Danny Wolf was instructed to miss a free throw intentionally in the closing seconds of Sunday’s loss to the Cavaliers, but the rookie’s admittedly “too hard” attempt missed the rim entirely for a violation that essentially ended the Nets’ last chance to come back and win.
Coaches and teammates jokingly gave him a hard time afterward, but they agreed that the mistake should not detract from what was likely the strongest performance of Wolf’s initial NBA campaign.
The 6-foot-11 forward put up a career-best 23 points with three made 3-pointers, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals in 27 minutes off the bench.
“Obviously, you see the points, but it’s nine rebounds, five assists, one turnover; that’s elite,” coach Jordi Fernández said after the game. “Very happy for him. Well deserved. He was confident from the beginning, all the shots looked really good.
“He can handle, get to the rim. He did everything, and you cannot control all the time if you’re going to be able to score at that level, but the good things and the good intentions were there.
“So huge growth in this game for him, and happy to see it because he deserves it.”
The 21-year-old Wolf was the final of an NBA-record five first-round picks by the Nets in 2025, selected at No. 27 overall out of Michigan.
Each has started at least five games, led by lottery pick Egor Dëmin’s 45.
Wolf has started eight times but ranks second to Dëmin among the quintet with averages of 8.9 points in 20.5 minutes over 46 appearances entering consecutive games Tuesday and Thursday’s against the Heat in Miami.
The lottery-bound Nets have dropped eight straight games to sink within a half-game of the Pacers for the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
“I have another [22] games left to improve on this year to finish my rookie year, but I gotta go game by game and hopefully we can string together some wins,” Wolf said. “I think you have a bunch of guys in the NBA, and most guys come from winning teams, whatever level that is. However long I can think of my basketball career, I’ve been a part of winning teams, and you know the feeling.
“This is the first time I’ve been a part of — I don’t want to say we’re a losing team, obviously our record is 15-45 — but we’re the youngest team in the NBA, and there’s a lot of valuable lessons.”
One of those for Wolf will be to not repeat his mistake on the intentionally missed free throw if that situation arises again.
“It’s harder to miss the way I missed it than it is to make a free throw,” Wolf said. “After I made the first one, my thought process was to hit the front of the rim, but I threw it definitely a little bit too hard.
“You live, and you learn; it’s something new that I needed to know that I need to work on that I didn’t know before. So, that’s definitely on me.”
Assistant coach Juwan Howard was seen talking and laughing with the rookie right after the play, “understandably so,” Wolf added.
Teammate Michael Porter Jr. said he also joked with Wolf that “maybe he’s been in the weight room too much,” but the team’s scoring leader also stressed that shouldn’t be the focus after the rookie’s overall performance Sunday.
“His all-around game — outside game, 3s, getting to the lane, layups, throwing dimes, post-ups — I thought that he was spectacular and played with a high motor and was all over the floor,” Porter said. “So he’s just got to be able to replicate that, and through misses and makes, be able to play like that.
“I thought he didn’t start the game off making his first couple of shots, but I could still see in his energy and his aggression that he was going to have a good game, regardless.”
Dëmin (plantar fascia management) remains out for Tuesday’s game, while Nic Claxton (thumb) is probable.
