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The Brooklyn Nets showed some promising glimpses for a franchise in transition during Las Vegas Summer League action, yet there were obvious growing pains. Among the young players navigating this developmental stage, rookie Danny Wolf stands out not just for his potential but for his realistic understanding of the challenges that lie ahead. However, one of Wolf’s biggest strengths in college was rarely deployed in the Nevada desert.
“I think I only operated as the ballhandler once (in a 94-90 win over the Orlando Magic) and I found Grant (Nelson), but it was bobbled a little bit,” Wolf told ClutchPoints. “It was my bread and butter at Michigan.”
Wolf thrived as a versatile big man who could initiate offense and create opportunities as a ballhandler at a near-elite level in college. Now his ability to read defenses and make plays from the high post could be a valuable weapon for Brooklyn, especially in a system that prioritizes ball movement. However, the 21-year-old understands that earning those initiation opportunities will require proving himself in practice and limited game reps early on.
“I'm going to have to earn the coach's trust to run that four-five pick-and-roll. I think it is really effective, especially with different guys out there,” explained Wolf. “As the screener, I think I can keep working at it in the short roll, but that's what excites me. I think it is what I am right now, a complete work in progress. What I can become is what excites me most.”
That process is being made easier by the new staff in Brooklyn. The leap from college basketball to the professional level involves more than just faster players and better competition. Wolf has been struck by the comprehensive support system that the Nets provide.
“The NBA is just a different world from college in terms of resources and what they provide,” Wolf noted. “The Nets have such an unbelievable staff who are all devoted to our success. With this young rookie-led team, they are preaching all the time, it's about reps (on and off the court). The teams we played (during Summer League) had a lot of serious minutes in the NBA.”
Emphasizing repetition and continuous improvement reflects a commitment from the Nets to develop their young core. For a team in rebuilding mode, the focus on player development over immediate results represents a necessary investment in the future. Wolf's candid assessment of what fans can expect from the Nets in the upcoming season reflects both honesty and leadership qualities lacking in Brooklyn for a while.
Frankly, Wolf does not shy away from acknowledging the challenges ahead.
“At all times (next regular season), we are going to have usually two or three guys who have never played in an NBA setting,” Wolf began. “From an outside perspective looking in, it is going to look like we are sped up and at times a little bit lost.”
That part of the process is, well, part of the process for a young team building a new foundation. Having this level of self-awareness from a rookie suggests that the Nets have players who understand the reality of their situation. Rather than setting unrealistic expectations, Wolf is preparing everyone from the fans to the front office for the inevitable ups and downs that come with a youth-driven roster.
“I think (making mistakes) is okay,” Wolf allowed. “It is going to take a little bit of time in that regard. (Summer League) was a big step up and from our performances, you can see that. We are just going to have to keep working at it and keep learning. Everyone just keeps preaching Reps, Reps, Reps.”
As for the difficulty of moving from ballhandler to roll man and back again, all in a few possessions? Well, Danny Wolf is down to do the job while Egor Demin works some magic.
“If you're on an NBA court, you're with four of the best players in the world,” Wolf boasted. “Everybody can make things easy for everybody else with spacing, athleticism, and shooting ability. I'm excited to see what that looks like in an NBA setting.”
That is the kind of self-awareness that gave the Nets confidence when drafting Danny Wolf with the 27th overall pick. Approaching development with the right mindset is most of the battle for anyone trying to build up a career or franchise. The concept of “trusting the process” has become something of a cliché in NBA circles, but this approach to development suggests Wolf and the Nets have a genuine understanding of what that means in practice.
With that understood, Wolf’s immediate focus in the pre-training camp player-only runs will be refining his pick-and-roll chemistry with Brooklyn’s guards as a screener and proving he can hold his own defensively against NBA-level bigs. Improving that corner-three shooting touch (he shot 33.6% from three at Michigan) would also go a long way to winning more minutes than currently allotted by the coaching staff.
As the Nets embark on this new chapter, they will need players who can handle adversity with grace and maintain their development focus even when results do not immediately follow. Based on his Summer League experience and perspective on the challenges ahead, Danny Wolf appears ready to be exactly that type of player. Fans may need to temper expectations early, but Wolf’s self-awareness and work ethic suggest he’s on the right track.
As Danny Wolf declared, “What I can become is what excites me most,” and that is exactly the mindset the Nets need from all of their young core.
