Nets’ top 2026 draft pick Mikel Brown Jr. impressive in long-awaited NBA debut after ankle injury

For the Nets, Wednesday was finally MBJ Day. And the rookie didn’t disappoint.

Mikel Brown Jr. — the Nets’ highest-drafted player in 16 years, and the linchpin of their rebuild — finally made his delayed debut, and it was a solid one.

After having missed the first three games of the preseason because of an ankle injury, Brown was under a minutes restriction in the Nets’ 144-128 preseason-finale loss to the Heat in Miami.

He came off the bench with 15 points in 18 minutes, 1 second, getting stronger as the game drew on .

Brown shot 4-for-7 overall and 2-for-5 from deep. The young point guard added three rebounds, two assists, two steals and showed athletic downhill juice getting into the lane and going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

“Just his pace and how he moves out there, he looked great,” Nets coach Jordi Fernández said. “And it’s just the first few minutes, so he’s going to continue to get better and build from there. I love his communication, how engaged he was with his teammates. I thought it was a very well-played 18 minutes for him.”

Two years of tanking garnered the Nets guard Egor Dëmin first last year and now Brown.

The sixth overall pick had competed in summer league, but Brown rolled his left ankle three weeks ago in camp. After missing the first three preseason games, Brown finally got his shot.

He had 10 points and two steals in the second half, growing into the game.

“Yeah, I feel amazing,” Brown, 20, told The Post. “Very exciting, because I’ve been waiting and itching to play for the longest. So I’m glad to see all the work paying off and just continuing to stay on it and remain healthy.

“It’s very difficult, because you’re watching your teammates playing. You’re like ‘I want to be out there. I wanna be playing with them,’ ” Brown said. “So, to be able to finally [scratch] that itch and to be able to go out there and do what I do best, it means the world to me.”

Over the first few weeks of preseason, while Brown was sidelined, he has made the best use of that time not only strengthening his ankle, but watching and learning.

That meant not only Fernández’s system as best he could, but the tendencies of his teammates.

The point guard finally got to start using all those tidbits against the Heat.

“It’s different because in the game you’ve got different types of concepts and schemes you’re going to go up against,” Brown said. “But just seeing the little things — where the vets like the ball, where most of the guys like the ball — especially as a point guard, you want to get them as many easy buckets as possible.

“I know that’s difficult in this league, but it’s my job to be able to look at what spots I can create and where I can be aggressive.”

The Nets kept the same starting lineup in the finale against the Heat, with Dëmin running the point and Keon Ellis at off guard.

Ellis is the only above-average defender in that lineup. That, along with Brown’s minutes restriction, could keep the latter coming off the bench.

After Dëmin missed his own rookie preseason, he came off the bench through the first eight games. The Nets could use similar kid gloves with Brown.

“Just remain who I am … and just play hard. They’ve just been telling [me], play hard, play your heart out. We know what you can do on both sides of the ball, and we know what you’re capable of. They want to see that out of me every single game,” Brown said. “And just remaining consistent with my routine on what they want me to do. And just attacking it, full head of steam.”

Neither Brown nor Fernández would specify the rookie’s minutes restriction, or what it would have to go up to before the coach would start him.

“Coach is going to talk to me, and the performance staff is going to talk to me,” Brown said. “But until then, I’m all in. I’m all gas and no brakes.”