Nets HC Jordi Fernández Explains Why His Rookies Need to Shoot Threes

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernández broke down why his team’s five new rookies have to shoot three-pointers.

“I'm very excited, and I told them already today: if your teammate touches the paint and creates a three for you, you have to let it fly,” he said. “Otherwise, you're gonna come sit with me, so they already know what we're trying to do.”

Three-point shooting is a question for all of Brooklyn’s first-round picks. It might be the most pertinent question for Egor Dëmin, who shot 27.3 3P% at BYU. Also in the NCAA, Danny Wolf made 33.6 3P% of his shots from deep. Drake Powell converted 37.9 3P%, but on 95 total attempts. Nolan Traoré and Ben Saraf finished their international seasons converting 31.4 3P% and 29.0 3P%, respectively.

One of Fernández’s goals this season is to play with even more pace. The Spanish head coach is going into his second year as the Nets’ bench boss. Fernández was satisfied with Brooklyn’s half-court pace in his first season, but wants more tempo in the open court now.

“In my opinion, we have the fastest guy in the draft,” Fernández said, alluding to No. 19 overall pick Traoré. “We have a lot of playmaking here. All these guys can really pass the ball. All those paint touches and ball reversals, it just helps you when you have not [only] primarily ballhandlers but also secondary ballhandlers, and all these guys can do it.”

Fernández was also keen to emphasize the defensive end of the floor. That’s where it starts for him, and where rookies will earn their playing time.

The 42-year-old said: “Positional size is very important, right? With your eye test, I would play these guys almost 1-through-4, 1-through-5, so that's a good thing for us. You'll see length, athleticism, and we’ll keep working on that physicality, communication, the multiple efforts.”

The Nets’ Las Vegas Summer League campaign begins on July 10 against the reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder. Brooklyn will also face the Washington Wizards, the New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic on July 13, 15 and 16. This will mark the first time Brooklyn’s rookies play together, but some were already familiar with one another before donning the Nets’ black-and-white.

Dëmin recalled facing Traoré in May 2024 as part of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament: “We were really aware of him on the scouting report. The game before the final game, he dropped, like, 45, if I'm not wrong, against [Barcelona]. We were happy to see that, but it was really scary for us to get to this game knowing who he is.”

Traoré finished that game with 18 points, four rebounds, five assists, five turnovers and two steals on 6-for-19 shooting. Demin played a game-high 43 minutes, and had 26 points (9-for-22 from the field, 3-for-10 from three), 11 rebounds, six assists, five turnovers, three steals and two blocks.

Meanwhile, Danny Wolf knows Ben Saraf from a couple of practices with the Israeli under-20 national team. Wolf, like Powell, is represented by CAA Basketball. They worked out together in the predraft process with nine-year NBA veteran Don MacLean at Proactive.