Inside the Rebuild: Brooklyn Nets Summer League Delivers Promising Signs

LAS VEGAS, July 28, 2026 — The Brooklyn Nets wrapped up their NBA Summer League run with a 3–2 record in Las Vegas — 5–3 across eight games in two leagues, counting a 2–1 showing at the California Classic in Sacramento — but the team's front office and coaching staff came away encouraged by what they saw.

No. 6 overall pick Mikel Brown Jr. led the way for the Nets' summer squad. Limited early by a lingering back injury that had cut short his lone season at Louisville, the guard appeared in three of Brooklyn's five Las Vegas games, averaging 16.7 points, 4.0 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting 39.5 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three. His minutes climbed as the event went on — a reassuring sign for a franchise that landed him at No. 6 after slipping in the lottery for a second straight year despite tying for the league's best odds.

Brown opened Vegas with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting in a 91–65 win over the Knicks, then endured his roughest night of the summer against Houston, going 3-of-15. Egor Dëmin, the No. 8 pick in 2025, was the more consistent presence, posting 22 points, eight assists and four steals in a 115–83 rout of Sacramento and 21 points against the Rockets.

Also impressing was Chaney Johnson, who led the Las Vegas Summer League in steals at 3.3 per game and posted 20 points, 10 rebounds and five steals against Atlanta. Johnson, 24, re-signed with Brooklyn on a two-way qualifying offer in late June after appearing in 17 NBA games last season, and projects to spend much of the coming year with the G League's Long Island Nets.

The Nets' summer roster leaned on a team-first approach that mirrored the culture Jordi Fernández has prioritized since taking over as head coach in April 2024 — a message the organization reinforced this spring by extending Fernández and his entire staff on multiyear deals. Summer league head coach Dutch Gaitley, one of Fernández's assistants, rotated players through multiple lineups, and Brooklyn's defense flashed real disruption at times: the Nets forced 21 steals against the Kings and converted turnovers into 41 points.

"Our culture is about getting one percent better every day and those guys worked," Gaitley said after Brooklyn's final summer league game.

With training camp opening Sept. 29 and the regular season tipping off Oct. 20, attention now turns to the four-game preseason slate Brooklyn announced this week, beginning Oct. 6 in Charlotte. Nolan Traoré, who sat out Summer League after a scope on his right knee, is expected back by camp. For a franchise coming off a third straight 50-loss season, the summer offered the clearest sign yet that its patient rebuild may be approaching an inflection point.