NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin is entering his rookie season in the NBA with some high expectations given where the Nets are in their rebuild. Brooklyn is still looking for their point guard of the future as they seek to get back to winning, but it seems like Demin is part of those plans as he attempts to fit into the organization’s culture.
“As it pertains to Egor, I don’t think anybody’s harder on him than himself, right? I mean, his expectations are high, and he wants to get out there,” Nets GM Sean Marks said of Demin during Media Day on Tuesday. The Nets selected Demin with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and with D’Angelo Russell leaving in free-agency this summer, it seems that Demin is set to be the starting point guard.
“He’s been a little bit limited with the plantar fascia tear after summer league,” Marks continued while almost nonchalantly dropping that Demin is dealing with an injury. “He hasn’t potentially had the summer that he would have loved, but at the same time: size, position, the way he plays, the way he sees the game and so forth. Really enjoyed being around him and looking forward to getting him out there and seeing what he can do.”
Demin, 19, is coming into a training camp where he will not only be expected to develop, but likely will be asked to scale up his improvement to contribute to the team when the games count. Brooklyn’s main contributors are projected to be guard Cam Thomas, forward Michael Porter Jr., and center Nic Claxton, but Demin will have to be able to deliver to them in their sweet spots.
Demin said when asked during his own Media Day session about his plantar fasciitis that he’s “not a doctor” and that at the moment, he’s just following what the medical staff is telling him to do. Whenever Demin is ready to take the floor at his fullest capacity, the hope is that he will not only have improved on some of his weaknesses, but also be ready to make an impact when the time comes.