The Brooklyn Nets’ 2025–26 season couldn’t have begun much worse. At 0–5, they sit winless and visibly disjointed, caught between developing young players and staying competitive in a rapidly improving Eastern Conference. After their latest loss, a 117–112 defeat to the Atlanta Hawks, who played without Trae Young, Michael Porter Jr. didn’t hold back when asked what’s gone wrong.
“I think the point guard position may be the hardest position in the game, and we got a lot of young guys playing that position, so it’s really hard to win when that point guard spot isn’t, like, you know, solidified. I think Ben is doing a great job picking things up, and I think Yegor, but they’re still rookies, you know.”
“I don’t think as a rookie I was ready to really contribute to winning, so I think it’s gonna be a work in progress. I think that’s the number one thing, that as the season goes on, those guys get more experience, and we’re gonna become better as a team because of it. But right now, you know, we’re just working through some struggles collectively.”
“It’s not just on the point guard position. I just think that’s kind of expected with, you know, the fact that these guys are rookies and they’re playing the hardest position there is to play on the floor.”
It was a candid assessment and a comment that immediately set off alarms. While Porter stopped short of naming blame, the implication was clear: the Nets’ rookie point guards, Ben Saraf and Egor Demin, haven’t been ready for the spotlight.
Brooklyn’s experiment at the position has been bold, if not reckless. Head coach Jordi Fernandez entered the year with an entirely rookie backcourt, hoping the growing pains would pay off long term. But through five games, the results have been brutal. Saraf, a 6’6” Israeli guard with impressive vision and defensive potential, is averaging just 3.2 points and 3.3 assists on under 22% shooting. Demin, meanwhile, has flashed some promise from deep, averaging 7.5 points, but he’s yet to establish himself as a consistent creator.
Porter’s frustrations echo what’s been visible on the court. The Nets have struggled mightily to generate clean looks in the half-court, ranking 28th in possessions per game and near the bottom of the league in assist rate. The offense often stagnates into isolation-heavy sequences featuring Porter and Cam Thomas, while the team’s spacing collapses without an experienced floor general to organize the action.
But it’s Brooklyn’s defense that’s truly collapsed. The Nets have given up 522 points in their first four games, 130.5 per game, the most in franchise history through that span. Their 129.1 defensive rating ranks dead last in the NBA, nearly eight points worse than the 29th-ranked Toronto Raptors.
Still, Porter’s comments raised eyebrows because of how openly he pointed to the team’s weakest link. For a player who’s been viewed as one of the Nets’ cornerstone veterans, his words risk alienating a locker room full of impressionable young players. He tried to balance his criticism by calling it a collective struggle, but the damage was already done, it sounded like he’d thrown his rookie teammates under the bus.
Porter’s point isn’t wrong. The Nets’ rebuild is in full swing, and with no veteran point guard on the roster, there were bound to be growing pains. Last season, Dennis Schroder’s veteran leadership steadied the team through an early 9–10 stretch before injuries derailed them. His absence now leaves Brooklyn without a true floor general, something both Porter and Fernández seem to recognize.
At 0–5, the Nets are dangerously close to matching their franchise-worst 0–7 start from 2015–16. Whether the team can stabilize depends on how quickly Saraf and Demin develop and how patient veterans like Porter are willing to be while they learn on the fly.
For now, though, Brooklyn looks like a team caught between timelines, and Porter’s frustration may only grow if the losses keep piling up.
