Nets' Young Core 'Driving the Culture' as Season Winds Down

Brooklyn relied on the youngsters last night—and it worked.

Mar 31, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez looks on during the first quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets have committed to protecting their sixth-best draft lottery odds—a decision that's greatly benefitted their young core. Dariq Whitehead, Drew Timme, Reece Beekman and Trendon Watford have all seen their roles heavily increase, especially in last night's 119-114 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Watford was the best of the bunch, posting 22 points and five assists while missing just one shot, again displaying his potential as an oversized facilitator in Jordi Fernandez's system. However, he wasn't the lone youngster to turn heads. Every member of Brooklyn's bench unit tallied double-digits in the scoring column with Timme's 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting leading the depth.

The skid-snapping victory was just the latest display of the Nets' youth movement, a group Fernandez is relying on to rebrand the team's on-court product.

“The way I see it is these guys are driving the culture. When you bring new younger guys — because those things are out of my control — it’s good to keep taking those positive steps,” Fernandez said via Brian Lewis of the New York Post. "They have fun. They support each other. They play hard for 48 minutes. It’s just great to see."

The recent optimism isn't due to a host of highly touted prospects filling out Brooklyn's roster—but hidden gems discovered and developed by Fernandez. Timme was an undrafted four-year college man out of Gonzaga. Watford fizzled out with the Portland Trail Blazers after going undrafted in 2021. Whitehead was a late first-rounder out of Duke, forced to miss nearly all of his rookie campaign. All have been overlooked but are now flourishing in larger roles.

Ahead of an offseason where the Nets will be equipped with a top draft choice and an uber amount of cap space, bringing along the youngsters could theoretically plug holes Brooklyn would otherwise fill with external talent. Developing in-house hasn't been a blueprint the franchise has relied on over the last decade, but now with Fernandez at the help, its reaping the benefits of building a culture on the backs of scrappy rising talent.

The Nets return to action tomorrow against the Atlanta Hawks at 7:30 p.m. EST.

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