Nolan Traoré's Emergence for the Nets has Come Faster Than Many Expected

The Brooklyn Nets haven't seen a rookie guard with court vision like Nolan Traoré in a long time –– arguably ever. While the Nets organization has been in Brooklyn, the 19-year-old is the only rookie to ever record 13 points and 13 assists in a game.

The last rookie to do so, donning a Nets uniform, was Terrence Williams in 2010, when the team was in New Jersey. Traoré's recent surge has definitely come as a shock, though.

In his 2025 NBA Draft profile, scouts couldn't rave enough about his potential, but noted that he would "need reps in an NBA offense to get more comfortable." Analysts thought Traoré was more of a project player who could blossom into a high-level contributor. No one thought he would emerge as Brooklyn's primary ball handler by February.

Through the Nets' first 23 games of this season, Traoré played a combined four games, primarily spending time in the G League for his early development. After having a successful stint with the Long Island Nets, where he averaged over 18 points and six assists per game, he earned an opportunity on the main roster.

Traoré played 19 games off the bench, including a career-high 21 points and two steals against the Boston Celtics in a double overtime loss on Jan. 23. It was after that performance that he was inserted into the starting lineup as multiple starters nursed injuries.

Through 8 games as a starter, Traoré has averaged 12.1 points and six assists per game. His last four games leading up to the All-Star break saw him score more than 12 points in each game, and he had three games with seven or more assists.

Traoré's speed can cause more harm than good at times, but he's seemingly honed his athletic gift to become a versatile weapon. He's averaging 3.3 turnovers per game as a starter. Brooklyn's coaching staff can live with the occasional mistakes when Traoré is being as effective as he is distributing the ball to his teammates.

His assist percentage for the season is 25.5%, which is 40th in the NBA among players who have played more than 30 games. Across Traoré's six games in February, that number has shot up to 34.5%.

Being a constant attacking threat who prioritizes finding his teammates makes him the primary candidate to be the Nets' lead guard of the future. Fellow rookie guard Egor Demin is also excelling, but he's taken more off-ball duties than expected. The future dynamic between the two will be one of the most exciting young duos to monitor in the league.