LAS VEGAS — Danny Wolf’s highlight reels and passing chops had him as perhaps the Nets rookie that basketball junkies were most looking forward to seeing.
The first-round pick’s summer league debut left a lot to be desired.
He had just four points on 0-for-5 shooting in Thursday’s 90-81 loss to the Thunder.
“Definitely not what I was hoping for by any means. Just got to put it in the rearview mirror, and move on. Just had to get my feet wet a little bit, but move on from this game and just get back,” said Wolf, acknowledging first-game jitters.
“I mean, it’s my first experience in the NBA, and obviously it’s summer league, but it’s different. Definitely some jitters and again, just got to put this in the rearview and learn from it. Just get better from this.”
Wolf was the best passing big man in this year’s class coming out of Michigan.
When he fell to Brooklyn at No. 27, he seemed to fit the high-basketball feel ethos they’re leaning into.
But in the opening loss to the Thunder, he had just two assists against four turnovers.
“I think it’s one game, and the Thunder did a job of speeding us up. They switched everything and just kind of got under us and kind of played into the pressure a little bit,” Wolf said. “It’s just kind of letting the game come to me a little bit better. Again, it was my first experience, and I kind of got sped up far too quickly and far too easily, and I know I’ll be better next game.”
Wolf — who started at power forward, alongside center Drew Timme — will get another shot Sunday against Washington.
Measuring 6-foot-10 ½ barefoot at the NBA Draft Combine and 251.8 pounds, he’s a much bigger version of Trendon Watford and can serve some of the same point-forward role as the departed free agent did — albeit in his own way.
“I think I want Danny to be Danny. I don’t want Danny to be Trendon,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “Once again, I wanna see how he adjusts to the NBA. I wanna see him playing real minutes when he earns it and when the team needs it.
“Shooting ability, playmaking, touching the paint, size, all those things are just positives. And then once we see it with the rest of the teammates all combined, we’ll see how he plays. He’s gonna have his goals and his role definition. There’s gonna be things that he’s gonna have to improve, like his rim finishing and adjusting to the 3-point line. But we know that he’s gonna work, we know that he’s about the right things, and we know that he’s gonna get better.”
Ben Saraf struggled as well in his debut, with just three points on 1-for-5 shooting, two assists and two turnovers in 17:35 running the second unit.
The Israeli guard finished a minus-11.
Grant Nelson had five points and two rebounds backing up Timme.
The center from Alabama went undrafted but is vying for the last two-way spot.
