Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Saraf came away from the Las Vegas Summer League having shown some good plays on tape, but his overall performance left something to be desired. Brooklyn selected Saraf with the 26th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, meaning that the franchise is high enough on him to take him with a first-round pick, but what can be made of his potential?
“Saraf played literally until like draft night. I’m like a little bit more willing to give those guys the benefit of the doubt because their season has just been incredibly long and incredibly incredibly taxing,” The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie said during an episode of the “Game Theory” podcast. Vecenie was alluding to the fact that Saraf was playing for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany essentially up until the Draft.
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“I didn’t think Saraf looked particularly good. It looked like it was a real struggle for him for a long portion of the time that he was on the court,” Vecenie continued. “He wasn’t shooting it well. I thought we saw some of the passing ability in the game against the Wizards at least. He threw a couple of really impressive ones, but that was really it.”
Saraf, 19, finished his time in Las Vegas with averages of 7.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 30.4% from the field and 53.8% from the free-throw line. Saraf played in three of the five games that the Nets played in the summer league with his best game being against the New York Knicks when he put up 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Saraf comes into training camp later this month with the expectation of competing for playing time within the guard rotation and/or possibly the forward rotation if head coach Jordi Fernandez wants to see Saraf in that spot. If not, Saraf will be spending most of his time in the G League until the coaching staff believes that he can contribute in NBA games, but his summer league outings should be evaluated within context.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Should Nets’ Ben Saraf be given some leeway after summer league play?