Nets’ Nolan Traoré’s February by the numbers
February was the month when Nolan Traore stopped feeling like a project and started looking like a playmaker.
The Nets’ French rookie was one of four Eastern Conference players nominated for Rookie of the Month, a nod that fits with how his season has gone. Brooklyn has named Egor Dëmin in previous months, but Traoré’s case rests on constant creation, control and increasing responsibility.
Over his last 10 games, Traoré has averaged 13.4 points and 6.1 assists. For a player who seemed unplayable at the start of the season, this jump is huge. Now he’s stringing together highlight-reel moments, including a turnaround against the San Antonio Spurs last week, and doing it in a way that seems repeatable.
February provided the clearest numbers behind his rookie jump. The 19-year-old averaged 12.2 points, 5.6 assists and 2.3 rebounds, all improvements from his January line of 7.8 points, 3.7 assists and 1.5 rebounds. He finished first among all NBA rookies in assists per game for the month, and it wasn’t close.
Traore had 67 assists in February, 30 more than any other rookie in the Eastern Conference. Kam Jones was next with 37. Across the league, Traore ranked 13th in the NBA in total assists for the month, stuck in a roster filled with veteran point guards.
And he didn’t just create. He was disruptive. Traore finished February with 15 interceptions, leading Eastern Conference rookies and ranking third among all rookies. That’s 1.3 per game, a reflection of both activity and improved anticipation.
Traore accounted for 21.4% of Brooklyn’s team assists in February, the second-highest share among all rookies in a single month this season, behind only Ryan Nembhard’s 24.7% in December.
In other words, when the Nets were generating an offense that looked like organization, Traore was at the center. He recorded 13 points and 13 assists on February 9 against the Chicago Bulls, tied at the time for the most assists by a rookie in a game that season and tied for fourth most assists by a rookie in franchise history. He followed with 21 points and seven assists on February 5 at Orlando, then 20 points and eight assists on February 11 against Indiana. In February, he had five or more assists seven times and scored 11 or more points seven times.
As of Sunday, Traore had at least 150 points and 60 assists in 11 games, making him the third rookie in franchise history to do so, joining Terrence Williams in 2010 and Darwin Cook in 1981. He also recorded multiple assists in 20 consecutive games, tied for the third-longest streak by a rookie in franchise history. That streak surpassed Dëmin’s 18-game streak and sits behind Mookie Blaylock’s 21 and Cook’s 36.
Even its shortest sequences demonstrate coherence. Traore dished out four or more assists in seven consecutive games from February 3 to 19, tied for the fourth-longest such streak by a rookie in franchise history and the longest since Kerry Kittles in 1996.
Victor Wembanyama saw this type of growth coming. The two trained together ahead of the 2024 Olympics, and Wembanyama’s assessment still stands.
“What I noticed about him was his maturity and the way he could control the game,” Wembanyama said. “And it doesn’t matter how the opponent is. He’s got real guts. I believe he’s a guy who will experience incredible growth over the course of his career.”
Traoré, for his part, says the game is starting to meet him halfway.
“A little slower with experience,” he said. “You get used to the speed. It’s getting better and I hope it continues.”
