Egor Demin won’t be back in the Brooklyn Nets’ lineup for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, and the wait for his return will stretch at least a little longer.
Head coach Jordi Fernandez said Demin is still out as the Nets continue to manage the right leg bone bruise that has kept him sidelined for the last five games, including Saturday’s 124-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Demin was hurt in Brooklyn’s Oct. 27 loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden, and the team announced two days later that he would be reevaluated in one week. Fernandez said Saturday that the sophomore guard will be checked again during the team’s off days after the Mavericks game.
“[Egor is] progressing well. He's on the court. He's not going to play today or tomorrow, and then we'll go from there,” Fernandez told the New York Post's Brian Lewis.
Demin’s absence is notable because Brooklyn has been waiting for more from one of its most promising young pieces. The 2025 No. 8 pick was one of the few bright spots during last season’s tanking year, and he was one of just three rookies to average more than 10.0 points and 3.0 assists while shooting above 56.0 true shooting percentage, joining Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel and San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper.
But his rookie campaign opened unevenly. Across Brooklyn’s first three games, Demin put up 9.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers while shooting 8-of-26 from the field and 6-of-19 from three. In the Celtics game, he logged 10 minutes before the injury, finishing with two points, one rebound, two assists and one turnover on 1-of-3 shooting and 0-of-2 from deep.
The offseason had raised expectations after a strong Summer League showing. Demin, the Russian guard, had posted the NBA’s worst two-point percentage among players 6-foot-8 or taller last season, but added significant muscle and looked far more assertive attacking the rim in Las Vegas. Over five games, the 20-year-old hit 22 of 29 two-point attempts.
That hasn’t carried over cleanly into the 2026-27 season. Through his first four games, the BYU product has converted just 3 of 8 two-point tries and taken seven free throws, a start that has looked more like his three-point-heavy rookie profile than the more aggressive version Brooklyn saw in Summer League.
Even so, his return would matter for a Nets offense that currently ranks 25th in the league. After Sunday’s game, Brooklyn won’t play again until Wednesday, when the four-game road trip continues against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Mikel Brown Jr. will also sit out Sunday against Dallas. The No. 6 pick is still under a minutes restriction and has not been cleared for back-to-backs, according to Fernandez.
Brown played 25 minutes in Saturday’s loss to Atlanta and finished with 13 of his points in the fourth quarter, going 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from three after missing his first seven shots. For the season, he has averaged 12.9 points on 34.6 percent shooting from the field and 31.1 percent from three, along with 3.9 assists and 2.1 turnovers in seven appearances. His 23.2 minutes per game are the fewest among the top six picks from the 2026 draft.
Brown could be back alongside Demin when the Nets visit New Orleans on Wednesday at Smoothie King Center.
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Jordi Fernndez had some lineup choices to explain afterward, including his decision to ride with other options down the stretch even after Nolan Traor had flashed earlier in the game. But the bigger conversation around this one will be the collapse itself, because a 124-121 loss after controlling so much of the night tends to linger longer than any individual bright spot. [Read more 🡒]