NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Saraf is heading into his rookie season in the NBA and he will have a point guard battle on his hands in training camp. Brooklyn will be entering the 2025-26 season with a brand-new rotation at the point guard spot, but Saraf has been making a good impression early on and he explained why after his first training camp practice.

“I think you just said it. I feel like, yeah, playing like it’s going to be my fourth year playing professional, so I’ve got some experience, with playoff games I played like with full arenas,” Saraf said after practice on Wednesday. Saraf will be entering his first NBA training camp and along the way, he’ll be competing with players like Egor Demin for playing time. Saraf credits his previous professional experience for the reason he’s having a good start.

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“So I think it’s helped me. And also like my last teammates, my last vets,” Saraf continued. “So everybody I’m trying to learn from each one of them. And, yeah, I don’t feel like a rookie here. I am a rookie, I’ll do all my duties and everything; but it’s basketball, so I’m just going out there and playing.”

Saraf, 19, came into the NBA as the 26th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and part of his draft profile was the experience he gained from playing internationally over the past few seasons. Saraf spent the 2024-25 season playing for Ratiopharm Ulm, averaging 12.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 44.4% from the field and 29.0% from three-point land.

Saraf is coming off an uneven performance during the Las Vegas Summer League in July as he put up 7.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per contest, but shot just 30.7% from the floor along the way. Saraf will have the opportunity to compete for a spot in the rotation alongside Demin, Nolan Traore, and Kobe Bufkin, but it seems that his prior experience could give him a leg up on his competition.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Ben Saraf explains why he is turning heads at training camp