Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin did enough as a rookie to earn real trust from Jordi Fernandez, but the next step is bigger. After showing he could knock down the three better than he did in his lone season at BYU, Demin now enters this year with a clear mandate: become more complete, more dangerous, and more central to what Brooklyn wants to do.
The numbers from his rookie year show why the Nets are encouraged. In 2025-26, Demin averaged 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 39.9% from the field and 38.5% from three. Then came summer league, where he bumped those marks up to 21.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game, shooting 47.3% overall but just 28.9% from deep.
That mix leaves Demin in an interesting spot. Brooklyn has added former Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle and paired him with sharpshooting forward Michael Porter Jr., which means Demin will likely be the third option in the offense. Even with that pecking order, he still has a chance to carve out a major role on one of the league’s youngest teams.
For Demin, the first job is simple: keep expanding the ways he scores. Much of his rookie production came from beyond the arc, with 6.2 of his 8.6 field-goal attempts per game coming from three-point range.
The Nets will want him spacing the floor around Porter and Randle, but he also showed in summer league that he can do damage in more than one way. That’s the lane he needs to keep pushing.
The next piece is playmaking. Before the 2025 NBA Draft, Demin was praised by some as one of the best passing prospects to enter the league in recent memory, but that reputation didn’t fully show up last season. If he starts, he’ll share ball-handling responsibilities with Randle and Mikel Brown Jr., yet there’s still room for him to make his imprint by creating for others.
And then there’s the challenge of putting it all together. His summer league play was encouraging because he got downhill, finished at the rim and drew free throws, but his three-point shooting was well below his standard. If Demin can keep that rim pressure while getting back closer to 40.0% from deep, Brooklyn will have a much more complete player on its hands this season.
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