Atlantic Notes: Nets, Powell, Wolf, Oubre, Watford, Robinson

The members of the Nets‘ organization who are prioritizing a “good pick” in the 2026 draft likely aren’t overly upset about the team’s 0-4 start, but head coach Jordi Fernandez wasn’t pleased with the compete level he saw from his club in a blowout loss to Houston on Monday, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

“I need consistency and urgency. And that’s got to be like something that we cannot decide if we’re doing it or not,” Fernandez said. “It’s a matter of who we want to be, right? Giving up 42 (first-quarter points) to start, it’s not great. It’s just unacceptable to take an NBA game for granted. And our guys are trying. They just don’t know how much harder and focused they can do things. And I believe they’ll keep taking those steps. A lot of it is just lack of experience.”

Only two of the Nets’ five 2025 first-round picks were active in Houston, with Egor Demin (plantar fascia) ruled out and Drake Powell and Danny Wolf assigned to the G League. Still, seven of the 12 players who saw the floor for Brooklyn are under 25 years old, and three others are just 26.

As Lewis writes, the challenge for the Nets as an organization this season will be to lose enough games to get that high draft pick coveted by management and ownership while not establishing the sort of hard-to-break habits that will negatively impact the team’s culture going forward.

“A lot of these teams that try to bottom out by tanking like Brooklyn is doing, they think there’s no consequences,” one player agent told Lewis. “You risk eroding the environment you’re trying to create.”

We have more from around the Atlantic:

• Powell played just two minutes in the Nets‘ opener, while Wolf has yet to make his regular season debut. Both players have been dealing with ankle injuries, but Fernandez suggested on Monday that they’ll likely get a look in the NBA after they spend some time with Long Island in the G League and get healthy. “We have a plan for everybody. Sometimes, those plans have to be made on the go because we didn’t know they’d sprain their ankles,” Fernandez said, per Lewis. “They did. Now, they’re ready to practice. Now, they can get real practices. That’s very good that they can do that, so when we need them, they’re ready to go. I’m very happy with the resources we have, how we use them, and it’s good that they have this practice and then they can help us soon.”
• While the backcourt duo of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe has deservedly gotten much of the credit for the Sixers‘ hot start head coach Nick Nurse was effusive in his praise for the team’s third-leading scorer, Kelly Oubre Jr., after the forward racked up 25 points and 10 rebounds in Monday’s win over Orlando. As Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports tweets, Nurse raved about Oubre’s defensive versatility and effort on the boards. “Kelly was awesome,” Nurse said. “That was one of Kelly’s best games, if not his best game, as a Sixer. He was awesome from the beginning.” The 29-year-old is on an expiring $8.38MM contract and was considered a possible trade candidate during the offseason.
• Forward Trendon Watford will make his Sixers debut on Tuesday in Washington, reports Tony Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). Watford, who signed with Philadelphia as a free agent over the summer, has been sidelined since training camp due to a right hamstring injury.
• The Knicks have ruled out center Mitchell Robinson for a fourth straight game to open the season due to left ankle injury maintenance, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Robinson has yet to play this season despite no indication from the team that he suffered a new injury or a setback this month.