Nets' Jordi Fernandez gives overview of 2025 rookie class' performance
Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez gave his take on how Brooklyn's 2025 rookie class has performed this season.
NEW YORK -- The Brooklyn Nets came into the 2025-26 NBA season with the goal of developing their five first-round rookies at the same time while trying to win as many games as possible. Brooklyn undertook the task of the largest first-round in NBA history and while not every player has given a clear indication of their potential, head coach Jordi Fernandez looks on the class positively. "It’s hard to give specific numbers for many reasons, but the exposure to competition has been outstanding.
I think that’s something that we knew we wanted to do from the beginning," Fernandez said prior to Thursday's game against the Indiana Pacers. The Nets took guard Egor Demin with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and he was the first of five rookies drafted that saw varying levels of playing time during this rebuilding year. "How much can we expose these guys?
These guys are not going to sit. They’re going to play, whether they play in Brooklyn or Long Island, they’re going to play and they’re going to play minutes because playing real minutes and competitive minutes are the best player development," Fernandez continued. "I don’t have magic answers, but the game will put them in those situations.
" With the exception of Ben Saraf, who was taken with the 27th overall pick, each of Brooklyn's rookies has played at least 1, 000 minutes this season with Demin (1,308) leading the way. Demin had the most successful season of the five rookies as he ends his first season in the league with 10. 3 points, 3.