The Nets will be without Egor Dëmin for at least four games after Thursday’s update from Brooklyn confirmed the second-year guard has a right leg bone bruise and will be re-evaluated in one week.
That timeline keeps Dëmin out of Friday’s home game against Detroit, Sunday’s road game in Indiana, Monday’s matchup with the Knicks, and Wednesday’s home date with Charlotte. The Nets said his next checkup is set for next Thursday, Nov. 5, and they have not put a return date on him.
Dëmin came up limping late in Tuesday’s 125-124 overtime loss at Boston and headed to the locker room with 2:22 left in the second quarter. He never returned. At the time, the injury was described as a right-leg contusion, and Dëmin sounded encouraged afterward, saying Paul George had kneed him in the leg and that he expected to be back soon.
“Now it feels better. I think I’ll be ready in a couple of days,” Dëmin said Tuesday.
Instead, Brooklyn has to reshuffle again, just as head coach Jordi Fernández had started to settle on a different look in the backcourt. He had moved Nolan Traoré into the starting group next to Dëmin against Boston, sending Keon Ellis to the bench after three straight losses.
Traoré responded with an aggressive start, getting downhill over and over, scoring nine points on 4-for-4 shooting in the first quarter and helping Brooklyn jump out to a 31-26 lead. Dëmin’s exit before halftime changed the rhythm, and cramps later bothered Traoré, which pushed Fernández to lean on Mikel Brown Jr. for more minutes than planned.
Brown made the most of it. The rookie scored 17 points in just under 28 minutes and knocked down the corner 3-pointer that sent the game to overtime.
Traoré finished with 15 points and three assists on 6-for-9 shooting. Even with Jayson Tatum’s buzzer-beater handing Brooklyn its fourth straight loss and dropping the Nets to 0-4, Fernández saw enough to believe there was something usable in that performance.
He said the Boston game showed how Brooklyn can manage without Dëmin and stressed that players outside the rotation need to stay prepared.
“And this is what good teams are about, is being ready for the opportunity,” Fernández said.
Dëmin has started all four games this season and is averaging 7.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 21.8 minutes. Last season, he made 124 3-pointers at a 38.5% clip in 52 appearances, a stretch that helped carve out his role in Brooklyn’s plans.
For now, the Nets’ challenge is twofold: keep the momentum Fernández liked from Boston, and find a way to close games. They’ll have four more tries before Dëmin is checked again.
“I want to play consistently the right way,” Fernández said. “And I thought that that game was a clear example of who we want to be.”
Brooklyn also took care of business Thursday on the roster front, exercising third-year team options for the 2027-28 season on Dëmin, Traoré, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf.
Those options are valued at $7.58 million for Dëmin, $4.19 million for Traoré, $3.71 million for Powell, $3.17 million for Saraf and $3.08 million for Wolf, adding up to about $21.73 million.
“Obviously now we’ve been together for a little over a year, and we believe that every single one of them has a future in this league,” Fernández said.
Brooklyn’s first-round class from 2025 has already taken different routes in its early days. Traoré started 31 games and led the team with 3.8 assists per game.
Powell played in 63 games, the most of any Nets rookie. Saraf scored at least 15 points in each of his last four games.
Wolf averaged 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds.
“Everybody’s got different paths to get there and that’s okay,” Fernández said. “But so far I think that just proves that we believe in the process.”
In Other News...
Nets Forced Into Another Backcourt Adjustment After Egor Demin Scare
The Nets are bracing for another backcourt shuffle after Egor Demin was sidelined with a right leg injury, adding another complication to a rotation that has already had to absorb a series of moving parts. Brooklyn is still sorting through its guard options as it tries to keep the pieces in place, and the timing is hardly ideal with the schedule offering little room to settle things down.
Demin has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his right leg and will be reevaluated in one week, which means the Nets will have to cover his minutes without much certainty about when he can return. He is expected to miss at least four games, starting Friday against the Pistons, leaving Brooklyn to make yet another adjustment while it waits for a clearer update. [Read more 🡒]
Chaney Johnson Is Forcing A Real Nets Rotation Conversation
Chaney Johnson has spent his second year with the Nets making it harder to ignore what he brings every time he gets on the floor. He has been a steady presence for Jordi Fernndez across summer league, preseason and regular season play after signing a two-way qualifying offer, and his latest showing against Boston fit the pattern of a player who keeps strengthening his case for a longer look.
Against the Celtics, Johnson gave Brooklyn exactly the kind of dependable two-way minutes that can quietly reshape a bench. He has created a real rotation discussion by challenging other players for time, and the ripple effects have already been felt in how Fernndez has been sorting out the back end of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Just Sent A Clear Message About Their 2025 Draft Class
The Nets have taken an early step toward locking in the shape of their 2025 draft haul, exercising the third-year rookie scale team options on all five of their first-round picks. Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf are all now set for their 2027-28 salaries, a move that underscores how Brooklyn is already thinking beyond the immediate growing pains of a young roster.
For a team that has leaned heavily into draft capital and player development, the decision sends a clear organizational message about the group it brought in this summer. The next checkpoint comes later, when Brooklyn will have to decide on the quintets fourth-year options by Nov. 1, 2027, a deadline that will help determine how long this class stays together as the rebuild moves forward. [Read more 🡒]