Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. will not play Sunday vs. Pacers

NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets rookie guard Mikel Brown Jr. will be one of the most-talked about players on the Nets this season due to the hype surrounding the 20-year-old from the University of Louisville. Brown has been dealing with some injuries over the course of the past year and while Brooklyn is excited to see what he can do as a rookie, the team is going to be careful with him.

According to Brian Lewis of the New York Post on Saturday, Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez said prior to the matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers that Brown will not play against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. As Lewis noted in his post on X, Brown will not be playing on Sunday due to the game being the second game of a back-to-back and Brooklyn's performance team trying to ease him into action after missing time with a left ankle sprain.

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"This season is 82, right? Is he going to play all 82? No, because of the back-to-backs. We're going to build him to be healthy and to be a strong NBA player. So, we have a plan for him," Fernandez said of Brown following Friday's practice. "Obviously, we're not going to disclose every single step of the way, but No. 1 thing is to build him up and build up his body to be able to sustain the minutes that can help the team win games."

Brown, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, made his regular season debut in Wednesday's 110-103 loss to the Charlotte Hornets and he played 20 minutes in the contest. Fernandez has not detailed what Brown's minutes restriction is at this point in the season, but it's safe to assume that it's around 20 minutes and should increase as the season progresses.

Saturday's matchup against the Cavaliers should give another look into how much Brown can give in terms of production and minutes, especially since his development is so important to this rebuild. While some Nets fans understandably want to see Brown on the floor as much as possible, Brooklyn is playing it safe with their rookie guard and that continues with Sunday's back-to-back against the visiting Pacers.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets rookie Mikel Brown Jr. will not play Sunday vs. Pacers