Rick Carlisle praises Nets rookie who has become ‘a problem’ for opposing defenses

Egor Demin has been the main bright spot of the Brooklyn Nets’ rookie class this season. However, Nolan Traore has emerged as a key contributor alongside Demin in the team’s backcourt in recent weeks.

Traore’s high-level play has earned him a starting role with the rebuilding Nets. It also earned him praise from one of the NBA’s top coaches.

“[Traore] causes problems,” Rick Carlisle said ahead of the Indiana Pacers’ 115-110 win over the Nets on Wednesday. He’s on our prep video a lot, which tells you something. There’s seven, eight, nine clips of him. We gotta keep him in front. He’s crafty, he drives it, he shoots it from all four levels. He just creates a lot of issues for a defense.”

Rick Carlisle on Nolan Traore:

“He causes problems… He’s on our prep video a lot, which tells you something. There’s seven, eight, nine clips of him. We gotta keep him in front. He’s crafty, he drives it, he shoots all four levels… They do a great job of developing young… pic.twitter.com/EuvIGTv7T5

— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) February 11, 2026

Traore dished out 13 assists during Brooklyn’s 123-115 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday, tied for the most by a rookie this season. He turned in another high-level performance against the Pacers, posting 20 points and eight assists on 8-of-13 shooting.

Nolan Traore turning heads with recent play for rebuilding Nets

Traore has averaged 12.0 points on .486/.432/.750 shooting splits with 4.8 assists and 2.2 turnovers per game (2.18 ast/to) over his last 12 appearances. The No. 19 pick’s 8.3 assists per 100 possessions rank second among all rookies who have played over 500 minutes this season, trailing only Ryan Nembhard (12.4), who is three years older.

The Nets are undertaking the unprecedented task of developing an NBA-record five rookie first-round picks this season. Carlisle said the encouraging early development of Traore, Demin and others does not surprise him.

“They do a great job of developing young players here,” the Pacers coach said. “Jordi [Fernandez] has been really top of the heap with what [his staff] has done the last couple of years. Traore’s gonna keep getting better. Demin’s getting better. Their young bigs have progressed a lot over the last couple of years. The future here is very bright.”

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