The Brooklyn Nets had five first-round picks entering Wednesday’s NBA Draft, adding a fifth at No. 22 Tuesday by helping facilitate the deal sending Kristaps Porzingis from Boston to Atlanta, and they made all five.
Here are capsule profiles of the Nets’ Wednesday haul:
NO. 8 OVERALL: W Egor Demin, BYU
Demin, who is from Russia and signed with Spanish club Real Madrid at age 15, spent one season at BYU, where he was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. The 6-9 guard/forward started all 33 games he played for the Cougars, averaging 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.5 assists in 27.5 minutes per game.
In Spain, Demin helped Real Madrid’s Cadet A team win the 2022 Spanish Cadet Championship, and helped Real Madrid B win the Euroleague Next Generation Championship in both 2023 and 2024. He also represented Russia at the 2021 FIBA U16 European Challengers Tournament.
NO. 19 OVERALL: PG Nolan Traore, Saint-Quentin (France)
Traore, 19, spent a few years in the French junior leagues before signing with Saint-Quentin in the LNB Elite league last season, spurning offers to come stateside for college, and ended up being named the Basketball Champions League Best Young Player.
He has twice represented France in FIBA competition, averaging 13.6 points per game in the 2022 U16 European Championship and 8.6 points in the 2023 U18 European Championship.
This was the first of two first-round picks the Nets acquired from the Knicks in last summer’s Mikal Bridges trade.
NO. 22 OVERALL: W Drake Powell, North Carolina
Atlanta made this pick but it will be sent to Brooklyn when the Porzingis trade is finalized on July 6. With that, the Nets get Powell, who averaged just 7.4 points per game last year but shot 38% from three.
NO. 26 OVERALL: G Ben Saraf, Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany)
Saraf, 6-6 lefty, began his career in Israel at age 16 and spent this past season in the Bundesliga. The 19-year-old averaged 12.2 points and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 45% for Ratiopharm Ulm.
He also represented Israel in the 2022 FIBA U16 European Championship, leading that tourney in scoring at 24.3 PPG, and he was named 2024 FIBA EuroBasket U18 MVP after leading that tournament in scoring at 28.1 PPG.
This was the second of two first-round picks acquired in the Mikal Bridges deal.
NO. 27 OVERALL: F Danny Wolf, Michigan
Wolf was Second Team All-Big Ten last season, starting all 37 games and averaging 13.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game whole shooting 50 percent from the field. That was his lone season in Ann Arbor after two seasons at Yale, where the 7-footer had been First Team All-Ivy League and the Ivy League Tournament MVP in 2024.
Wolf has also represented Israel internationally, playing in the 2023 FIBA U20 European Championship and averaging 17.7 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 blocks per game in earning All-Tournament honors and helping Israel to a silver medal.