00:00The Nats, they made a record five first-round picks in the first round of this year's NBA draft,
00:04but how did Brooklyn do with their draft picks, and should they have made as many picks as they did this year?
00:09Well, joining me to break it all down is New York Post Nets beat writer Brian Lewis.
00:13You see him right there.
00:14Brian, how are you doing after a long night at the Barclays Center?
00:19How's it going?
00:20It was long, but I'm doing well.
00:21How are you doing?
00:22I'm doing pretty good, man.
00:23I can't complain.
00:24It was a very interesting first round of the draft, particularly for the Nets.
00:28And Brian, you and I spoke before the draft, and neither of us, along with many others in the media,
00:34believed that the Nets would make five selections in the first round this year.
00:37So my question for you is this.
00:39Was making all five picks the right move here for Brooklyn?
00:43I mean, it's hard to say.
00:45I mean, we won't know for a couple of years, right, until we see these guys develop.
00:49I mean, I will, full disclosure, I'll tell you, I did not believe for a second that they were going to take all five of these picks.
00:55You know, I thought it was, personally, I thought it was posturing.
00:59If I had picks, and I was actively looking to move around and trade some of them, I probably would have just, I don't know,
01:07let it slip that I was comfortable to take all five of them.
01:11Casually mention that I have this great development head coach and whatnot.
01:16But it turned out not to be a smokescreen.
01:18It was real, for better or worse.
01:21It turned out to be, it turned out to be real.
01:24Yeah, it turned out to be real.
01:25Very shocking.
01:26Didn't think they would make all the picks.
01:27You and I even talked to how they possibly might try to kick some of those picks back.
01:31But future picks, that did not happen.
01:33Okay, but when we look at the picks,
01:36the Nets' first pick that they selected last night at No. 8,
01:39Jaeger Demmon, point guard out of BYU.
01:41Many fans expected the Nets to try to move up, Brian,
01:44or take the best player available at No. 8.
01:47Demmon was projected to go in the late teens.
01:49Did the Nets reach by taking Demmon with their first pick here?
01:53I mean, I'm not qualified to say,
01:56but I mean, certainly the experts that follow this closely think so.
02:01Now, granted, I mean, the experts get it wrong.
02:03I mean, Minnesota passed on Steph Curry twice in the same draft, right?
02:09SGA went 11.
02:11I think Giannis went 15.
02:13So this is a very imperfect science.
02:15I will acknowledge that.
02:17But Jaeger is, listen, he's the best passer in this class by a mile.
02:24But there are some glaring, glaring serious issues.
02:30He's not athletic at all.
02:34He couldn't get past people playing in the Big 12.
02:37So it, you know, it makes you wonder whether he's going to be able to get past people in the NBA.
02:44And now he did tweak his shooting motion a little bit.
02:49And I mean, most people that you talk to will tell you that his shot is the swing skill
02:54to determine whether he's going to be a legitimate NBA starter.
03:00He did not shoot well and has not shot well in the past.
03:04I think he was 27% from three at BYU.
03:08But now part of that was a knee injury that he had.
03:11Right.
03:11He was shooting about 38% before he hurt his knee.
03:15And then he was terrible after that.
03:18He tweaked his shooting motion in the offseason.
03:20He looked good at the combine.
03:22And he had a great pro day.
03:23So the Nets will tell you that they believe in his shot.
03:27If they're right, it's a good pick.
03:30If they are wrong, it's a horrible.
03:32That's basically what this comes down to.
03:35Yeah.
03:35And as you said, with all these guys, as you said, time will tell.
03:39But his shot is the swing factor here in determining him as a prospect.
03:44Now, besides Demmon, the Nets, they did take two other international point guards,
03:47selected Nolan Traore and Ben Sarf.
03:50All three point guards selected.
03:51They're good playmakers.
03:53And we talked about how good Demmon is with the passing.
03:55But they all struggle to shoot.
03:56So how encouraged are the Nets that they can find their point guard in the future
04:00among this group?
04:02Because, Brian, they look like they're trying to find that guy among this group.
04:06So how encouraged are they by taking three point guards here
04:09in the first round of the draft that they can find that point guard in the future?
04:12Oh, I mean, they don't.
04:13Yeah, they don't look like they're trying.
04:15I mean, they are definitely trying.
04:17And they are taking home run swings to try to do that.
04:20Listen, they haven't drafted.
04:22I mean, the most creative player that they've drafted probably since Sean Marks has been here.
04:29And it's been a decade.
04:32Probably Karis LeVert.
04:34I mean, it's been an issue.
04:36Listen, when they got D'Lo, I don't mean the second time.
04:38I mean the first time.
04:39They traded for him.
04:40Right.
04:40They signed Kyrie.
04:42All right.
04:42So these are not guys that they drafted.
04:45And point guard has been a hot mess since Kyrie left.
04:48All right.
04:48So they are clearly taking upside swings at the position.
04:54Listen, a year ago, if this, we were having this conversation 10 months ago, 11 months ago,
05:00Traore would have been viewed as a top five pick.
05:03He was that highly regarded.
05:04He had a tough first half of the season.
05:07Came on in the second half, recouped a little bit of that shine.
05:10Again, so they are hedging their bets.
05:15Traore is a very different kind of prospect where Yegor Damien is a borderline non-athlete.
05:22Traore is the fastest player in this class, an electric pick and roll player.
05:30So they are throwing a lot of darts at the board, hoping to be able to get this right.
05:38Yeah, they got to get it right.
05:39We will see there a couple more things for you, Brian, with their non-point guard picks.
05:43Two of them, Brooklyn selected wing Drake Powell at 22, big man Danny Wolf at number 27.
05:49Which of these two players do you think can be immediate impact players for the Nets next season,
05:55being that they were veteran college players?
05:57So which of these two do you think can help the Nets next season?
06:00I mean, the short answer is to say Powell.
06:05Listen, I mean, I'm being slightly glib, but I mean, you can make the argument that Wolf is the fourth point guard that they drafted.
06:12I mean, he essentially ran the point for Michigan.
06:14You know, a lot of big, big pick and roll.
06:17Per 36, I mean, he averaged about 4.2 assists.
06:20He's got this funky ball handling game.
06:22So Jordy loves, like, creative guys in the high post, and Wolf certainly can do that.
06:30But, I mean, Powell is the outlier.
06:32I mean, he is the ultimate 3 and D archetype.
06:37Shot about 38% from deep.
06:40He's one of the best defenders in the draft.
06:42He's probably the best athlete.
06:44I mean, he had the best vertical at the combine, best standing vertical at the combine.
06:50So, I mean, he's a guy that I think has a high floor.
06:54He's probably the safest pick because you know from the minute he gets there, he can come in and play a role, which is locking up people on the wing.
07:04Which is something they need next year, at least.
07:06And, look, the Nets are still in the rebuilding process, but it is something that they can absolutely use.
07:10Okay, last thing for me, Brian.
07:11Look, I know it's early.
07:14Draft just happened.
07:15First round just happened.
07:15But Nets fans, from what I've seen and heard, and I know you've seen it too on social media, they are not too thrilled about this draft and the five picks.
07:24Again, I know it's early, but I've got to make you Professor Lewis here.
07:28How do you grade what the Nets did in the first round, and what kind of player do you think they might target in the second round where they have the 36 pick?
07:36I mean, yes, you're correct that the reaction to this has been dire.
07:45I'm going to read you one major agent.
07:49This was ongoing in the draft.
07:51It was around pick 25.
07:54And he texted me unsolicited.
07:55He said, bro, they more often than not played three two-way players at a time to end up with three mad players so far.
08:04Insane.
08:05Now, I am not going to tell you that everybody is as down on this draft as that.
08:10I think a lot of people would say the bottom of their draft were more value guys.
08:22Seraf was probably capable of being drafted higher.
08:26Wolf definitely was capable of being drafted higher.
08:29Some people thought he might even go ahead at Queen.
08:31So, I'm not going to sit here and say that none of these guys will amount to being better than where they were drafted.
08:42But, clearly, the Nets, they kind of leaned into a particular identity with this.
08:50High basketball IQ.
08:52High processing character guys.
08:56Playmaking, passing guys.
08:59That's what they leaned into.
09:01They took a look at the NBA Finals.
09:03And they clearly saw that guys that did not have high basketball IQs looked sorely out of place on the court.
09:11Right?
09:12So, that's what they're gambling on.
09:13That's what they're leaning into.
09:15That's what Sean is banking on going forward.
09:18And, listen, a lot of these were risky swings.
09:23Right?
09:24Fans have been crying for a while for them to take upside shots.
09:29Right?
09:29Well, that's what they did.
09:31Fans have been asking for them to tank.
09:34Mark my words, they will be tanking next season.
09:37Right.
09:37So, they got what they wanted.
09:40Yeah.
09:40Fans got what they wanted.
09:41Some fans wanted a higher pick.
09:44They wanted Ace Bailey.
09:45They wanted Dylan Harper.
09:47Whatever, I think, doesn't mean they didn't try.
09:49It was going to be tough for them to get there.
09:51We'll see what they do in the second round with the 36 pick.
09:55That is Brian Lewis, the great beat writer here for the New York Post, covering the Brooklyn Nets.
10:00He will be covering the rest of this draft.
10:02And he'll have you all updated on that.
10:04Brian, always a pleasure to talk some Nets basketball with you.
10:06We'll do it again soon, my friend.
10:08No, it was a great talk to you.
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