NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets are in the early days of training camp as they prepare for a 2025-26 NBA season that the franchise hopes will be better than last season’s campaign. Brooklyn’s goals are more focused on the development of the younger players on the team at this point in the rebuild, but two of the rookies are facing other challenges along the way.
“He’s been doing the non-contact part of practice. The next step is to do the contact. It’s gonna come soon. We’re excited because we see how he impacts the game and how good he can be in the NBA,” Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said of forward Drake Powell following Thursday’s training camp practice. Powell has been dealing with left knee tendinopathy since the summer, but the good news is that he should be back on the court soon.
“Yeah, probably not as close as Drake is. But same thing, they’re following the proper steps, taking care of something that we don’t want it to linger,” Fernandez said of rookie guard Egor Demin, who’s currently dealing with a plantar fascia injury of some sort. “He’s doing a great job, and we’ll see him sooner than later. We’ll give you an appropriate timetable at some point.”
Demin, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, will have quite the competition on his hands when he is able to take the floor given the amount of point guards on the roster. The former BYU Cougar is not only trying to learn the NBA game while developing, but he will be competing with Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, and presumably Kobe Bufkin, who was recently acquired via trade from the Atlanta Hawks.
Powell, the 22nd pick in the 2025 Draft, also has some competition to sift through as could be competing with Terance Mann, Ziaire Williams, and Haywood Highsmith for time behind projected starter Michael Porter Jr. While the Nets haven’t provided much information by way of timelines on Demin or Powell, it seems like the former North Carolina Tar Heel could be back on the court sooner than later.