Mikel Brown Jr.’s promising Nets Summer League debut had it all

LAS VEGAS — Mikel Brown Jr.’s Las Vegas Summer League debut featured a slow start, a strong finish and all kinds of spectacular plays in between Friday night.

The Nets’ rookie lottery pick paired with second-year backcourt mate Egor Dëmin to lead Brooklyn’s 91-65 rout of the Knicks at Thomas & Mack Center.

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The guards shared team-high scoring honors with 20 points.

But after Dëmin had carried the Nets early as Brown found his way into the game, the latter poured in 16 points after halftime, drawing “oohs” and “ahhs” with several highlights.

Mikel Brown Jr. of the Brooklyn Nets drives to the basket during the game against the New York Knicks during the 2026 NBA Summer League on July 10, 2026 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NBAE via Getty Images

“Seeing my teammates, getting them open shots, seeing the ball go through the hoop obviously gets you going as well. But I know how much work I put in to get to this point,” said Brown. “The ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ are coming just because that’s just how I play.

“Yeah, I mean, like I said, I’m a savant when it comes to this stuff, man. I love the game of basketball. I love when my teammates look successful. It brings me joy because that means it’s not just me, but everybody got it going.”

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Brown shot 6-for-12, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range. He added three assists, two steals and a block.

“He’s extremely talented overall,” said Dëmin. “His shooting ability, his ability to create his own shot, and how shifty he is, he’s gonna give a lot of trouble to the defenders just because of his feel for the game and his talent. Now the part of his game is to adapt to the physicality, which took me a while last year.”

… We’re gonna do everything we have [to] for it to happen as fast as possible.”

Brown insisted that won’t take long. And he played feisty defense that helped spark Brooklyn’s third-quarter blitz.

Mikel Brown Jr. of the Brooklyn Nets dunks the ball. NBAE via Getty Images

The Nets trailed by a point going into the second quarter and edged ahead 38-33 by halftime. But they blew…

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Publish date : 2026-07-11 04:03:00

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