Egor Dëmin is heading into his second NBA season with a very different kind of buzz around him.
ESPN’s Zach Kram recently slotted the Brooklyn Nets guard at No. 9 on his list of the league’s 10 most interesting second-year players to watch entering the 2026-27 season, and the reason is pretty clear: Dëmin has looked a lot more dangerous this summer than he did as a rookie.
The 20-year-old was uneven in his first year after Brooklyn took him with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He averaged 10.3 points and 3.3 assists in 52 games, and while his size and passing showed up, his scoring inside the arc never really came around. In fact, 72 percent of his field goal attempts came from three-point range.
This offseason, Dëmin put on an estimated 13 to 15 pounds, and that added strength has changed the way he’s playing. ESPN pointed to a more confident, more aggressive approach, one that has him attacking the paint instead of drifting into jumpers.
The numbers have backed that up. Across four Summer League games between the California Classic and Las Vegas, Dëmin put up 22.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, and he scored at least 20 points in every outing. He started with 23 points against Sacramento, then followed with 20, 22 and 21 in Brooklyn’s next three games.
But the real story is how he got those points.
Last season, defenses were able to push Dëmin into tough shots by clogging driving lanes and making him finish through contact. This summer, he’s looked much more decisive, getting two feet into the paint and taking the hit at the rim instead of backing away from it. That kind of shift matters for Brooklyn, because it gives the offense another layer if it carries over.
It also comes at a time when the Nets need more from him.
Brooklyn brought in Julius Randle, Keon Ellis and Moritz Wagner this offseason, but the long-term picture still depends heavily on the growth of its recent lottery picks. Dëmin and rookie Mikel Brown Jr. are expected to be part of that core, which makes internal development just as important as any outside addition.
Dëmin got only two votes for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team after a debut season that showed flashes without much consistency. Now the question is no longer whether he can stick in the rotation. It’s how much offensive responsibility he can handle if this version of his game holds up.
Summer League doesn’t guarantee anything once the regular season starts, but Dëmin has done more than just make shots. He’s shown a willingness to attack, absorb contact and put pressure on the rim - exactly the kind of growth that explains why ESPN sees him as one of the more intriguing sophomores in the league.
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