Opening night — October 21 vs. the Charlotte Hornets — is still six weeks away and the internet is filled with hope, tempered by widespread predictions of calamity and doom, but one thing is certain and is likely to be throughout the season — Mikal Brown Jr. along with Egor Demin are the focus of the organization, whether it be basketball operations or marketing.
Julius Randle may be a three-time All-Star and a two-time All-NBA selection. Michael Porter Jr. may be coming off his best season in his seven-year career and their only player with a ring. But for better or worse, they are viewed as mercenaries, short-termers. The kids, leaders of a band of nine players 23 or younger, are the franchise future, promoted by the organization across social media and by fans as well.
We don’t know the source of this piece of art but it’s typical.
Sounds risky to the fan psyche so when someone from the outside says Nets fans should be “really, really, really excited” and compares his mindset to a future Hall of Famer, it’s time to take notice. Brian Lewis did just that this week when quoting Donovan Mitchell’s comments to Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter on their Cousins podcast.
A fellow Louisville product, Mitchell talked about Brown Jr.’s curiosity even in high school and how it shows in his basketball IQ . Here’s his full take.
“What I love about Mikel is there are not many high school kids that pay attention to the details,” Mitchell said. “I’m having a conversation with him like I’m talking to James Harden. I’m sitting here like, ‘Bro, how old are you?’ He’s like, ‘I’m 16, 17.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ He’s asking about the low man, he’s asking about strong-side help, he’s asking about the gap help, he’s asking about pickups. … That’s one thing I really respected about him. He was like, ‘Man, I want to work. I just want to work.’
“And even when he got to Louisville — and he obviously got paid a lot of money and all — the process mentally, the phone calls never changed. It was always like, ‘I want to be the best I can possibly be.’ And obviously a phenomenal kid, phenomenal family. But that’s where our relationship grew, because we had a game in Miami, I flew to watch him play against Kentucky — we beat them by the way, badly — and I’m sitting on the sideline and he’s looking at me so I can give him things in-game.
“That’s something I would do when Dwyane Wade was sitting courtside in Utah, so it was crazy to be able to do that. And I’m not saying I’m the reason he’s having success. He’s phenomenal, and he’s going to do amazing things in Brooklyn. Nets fans should be really, really, really excited, because they got one in him.”
Three “reallys” is a lot of excitement, but what might be even more exciting is Mitchell’s comparison to Harden’s mentality. Put aside his time with the Nets and ugly departure (which he now reportedly regrets), Harden has always had a reputation as a “basketball savant,” as one Nets insider described him to ND during his time in Brooklyn. His knowledge of the game from draft prospects to ancient NBA history is seen as second-to-none.
Mitchell isn’t alone, either as Lewis wrote. Rajon Rondo is another. The two-time NBA champion and Kentucky product would host Brown Jr. at his Louisville home where they would watch game film and play chess. Rondo, said Brown Jr., was a trio of former NBA point guards he modeled, the others being Steve Nash and Chris Paul.
“You don’t need to overcomplicate it. You’re extremely talented. Just keep it simple,” Rondo told him, according to Brown Jr., per another recent story by Josh Sloan of Roundtable Sports.
Brown Jr. himself talked recently about how his relationship with Mitchell evolved and continues to thrive.
“[Mitchell] first saw me at OTE,” Brown said of the Overtime Elite team he played for. “I got to speak to him in a little interview in a podcast, and we exchanged numbers. And ever since then, we’ve been very, very close. Obviously, I went to the same school, Louisville. So, yeah, we definitely have a really close relationship.
“He gives me tips, and I ask him questions on how it is to play at the highest level and how do you deal with adversity. I think that’s really been the biggest thing for me coming up to this point, is how you deal with it, because it’s going to come at some point. It’s inevitable. So he’s been really great with that. And also, I can’t wait to compete against him.”
Sean Marks sees Brown Jr. not just as his point guard of the future, but a team leader, saying what Nets scouts saw and heard about him helped cement their choice at No. 6.
“When you’re talking to the staff at Louisville and, honestly, everywhere he’s been,” said Marks. How he wanted to take care of his teammates and those stories that he likes breaking bread with teammates and taking ’em out and spending time socializing with them, that goes a long way when we’re trying to build a team culture, trying to build a connected group. … It’s important to bring guys in there that actually want to facilitate that.”
The Nets are heavily promoting Brown Jr. and Demin in their marketing, both with longer form episodes of The Bridge and Nets Generation which can be seen on the Nets YouTube channel and social media, particularly their official Twitter account.
But on the court, Brown Jr. says his sponge
“It’s gonna also help because I get to learn from them,” Brown said. “You want to soak up as much knowledge as possible as a young player coming into this league. To be able to ask them and pick their brain on a lot of things, and to be able to play alongside them, it’s going to mean the world to me. And you know we’re gonna try to bring a chip.”
Like we said, in seven weeks we will know more, but at the moment, it’s good to be hopeful.
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