Nets' Danny Wolf explains being ready despite varying playing time

Brooklyn Nets rookie forward Danny Wolf has not played that much this season as the Nets are trying to develop all of their rookies through various methods early in the season. Brooklyn recently dealt with some injuries that forced players like Wolf into more prominent roles within the offense and the former Michigan star explained how he has been able to perform under the circumstances.

"It's kind of the mindset you have to have, especially as a rookie in my shoes," Wolf said after Monday's 116-103 win over the Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn's first home win of the 2025-26 NBA season. Wolf, who dropped 10 points and seven rebounds in the contest, played just 19 minutes after playing 30 minutes in Saturday's 116-99 loss at the Milwaukee Bucks.

"Obviously, I had a pretty good game against Milwaukee, and then coming into tonight, Mike's [forward Michael Porter Jr.] healthy again so you don't really know what it's going to look like," Wolf continued. "They always say just be ready when your name is called. I sat the whole third quarter, and then coach told me I was going to go in at the start of the fourth and you look at that as an opportunity."

Wolf, 21, has spent most of his time this season in the G League as head coach Jordi Fernandez has tried to fit as many players in his rotation in the early portion of the campaign. Rookies Egor Demin and Drake Powell have been in the rotation since the season started, but Wolf, Ben Saraf, and Nolan Traore have found themselves out of the rotation for the most part outside of the past two games.

When the Nets are fully healthy, rookies like Wolf may find themselves out of the rotation, but with what he has done over the past two games, it's possible that Fernandez could change his mind regarding the minutes allocation. Either way, Wolf, who had a massive dunk over Hornets forward Miles Bridges, has shown that he has the ability to impact the game regardless of when he is inserted into the game.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Danny Wolf explains being ready despite varying playing time