The Brooklyn Nets fell to the shorthanded Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, blowing a lead that grew as large as 18 points.
The Nets were missing Michael Porter Jr. and Nic Claxton, but it gave the rookies a golden opportunity to shine.
Nolan Traoré, the second of the Flatbush 5 to be selected, has showcased incredible speed, shotmaking, playmaking, and defense in recent games, catching the attention of Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.
“He causes problems,” Carlisle said. “He’s on our prep video a lot, which tells you something. There’s seven, eight, nine clips of him. We gotta keep him in front. He’s crafty, he drives it, he shoots all four levels… They do a great job of developing young players here. Jordi’s been really top of the heap with what they’ve done the last couple of years. Traore’s gonna keep getting better. [Egor] Dëmin’s getting better. Their young bigs have progressed a lot over the last couple of years. The future here is very bright.”
Rick Carlisle on Nolan Traore:
“He causes problems… He’s on our prep video a lot, which tells you something. There’s seven, eight, nine clips of him. We gotta keep him in front. He’s crafty, he drives it, he shoots all four levels… They do a great job of developing young… pic.twitter.com/EuvIGTv7T5
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) February 11, 2026
Carlisle helped the Dallas Mavericks pull off the ultimate upset in the 2011 NBA Finals, taking down the LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh-led Miami Heat. He could certainly have another ring had Tyrese Haliburton stayed healthy in the 2025 NBA Finals, when the Pacers fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a grueling seven-game series.
Case in point, for an accomplished coach like Carlisle to recognize the direction of the Nets’ franchiseis no small feat.
It’s not an accident that the undermanned Pacers pulled off that victory in Brooklyn. Carlisle has made a living mixing and matching lineups to control the flow of the game and keep opposing teams on its toes, which was on full display during Indiana’s Eastern Conference Finals series against the New York Knicks last season.
At this stage of a rebuild, all the Nets can really do is focus on developing every single player on the roster, scour the market for diamonds in the rough in free agency and/or the draft, and put together a team that can consistently win games no matter who’s in the lineup.
The Nets will eventually need star power to get to the next level, but a true championship winning organization needs to develop its foundation first.
For now, the most important takeaway for Nets fans may be that an accomplished, championship-winning coach is already noticing Brooklyn’s growth. That, in itself, is reason for optimism.