Nets\u2019 123-115 win over the Chicago Bulls<\/a>, finishing with 13 points, 13 assists and three turnovers. It was the first double-double of his career, tied for the most assists by a rookie in the NBA this season and the fourth most by a first-year player in franchise history. Only Terrence Williams and Darwin Cook have hit the 13-and-13 combination in a Nets uniform.<\/p>\nRyan Nembhard is the only other rookie to do it anywhere in the league this year, and he\u2019s three years older than Traor\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\u201cOutstanding,\u201d head coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cThirteen assists\u2026 He touched the paint constantly. Speed is a factor, but he was under control, kept his dribble alive and made the right play over and over. His teammates benefited from it. That\u2019s part of development and we\u2019ve got to keep growing.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a young guard, that\u2019s the job description. Touch the paint, force help, make the simple read. Repeat it until the defense breaks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust making the read and understanding his superpower is his speed,\u201d Noah Clowney said. \u201cUsing it, not forcing anything, taking what the defense gives him. If they open up the wrong way, just go, break off the play, do what you need to do to touch the paint. And defensively he\u2019s challenging a lot of shots at the rim.\u201d<\/p>\n
Traor\u00e9, the 19th overall pick in last summer\u2019s draft, has always been able to get there. But now he\u2019s finding greater balance. His dribble stays alive longer. The weak side corner is coming into view quicker. Skip passes are leaving his hand earlier.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn scored 1.68 points per direct on-ball pick set for the 19-year-old Monday, the most efficient game any player has produced this season when receiving at least 25 screens, according to the All-NBA Podcast. When he turns the corner, good things are happening for the Nets offensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s more space in the NBA,\u201d Traor\u00e9 said. \u201cWith more space and good shooters, it\u2019s easier to take advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The season averages still reflect the learning curve. In 30 appearances, he\u2019s at 7.0 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 38.8% from the field and 32.6% from 3-point range. Look at his recent stretch, though, and it\u2019s a different conversation.<\/p>\n
Over his last 11 games, Traor\u00e9\u2019s up to 11.3 points and 4.5 assists with just 1.9 turnovers, good for a 2.37 assist-to-turnover ratio, while shooting 46.8% overall and 41.2% from deep. Over his last three, he\u2019s averaging 16.3 points and 8.0 assists on 69% true shooting.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s reading the floor faster because the game is finally slowing to a speed he recognizes.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bit slower with experience,\u201d Traor\u00e9 said. \u201cYou get used to the speed. It\u2019s getting better and I hope it continues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teammates see it in how he\u2019s managing tempo. Nic Claxton has watched him learn when to hit the gas and when to keep the group organized.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s figuring out how to use his speed and knowing when to go and when to slow down,\u201d Claxton said. \u201cHe\u2019s extremely fast and can touch the paint almost every play, but he\u2019s figuring it out. He\u2019s gaining confidence and we\u2019re going to need it going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trust is growing, too. Fern\u00e1ndez doesn\u2019t have to orchestrate every call. Traor\u00e9 is doing more of it himself, pointing, directing, owning possessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe trusts me a lot with the ball and that\u2019s important for me,\u201d Traor\u00e9 said. \u201cSometimes I can call the plays, sometimes he does, and we build that relationship and it will be even better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among rookies with at least 500 minutes, his 8.1 assists per 100 possessions rank third, behind Nembhard and Walter Clayton Jr. Production is catching up to the flashes.<\/p>\n
The next step is doing it again, then again after that. The French guard understands that part as well as anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it won\u2019t be good every game,\u201d Traor\u00e9 said. \u201cSo, I just keep going, keep working, and next game I try my best again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under control. That\u2019s the phrase that kept coming up Monday night. Nolan Traor\u00e9 still plays faster than just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,6,671,3545,2592],"class_list":["post-596994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn-nets","tag-basketball","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-brooklynnets","tag-nba","tag-nets","tag-nolan-traore","tag-rookie"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116052913514598282","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}