u/Appropriate_Tree_621

My dream priorities for the Nets this offseason are to secure Paul Reed and PJ Washington while moving on from Nic Claxton. Reed is a great defender and rebounder while Washington is a good defender and rebounder while also spacing the floor adequately.

I believe that a squad of MPJ, Sharpe, Reed, Washington, Demin, Minott, the 6th pick, Traore, Ziaire Williams, Wolf, etc etc is a play-in squad, and a huge step in the right direction.

Thoughts?

Watch the playoffs this year and you'll see longer defenders swiping at the ball, far more traps and presses, and switching schemes that suffocate teams reliant on one or two ball-handlers. The counter to that meta isn't a point guard who can handle pressure, it's playmakers at every position who can catch, read, and punish before the defense recovers. That is what's known as "0.5 basketball", and that's the team that is growing in Brooklyn.

There's been a lot of noise about how the Nets "took all those point guards last draft." Except Brooklyn drafted only one point guard in 2025. Marks drafted four playmakers across four positions plus a lockdown wing; all with above-average positional length:

Pick	Player	Role	Barefoot	Wingspan
8	Demin	Point forward (3)	6'8.25"	6'10.25"
19	Traore	True PG (1)	6'3"	6'8"
22	Powell	Lockdown wing (2/3)	6'5.25"	7'0"
26	Saraf	Combo guard (2)	6'6"	6'8.75"
27	Wolf	Playmaking big (4/5)	6'10.5"	7'2.25"

Demin was the tallest PG/SG ever measured at the combine-- because he's not a guard, he's a wing! Wolf's most common play type at Michigan? Pick-and-roll ball handler at nearly 7 feet. This isn't a guard collection. It's a roster built to punish playoff ball pressure.

Sean and Jordi have repeatedly cited the OKC/Indiana Finals model: deep rotations, ball movement, multiple playmakers, plus-length across the roster.

Now at 6th in the 2026 draft, expect them to stay on brand: another long playmaker who fits the pressure-creating (defense) and pressure-breaking (offense) roster they're building. The plan was never "draft a bunch of point guards." The plan is to build a team that can't be pressured into bad basketball when it gets nasty, all while making it nasty for their opponent.

I'd like to hear from experienced coaches here. What do you advise your players, based on the age and level they're competing at, from 4th grade up through HS, to do when an opponent directs slurs at them. First, in the game, and second in the handshake line after the game. I'm not talking about the standard "you suck, you trash", I'm talking about slurs. This is a tough subject, I understand that, so there are no wrong answers. I'm looking for best practices and opinions from experienced coaches.

I have a 10 year old player who is very skilled for their age. They can shoot, finish with both hands (sort of with the left, but getting there), and have a good handle and can change directions with all sorts of footwork and moves.

Typically, when a player has these skills in practice by themselves, but isn't showing them in live play, I help them use them in a 1v1 setting first, then building up to 3v3 and eventually they're comfortable showcasing them in 5v5.

With this player the translation isn't happening. They have drills they do at home 1v0 and they have an older brother that they practice against. The brother is 2 years older and a good player themselves. They do 1v1 reps with constraints such as you have to use a speed stop before you score. I'm thinking maybe the translation isn't happening because the older brother is too good defensively and with him being the one running the practice session, maybe he's sitting on the constrained move?

I'm guessing here because I coach the younger one but not the older one.

I'm also wondering, because with this player I have to be extremely clear and direct in my coaching, maybe I need to give them concrete cues as to when to skip, float, hesi, speed stop, punch stop, btb wrap, tween, spin, snatchback, underdrag, anchor step. Now that I type that list, it's crazy how quickly this player has picked up all of these skills and I may have given them way too much at once because they could do them 1v0 so quickly.

Do I just dial it way back and only have them practice a couple of skills?

Any and all advice is welcome. The player practices for hours by themselves after school, hence the fast 1v0 skill progression and the parents asking me for "more drills to keep them busy and not causing mischief".