So much for not having enough to write about in this column. It’s December 5th, about one quarter of the way through the NBA season, and the Brooklyn Nets are regularly playing four of their five first-round draft picks, the other starting for their G League affiliate.

Tune into a Brooklyn game at any point and you’re guaranteed to catch a rook playing real minutes, maybe even two or three. Which means…these preambles have to get shorter.

Season stats: 20 GP, 22.9 MPG, 8.4/3.3/3.5 slash line, 37/35/86 shooting splits. 1.7 TO + 2.0 PF + 1.3 stock (stl+blk) per game.

Stats last two weeks: 7 GP, 26.9 MPG, 10.1/3.7/3.7 slash line, 37/29.5/80 shooting splits. 1.6 TO + 2.4 PF + 1.6 stock (stl+blk) per game.

During Brooklyn’s depressing 0-7 start to the season, Egor Dëmin was averaging 2.1 deflections per 36 minutes. Since then, he’s up to 3.5 deflections, playing a heavier dose of minutes but upping his activity throughout; after playing both nights of a two-city back-to-back this week, it seems that his plantar fascia injury is becoming less of an active concern.

The defense is still not great, specifically guarding the ball, but I wouldn’t say it’s a total disaster either. Those 3.5 deflections per 36 minutes rank second among Nets in that span, and that combination of long arms and anticipation means Dëmin can also wall up at the rim and force tough shots (you can tell what Nic Claxton thinks of it)…

Deflections aren’t everything. Ziaire Williams was (and still is) leading Brooklyn in deflection per minute when he got justifiably benched for his efforts on that end. But for those that hoped Dëmin’s size and length would combat his lack of foot-speed on that end, it’s a point of evidence.

Offensively, Egor continues to be a fascinating prospect. So far, 50 of his 70 assists have gone to 3-point shooters; per this post, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the only other player to have at least 70% of his assists go to 3-point shooters (min. 35 assists), perhaps Dëmin’s polar opposite in terms of rim pressure.

That’s not necessarily a positive or negative, and it shows that Dëmin clearly understands the game. He knows where defenses will help from when he drives, and he acts on that prior knowledge; this was true of his play at BYU as well. For now his reads are a bit prescriptive rather than reactive, missing some late-developing cuts or early lobs in the pick-and-roll. I’m real interested to see how his floor-processing develops over the course of this season and his career.

Growing as a driver will help him there. His best tool getting to the rim is his long strides, but occasionally, that can speed him up a little too much. I explain here, sound on…

This is all pretty granular, but Nets fans should be comforted by the fact that Dëmin has shot 29.5% from three over the past two weeks and hasn’t been unplayable offensively. Frankly, that’s a better outcome than most thought he could achieve as a 19-year-old rookie.

It’s far too early to rush to any judgements about Dëmin, other than him being — and I mean this affectionately — a weird-ass player. I’m glad he’s a Net.

Season stats: N/A (garbage time skewing the samples)

Stats last two weeks: 5 GP, 23 MPG, 12.4/5.8/2.4 slash line. 20-of-44 FGA, 11-of-25 from three, 11-of-12 FT. Ten TO + nine fouls + one stock (stl + blk) total.

Well, if Danny Wolf is going to be a 44% 3-point shooter, he’s going to be good. That much is clear. Head Coach Jordi Fernández is undoubtedly pleased with Wolf’s willingness to shoot the three, even from far beyond the arc, and so far Wolf has been rewarded by catching something of a heater.

The defense has been as expected: He’s been pretty poor in space and has accumulated just one block, no deflections, and no steals over his first five games of real NBA action. That being said, he’s forced a couple misses at the rim, and as part of a jumbo lineup playing next to Noah Clowney and either Nic Claxton or Day’Ron Sharpe, opponents are shooting around 42% from two-point range. It’s a small sample size, but the Nets may be onto something here.

I like how Jordi Fernández is putting Wolf in positions to succeed early and often. Much as he did in Ann Arbor, where he played next to fellow 7-footer Vlad Goldin, Wolf has gotten a good run in Brooklyn. as the beneficiary of a good amount of 4-5 pick-and-roll with Wolf on the court, and it produced his best pass of the season so far…

Not only is Danny Wolf going to play consistent minutes with the Brooklyn Nets going forward, but he’s going to be featured in the offense.

In Thursday’s home loss to the Utah Jazz, the visitors were switching all actions 1-through-4, as many teams do. Needing to change momentum, Fernández drew up the opening play of fourth quarter for Wolf, as he was designed to catch it on the block after a cross-screen from Ben Saraf, hopefully getting a small on him. Though the Nets didn’t score on the possession, the plan worked…

Saraf probably needs to swing it, but Utah — despite voluntarily switching Walter Clayton Jr. onto Wolf — recognizes the mismatch and helps heavy into the paint. There’s an advantage on the weak-side, and Wolf finds it. A few minutes later, he’s running the two-man game with Nic Claxton at the top of the key and creates a driving lane, baiting the big man…

Defenses may not know exactly what to do with Wolf, but the Nets sure do. There’s intent behind his opportunities, and for a rookie who spent the first month of the season in the G League, that speaks pretty well to how the Nets feel about him.

I don’t think he’s going to keep shooting 44% from three and 90% from the line; when those numbers regress, he’ll really have to cut down on the turnovers. But Wolf, the last of Brooklyn’s five first-round picks, has had a real fun start to his career, looking like quite the matchup problem.

Oh, and his obliteration of Miles Bridges of all people was the best moment of the Nets season so far.

Season stats: 15 GP, 19.1 MPG, 6.5/1.8/2.0 slash line. 49/37 shooting splits, 17-of-18 FT. 1.1 TO + 1.8 fouls + 1.0 stock (stl + blk) per game.

Stats last two weeks: 7 GP, 23 MPG, 7.4/1.4/2.1 slash line. 16-of-32 FGA, 6-of-17 from three, 14-of-15 FT. Six TO + ten fouls + seven stocks.

Here’s something that may tickle your fancy: Drake Powell has made 24 two-point shots this season, and only ten have them have been assisted on. Now, some of those unassisted buckets have come on pick-six plays, like this highlight against the Celtics where you can see the length, anticipation, and athleticism all fuse together…

But Powell has a pretty odd offensive profile overall. For someone who doesn’t handle the ball a ton, he turns it over a bunch, but he’s shooting well from every spot on the floor, and Powell isn’t just being spoon-fed baskets either.

How do the Nets increase his usage? Dëmin, Wolf, and Ben Saraf all love to play the dribble-handoff game, those also feel like Powell’s best path to more touches, to figuring out where his spots on the floor really are. Powell needs to hesitate less on catch-and-shoot 3-point opportunities, but I do hope to see handoffs for him going forward. In the meantime, I’ll continue to enjoy sequences like this…

Season stats (NBA): 11 GP, 16.6 MPG, 5.3/1.6/2.7 slash line, 35/28/80 shooting splits. 2.0 TO + 1.4 PF + 1.0 stock (stl+blk) per game.

Stats last two weeks (NBA): 4 GP, 26.9 MPG, 8.8/0.8/3.3 slash line. 12-of-27 FGA, 5-of-16 from three, 6-of-7 FTA. 13 TO + 2 PF + 9 stock (stl+blk) total.

Let’s keep the good vibes rolling. As preposterous as it now seems that Ben Saraf started the first five games of this Brooklyn Nets season at point guard, he was recalled from his G League stint on November 29 against the Milwaukee Bucks. It was his NBA stint outside of garbage time in nearly a month. They were his best minutes of the season, as he posted ten points and seven assists…

The outside shot is aways away — though Saraf has returned from Long Island with renewed confidence in taking them — and we haven’t seen much of a right hand. But since rejoining the rotation, the flashes have been steady enough to where he should probably be a mainstay with the big-league club, especially as it isn’t trying to win this year.

I’ve also liked his decisiveness off the ball, attacking closeouts quickly or even sprinting into handoffs. Here, he catches it against Jevon Carter and attacks immediately…

The ball-handling and ability to use his body against defenders were Saraf’s primary sells pre-draft, but it doesn’t have to exclusively come in pick-and-roll.

Season stats (G League): 9 GP, 28.8 MPG, 16.8/2.4/5.7 slash line, 42.5/35/75 shooting splits. 4.3 TO + 3.7 PF + 0.7 stock (stl+blk) per game.

Stats last two weeks (G League): 5 GP, 31.5 MPG, 18.8/3.4/6.4 slash line, 45/42.9/70 shooting splits. 4.2 TO + 3.4 PF + 1.0 stock (stl+blk) per game.

I haven’t watched a ton of the Long Island squad recently given that most of the rookies are playing big minutes in Brooklyn, but over the past fortnight, Nolan Traore did put up a 28-point game in which he hit six 3-pointers, both career-highs…

Traore still looks tiny among G League athletes, even more so than he did last season in France. Hence, the four turnovers a game and rough shooting splits on the season. However, his 3-point shot really doesn’t look that broken, and including all competitions, he’s right next to Egor Dëmin in terms of percentage.

Therefore, plays like these…

It’s not unfeasible that Traore becomes an above-average 3-point shooter, but it’s hard to imagine a world where Traore becomes a good NBA player while remaining hesitant from three. The good news: He posted three straight games taking nine 3-point attempts.

I feel a bit bad for Traore, watching his fellow four rookies have shining moments in the NBA while he has an up-and-down season in Long Island, but that’s certainly better for him than riding the bench in Brooklyn. A few more 28-point performances and better defensive engagement, and he may earn himself some NBA minutes in the spring. We’ll see.

The Nets, 5-10 since their dreadful 0-7 start to the season, have not gotten worse once Dëmin, Wolf, Powell, and Saraf all entered the rotation. They all have rookie moments, but none of them are capable of truly tanking this season simply by touching the floor.

Their next opportunity to flash their skillsets and perhaps get another win comes on Saturday evening, when the Brooklyn Nets host the 3-20 (yes, 3-20) New Orleans Pelicans. Rookies Jeremiah Fears (whom Brooklyn was linked to) and Derik Queen (whom Brooklyn was not) are expected to suit up. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET.