This feels like a bit of a reach, and the Nets’ recent draft history doesn’t inspire confidence that they know more than the wisdom of crowds on this one. Brown’s back issues at Louisville are also a concern, but the Nets have never shied away from a medical case and have frequently profited from this under Sean Marks. Grade: C+

Sam Vecenie’s draft guide summary

The pitch with Brown is simple. In today’s NBA, there might not be a more important intersection of skills than shooting and passing ability. Brown has those skills in a big way. He’s a monster 3-point shooter who hits them at volume, and he is a tremendous live-dribble passer who reads the court well and makes good decisions while also being able to separate in ball screens. With those two skills alone, it sets him up for a tremendous amount of success.

Brown needs to keep taking steps with his frame, however. On-ball players this skinny who have entered the NBA recently have struggled. The NBA is a man’s league. There’s no other way to put it. Brown is going to have to keep filling out now that he has grown to 6 feet 4. He is set to be one of the most interesting players to evaluate this cycle. On one hand, I tend to be hard on smaller guards — and despite Brown’s height, he plays like a smaller guard. On the other hand, I tend to value skill, high IQ and shooting ability as much as anything. Brown possesses those skills in an immense quantity for such a young player.

Overall 10 Guard 6 Mikel Brown Jr. Louisville

A home-run hitter of a lead guard who could stand to settle for singles at times.

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Hollinger’s pre-draft analysis

Brown played as an on-ball guard at Louisville but was wracked by a massive turnover rate. However, I think he has a backstop as a strong 3-and-D guy. While his defense wasn’t consistent, the tape showed he has a really good first slide that consistently cut off an opponent’s first move, and he’s good in passing lanes.

Offensively, he has a very good left hand around the rim, but his other game inside the paint needs work; in addition to the massive turnover rate, he only shot 47.4 percent on 2s in ACC play.

However, the shooting piece is perhaps getting underrated. Brown made 38.1 percent from 3 in conference play on nearly the highest 3-point volume of any player in this draft cycle, and he shot 82.2 percent from the line. Watching his shooting form makes it clear that wasn’t a fluke; this guy can stroke it. That piece of his game figures to be a weapon regardless of whether he can be a high-usage on-ball player at the next level.

David Aldridge’s draft confidential

College head coach No. 1 (his team played Louisville): He’s big-time. He was always really, really good and knew how to play the position. But between his junior and senior year (of high school), he grew. That’s the big thing. And all of a sudden, athleticism popped in. That took his whole thing to another level. Last year, (at the U.S. men’s World Cup Under-19), the two best guys were A.J. (Dybantsa) and him. He was magical, as a facilitator. He can score it, he can shoot it, he can get to the rim and finish on top of you. … Louisville runs more pattern stuff, more pattern sets. They did allow him to (iso) some. And when he played, if they were in tight games, down the stretch, they put him in spread ball screen and let him go. I’ve seen him hold up (defensively) OK. This year, it was hit or miss. When he wants to, because he’s long and athletic, and he can really move and slide his feet, so when he wants to, yeah, he can. And I think he’ll want to in that league.

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