Summer League: One Thing to Watch From Nets Rookies vs. Wizards

The Brooklyn Nets will play their second game of the 2025 Summer League when they face the Washington Wizards on Sunday night. The contest is scheduled to tip off at 8 PM ET.

The Nets dropped their opener in Las Vegas to the Oklahoma City Thunder, losing by a final score of 90-81. All of the Nets’ first-rounders played, except for Drake Powell. The former North Carolina swingman is grappling with left knee tendinopathy. Grant Nelson, an undrafted free agent, also featured against Oklahoma City.

It was a mixed debut for the Nets’ rookie class. For instance, Israeli guard Ben Saraf was intriguing with his defense and driving, but needs to keep improving his three-point shot. Russian playmaker Egor Dëmin looks much more like a wing or a connector — not a point guard, like in college at BYU — which will be worth tracking for the rest of Brooklyn’s time in Vegas.

The Wizards are undergoing a total rebuild, much like the Nets. The DC-based team is stacking long, athletic wings on its roster as of late. Washington drafted Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George and Bub Carrington in 2024. That came one year after adding Bilal Coulibaly. This draft, they selected Tre Johnson, Will Riley and Jamir Watkins. They've also acquired the likes of AJ Johnson, Cam Whitmore, Dillon Jones, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley.

The Wizards lost their Summer League opener 103-84 to the Phoenix Suns. Sarr, George, Carrington, Tre Johnson and Riley started. Jones, AJ Johnson and Watkins featured off the bench. They got blown out, but like the Nets, the Wizards are a team that features a lot of young players who are not very “good” right now but will be in an NBA rotation next season.

Dëmin needs to be more aggressive against Washington. He only took threes against the Thunder and finished with zero assists to two turnovers. The 19-year-old will need a slight adjustment period if he is to play off-ball — although he’s done this before with Real Madrid in Spain — but Summer League head coach Steve Hetzel needs more from the best passer on his team.

Nolan Traore might be a slight doubt for this game after rolling his ankle on July 10, but he is expected to play for now. The French point guard scored 13 points and dished out three assists in his Brooklyn debut. Building on that and continuing to use his speed can be Traore’s focus points against DC.

Saraf needs to keep taking threes; otherwise, he had a bright Summer League opener. The Israeli prospect is one of the “multiple ball-handlers, multiple attackers” on the Nets’ team. Hetzel recently mentioned parallels to the Thunder’s championship-winning team.

Danny Wolf was the Nets rookie who struggled most against Oklahoma City. He missed all of his five attempted field goals, turned the ball over four times to his two assists and didn’t impose himself as a defender. This needs to be a bounce-back game for Wolf. It won’t be concerning if it isn’t, but the expectations should be demanding for a 21-year-old who already played three seasons of college basketball and, unlike the other rookies he played with, grew up in the American system.