{"id":792445,"date":"2026-07-21T21:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T21:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/792445\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T21:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T21:00:17","slug":"why-egor-demins-all-summer-league-honor-is-encouraging-for-the-nets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/792445\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Egor D\u00ebmin\u2019s All-Summer League honor is encouraging for the Nets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Egor D\u00ebmin<\/a> was named to the 2026 NBA All-Summer League Second Team on Tuesday, earning league-wide recognition for a performance built around one of the biggest questions left by his rookie season.<\/p>\n

The team was selected through a vote of all 30 NBA organizations based on play in Las Vegas. D\u00ebmin joined Memphis\u2019 Cedric Coward, Phoenix\u2019s Khaman Maluach, Charlotte\u2019s Liam McNeeley and Minnesota\u2019s Zyon Pullin on the second team.<\/p>\n

Summer League honors guarantee nothing, least of all an NBA breakthrough. Still, D\u00ebmin\u2019s selection is meaningful for a Nets<\/a> team built around development because of how he earned it.<\/p>\n

The second-year guard averaged 21 points, 4.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 25.3 minutes over three games in Las Vegas. He recorded a 62.4 true-shooting percentage while committing 1.7 turnovers per game.<\/p>\n

D\u00ebmin\u2019s 3-point shot, already his most established NBA weapon, didn\u2019t drive the production. He made just 30% of his attempts from outside the arc in Las Vegas. He produced by getting inside it.<\/p>\n

Across five Summer League appearances, including two games at the California Classic, D\u00ebmin converted 22 of 29 2-point attempts. He attacked closeouts, used his size against smaller defenders and reached the paint with a physicality missing from much of his rookie season.<\/p>\n

That development gave Brooklyn far more to study than the honor itself.<\/p>\n

D\u00ebmin entered the NBA with questions about his shooting. He answered quickly, making 38.5% of his 3-pointers on high volume as a rookie and proving he could contribute away from the ball. He could space the floor, but his trouble began when defenders chased him off the line.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old struggled to create advantages downhill against NBA speed, strength and contact. Opponents crowded his space and knocked him off his path. His size looked intriguing, but he wasn\u2019t yet strong enough to impose it consistently.<\/p>\n

Some observers treated those struggles as a verdict. One season was never enough.<\/p>\n

Young players enter the league while their bodies, skills and confidence are still developing. They face elite athletes every night while trying to build enough strength to withstand them. A weakness can be exposed long before a player has the physical tools to address it.<\/p>\n

D\u00ebmin spent the offseason working on his.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got so much stronger, and that gave me more confidence,\u201d D\u00ebmin said. \u201cThe next step is trying. The more I try it, I think it gets better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The added strength gave him the confidence to test the skill repeatedly this summer. He attacked smaller defenders instead of settling. He absorbed contact with better balance. When defenders closed hard on his shot, he used their urgency against them and drove into the space they surrendered.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn also placed him in actions requiring more than spot-up shooting. D\u00ebmin handled the ball, operated in screening actions, slipped into space and made reads from the short roll. His size, touch and passing operated within the same possessions.<\/p>\n

Switch a smaller player onto him, and he could attack. Give him room, and his shot remained a threat. Send help, and he could find a teammate. The next step is carrying those options into the regular season.<\/p>\n

Mikel Brown Jr<\/a>.\u2019s arrival gives the Nets another young guard capable of initiating offense. It shouldn\u2019t force D\u00ebmin back into a limited off-ball assignment. D\u00ebmin doesn\u2019t need to dominate the ball or become a full-time point guard. His appeal comes from his versatility.<\/p>\n

Others around the league noticed the growth. Zach Lowe pointed to D\u00ebmin\u2019s play while expressing optimism about Brooklyn\u2019s young group.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think D\u00ebmin is going to be a good value pick at No. 8,\u201d Lowe said.<\/p>\n

The All-Summer League vote offered another sign of respect from outside the organization. D\u00ebmin finished among the 10 players honored by representatives from every NBA team.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn can\u2019t treat the selection as proof of what comes next. Regular-season defenses will close space faster, absorb contact better and prepare more thoroughly for his habits. D\u00ebmin must show he can create the same advantages against veteran athletes and disciplined coverages.<\/p>\n

But the Nets drafted him as a developmental bet. His rookie season established one valuable skill. His offseason work began opening another. For a franchise preaching development, progress must become visible. D\u00ebmin returned stronger, played with more force and attacked a weakness opponents exploited throughout his first season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited about all the work that I\u2019ve done,\u201d D\u00ebmin said, \u201cand it\u2019s going to keep growing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Egor D\u00ebmin was named to the 2026 NBA All-Summer League Second Team on Tuesday, earning league-wide recognition for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,227,29026,6,671],"class_list":["post-792445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn-nets","tag-basketball","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-nets","tag-brooklynnets","tag-egor-demin","tag-mikel-brown-jr","tag-nba","tag-nets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116959983901280698","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}