin, Traore is the Nets' only sophomore who opened this season in the rotation.
Following a sporadic rookie season, the French floor general has performed well during his early opportunities. Traore has averaged 16.0 points and 4.0 assists on 12-of-20 shooting from the field, 3-of-5 from three and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line over the Nets' last two games. He replaced Keon Ellis in Brooklyn's starting lineup during Tuesday's overtime loss to the Boston Celtics.
Nets exercise team options on all five 2025 first-round picks despite lack of playing time
Meanwhile, Powell, Saraf and Wolf have been on the outside looking in for rotation spots this season. The trio got its only playing time in the closing minutes of Sunday's 136-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Powell, Saraf and Wolf have been assigned to the Nets' G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, at some point since the start of the regular season, along with 2026 first-round pick Joshua Jefferson.
Following underwhelming rookie campaigns, Powell and Saraf struggled at this year's Summer League. Powell averaged 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.0 assist on 8-of-44 (18.2 percent) shooting from the field and 4-of-25 (16.0 percent) from three across six appearances. Saraf averaged 10.0 points on 19-of-51 (37.3 percent) shooting from the field and 5-of-15 from three with 3.3 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game.
Both sophomore guards will face an uphill battle to earn NBA minutes this season. The Nets have three young guards — Demin, Traore and Mikel Brown Jr. — in the backcourt rotation alongside Ellis. Veteran guard Terance Mann hasn't played yet but also has a case for minutes.
Article Continues Below“Just to be ready when their number's called and do whatever it takes to help the team win,” head coach Jordi Fernandez recently replied when asked what players like Powell and Saraf need to do to earn NBA minutes.
Wolf has a more convincing case for minutes. The former Michigan star averaged 5.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists on 8-of-16 shooting in 12.5 minutes per game across four preseason appearances. Wolf has been behind Noah Clowney and Chaney Johnson in Brooklyn's second-unit forward rotation. However, Clowney has struggled to make an impact thus far, averaging 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 37.5 percent on just 4.0 field-goal attempts per game.
Powell, Saraf and Wolf each practiced with Long Island this week. All three could see action when the team opens the G League season on Nov. 6.
The Nets' decision to pick up all of their five third-year options doesn't guarantee all five players will be on the roster next season. Brooklyn recently picked up their third-year option for Dariq Whitehead, the No. 22 pick in the 2023 draft, before waiving him ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.