Peter Okereke
Brooklyn Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. has revealed the message he got from his new teammate, Julius Randle, after this year’s NBA Draft. The Nets selected Brown Jr. with the sixth pick in the first round, with him joining a veteran forward who was traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a three-team swap.
Two years removed from his blockbuster trade with the New York Knicks, Randle returns to The Big Apple to play for Brooklyn. Now, Brown Jr. says Randle gave him an encouraging message ahead of the rookie’s Nets debut.
“I was talking to Julius Randle about it the other day and he told me, ‘We’re gonna shock the world.’ That’s what we plan on doing,” Brown Jr. said.
“Bringing back that winning culture, I feel like everybody in this organization is hungry to win, and we’re striving for that every single day.”
Following his trade to Brooklyn, Randle joins veteran star Michael Porter Jr., who was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the Nets last summer, and a group of young talent, spearheaded by Mikel Brown Jr., and 2025’s first-round pick, Egor Demin.
Julius Handle reflected on trade that returned him to New York
Julius Randle spent five of the past seven years playing in New York, where he evolved into an All-Star in his second season with the Knicks.
Ahead of his first season with the Nets, Randle reflected on when he found out about the Knicks’ trade with the Timberwolves, per The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski.
“When I got traded, I’m like damn, I can’t believe this got taken from me,” Randle said of the deal that sent him to Minnesota in 2024. “It’s like, you worked so hard to build something, and it was just snatched away.”
Given his comments, it sounds like Randle is excited about his new chapter with the Nets especially as he’s back in familiar territory.
