Egor Demin’s summer work showed up again Tuesday night, and this time it came in a Nets uniform with the lights on.
The former No. 8 pick has become one of the biggest storylines around Brooklyn’s 2026-27 team, mostly because of how different he looked at Summer League. He added strength, attacked the rim with more force and started looking like a guard who could actually get where he wanted to go. In Brooklyn’s preseason opener, a 124-90 win over the Charlotte Hornets, that progress was still there.
Demin finished with six points and five assists on 2-of-5 shooting in 18 minutes. His five assists in the first half led the team, and he kept showing the same two things Brooklyn wants to see: deep shooting range and a willingness to put pressure on the paint off pump fakes.
“You see [Egor] with five assists in the first group. He leads that group in assists, which is great,” said head coach Jordi Fernandez.
The showtime Nets? pic.twitter.com/uGjJrbaOG1
— Erik Slater (@ErikSlater_) October 6, 2026
“But the whole team did a great job with the 31 assists. Egor was good.
I want him to be aggressive to shoot or to touch the paint, and he's done it the whole summer. He's worked at it.
He's stronger, and now he's very comfortable getting there. So, it's great.
He's got to keep doing it. He's got to keep finding his teammates or getting good shots.”
That aggressiveness is the big change. Last season, Demin was one of the better long-range shooters in the rookie class, hitting 38.5 percent of 12.2 three-point attempts per 100 possessions.
But inside the arc, he struggled badly. He shot 43.3 percent on twos, the lowest mark in the NBA among players 6-foot-8 or taller.
That lack of burst and driving ability also cut into his playmaking, which had been his calling card at BYU, where he averaged 11.6 assists per 100 possessions compared to 6.5 in the NBA.
The offseason changes were obvious at Summer League, where Demin converted 22 of 29 two-point attempts across five games. He didn’t finish a two-point attempt Tuesday, but the approach was the same: attack, pressure the defense, and create openings for someone.
At Media Day, Demin laid out exactly what he’s trying to become.
“This year what I'm emphasizing is getting to the lane, getting to the paint, which is going to open up so much more opportunities for [playmaking],” Demin said at Media Day. “Being able to create not just for myself but for others and having opportunities for passes and playing in transition, playing fast basketball with [guys who have scoring] gravity like Michael [Porter Jr.], like Julius [Randle], like Mikel [Brown Jr.]
… I've been working on certain things this summer, and seeing the progress helps a lot with the mental part. I've always said, once I get stronger, it's going to be different for me.
And it might sound like an excuse, but I truly believe the stronger I get, the better player I'll be. Because skill-wise, I can work on that stuff every day.
But if somebody in front of me is way stronger than me, I can't go through him. I think getting stronger helps a lot.
Egor Demin nearly catches a body. That pumpfake has been working for him tonight.
— Erik Slater (@ErikSlater_) October 7, 2026
Good to see him attacking the basket with some bad intentions. pic.twitter.com/gKMtOpCZFB
I think that brings the mentality and skill [together]. It's something that I work on every day.”
Brooklyn got strong nights from Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle as well. Porter put up 16 points and hit 4 of 6 from three in 18 minutes, while Randle scored 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting and added three assists with one turnover in 17 minutes.
Egor Demin sees drop coverage splashes the pull-up triple. The Nets are 5/7 from three to start this one. pic.twitter.com/rtKF5Bvk4x
— Erik Slater (@ErikSlater_) October 6, 2026
The Nets are back at Barclays Center on Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers. After that, they’ll wrap up the preseason next week with games against the Washington Wizards and Miami Heat before opening the regular season against the Hornets on Oct. 21.
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