Nets' historic 5 first-round picks ready to compete for spot on team

The Nets became the first team in NBA history to make five selections in the first round of an NBA Draft this year, and on Tuesday, the assets those draft picks once represented after compiling trades were formally introduced as official Brooklyn players.

The five picks, along with general manager Sean Marks and head coach Jordi Fernandez, created a crowded stage at the Brooklyn Nets’ HSS Training Center during introductory news conferences. Marks spoke about the “unique opportunity” of making five first-round selections on Thursday’s opening round of the NBA Draft, although three of the five came in the final nine picks of the opening round.

“There is a learning curve for sure, there is no question about that,” Marks said. “You are looking at four 19-year-olds up here. I have two boys myself older than them, so it just puts that into perspective how young this group is. But to me, that’s exciting to see the continuity we can have with this group and how they can build and how they can flourish.”

“They are going to have to earn it and I think that’s how it should be,” Fernandez said. “They’ll put the work in, they’ve already shown who they are and that’s why we drafted them.”

Egor Demin, a 6-8 Russian-born guard who played one year at BYU, was Brooklyn’s top pick at No. 8 overall. The Nets followed his selection with guard Nolan Traore (No. 19 overall), wing Drake Powell (No. 22 overall), guard Ben Saraf (No. 26 overall) and forward Danny Wolf (No. 27 overall).

Traore (France) and Saraf (Germany) will bring professional international experience into their rookie seasons as the Nets searched around the globe for their five selections.

“There’s talent everywhere and that’s our job to bring in the best talent regardless of race, ethnicity and so forth,” Marks said. “It’s to bring the best basketball players and welcome them not only to Brooklyn and the borough but our Nets family.”

The Nets went 26-56 last season and next year’s roster will look significantly different, besides just the draft picks. The Nets reportedly traded Cameron Johnson to the Nuggets for Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick. Porter, the No. 14 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 18.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last season.

The Nets couldn’t comment on the trade at Tuesday’s news conference.

Marks doesn’t expect all five selections to be on the Opening Night roster next season, with some likely to join the Long Island Nets at Nassau Coliseum next winter. But the newest acquisitions’ first opportunity to earn a spot in Brooklyn begins with the NBA Summer League, and the Nets’ first Summer League game is July 10.

“I assume some of these guys will definitely spend some time in Long Island and we’ll have to see how the season sort of plays out and what minutes are there for everybody,” Marks said . . . “It’s an environment of competitive nature out here and that’s what we want to see. These guys compete and there’s no promises given to anybody, let alone the draft picks or the guys we currently have on the roster. Go compete and may the best man win.”