Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn Nets

Right now, he's not good to go. We'll see what the next step is. It's important that we manage them. As rookies, they come in, and usually when they do a lot of draft workouts their summer is not perfect because they go through a lot. It's almost like they're missing a summer. They do play summer league, but it's not a real summer. Then you get into training camp, and it feels like you go into playing right away.

It's like asking a bunch of kids, who are just learning how to swim, to make sure the other one doesn't drown. That's the tightrope Jordi Fernández has walked as the Nets push through the final stretch of a season that has gone sideways in the standings, even as the organization stays committed to a development plan built for patience.

On Thursday night, I finally got to see Victor Wembanyama, and although he had a pedestrian game by his own standards-12 points, eight rebounds, no threes-it was still a riveting experience. The game, a 126-110 San Antonio win, was moments of Wembanyama doing something, or trying to do something, interrupted by some bullshit I wasn't there to see.

The jumper gives Brooklyn spacing, and it gives Démin a base to build on. But the next step is the one that changes how defenses treat him. It's not another layer of shot-making. It's learning how to consistently get into the paint and get to where he wants to go on the floor, on his terms, against NBA bodies and NBA game plans.

After the 3 p.m. deadline came and went, the Nets hadn't made a blockbuster move for superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, or dealt away leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. Egor Dёmin, who scored 26 points, looks to make a move during the Nets' 118-98 blowout road loss to the Magic on Feb. 6, 2026 in Orlando. NBAE via Getty Images Other than waiving backup guard Cam Thomas, the rotation remained unchanged.

Brooklyn blew a 12-point lead - and an eight-point fourth-quarter cushion - to fall 116-113 before a crowd of 16,201 at Smoothie King Center. After playing well last month, the Nets (11-27) have struggled since the calendar flipped. Brooklyn has the longest losing skid in the league at five straight, and has now dropped eight of their past nine. The Nets (11-27) sit fifth in the lottery standings.

December ended with Brooklyn leading the NBA in opponent scoring, allowing just 104.6 points per game, nearly six points better than the next-lowest team in the Eastern Conference. It was a sharp reversal for a group that entered the month allowing 113.9 points per game and searching for traction. The question now is whether that version of the Nets can carry into January. So far, the early returns have been mixed, though it's still a small sample.