Egor Dëmin is back on the floor, but the Nets aren’t ready to put him back in a game just yet.
Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernández said the second-year guard will miss Sunday’s matchup with the Dallas Mavericks as he keeps working his way back from a right leg bone bruise. The team plans to take another look at his status after that rather than lock in a return date.
“Yeah, he’s progressing well. He’s on the court. He’s not going to play today or tomorrow, and then we’ll go from there,” Fernández told reporters before Saturday’s game in Atlanta.
Dëmin has been out since hurting his leg in Brooklyn’s Oct. 27 overtime loss to the Boston Celtics. The earliest he could return would be Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, though Fernández did not say he should be expected back then.
Brooklyn will also be short another guard against Dallas. Mikel Brown Jr. is unavailable for the second night of a back-to-back, so he’ll sit Sunday after being active Saturday in Atlanta.
Through four games this season, Dëmin has averaged 7.8 points and 2.8 assists. His absence has opened more backcourt minutes for Nolan Traoré and Brown, two young guards whose roles are still taking shape.
While Brooklyn waits on Dëmin, another young guard in the system is getting plenty of run in the G League. Ben Saraf responded Saturday with 21 points and 12 assists, going 9-for-18 from the field as the Long Island Nets beat the Greensboro Swarm 98-95. The win split the teams’ season-opening two-game set in Greensboro.
Saraf’s bounce-back came after a rough Friday opener, when Long Island lost 121-111. He scored eight points on 3-for-14 shooting and missed seven of his eight 3-point tries, but he still handed out a team-high seven assists and kept the offense moving.
Over the two games, the 2025 first-round pick has piled up 19 assists against seven turnovers, a 2.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. His passing has been steadier than his shot as he tries to push toward a bigger role with Brooklyn.
Drake Powell, another 2025 first-round pick on assignment, had a quieter night in Friday’s loss. He finished with six points on 2-for-6 shooting and missed all three of his 3-point attempts, though he also chipped in four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. His outside shot is still a work in progress.
Long Island still got strong production elsewhere in that defeat. Grant Nelson, a two-way forward, led the way with 18 points and 13 rebounds, along with two assists, a steal and a block. Dain Dainja added 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks, and Isaiah Wong also scored 16 while swiping six steals.
Joshua Jefferson, a rookie, posted 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Tyler Bilodeau had 13 points and five steals in his G League debut.
For Brooklyn, the assignments are giving its prospects real minutes while Fernández manages a crowded NBA rotation. Dëmin’s return date is still up in the air, Brown can’t play on consecutive nights, and the development work keeps rolling on both fronts.
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Nets Still Waiting On Egor Demin As Backcourt Absences Pile Up
The Nets backcourt depth is getting tested again, with Egor Demin set to sit out the upcoming game against the Dallas Mavericks because of a right leg bone bruise. Brooklyn will have to keep waiting on the rookie, who remains in the evaluation process as the team works through another stretch of absences.
Mikel Brown Jr. will also be unavailable against Dallas, leaving the Nets even thinner in the guard rotation. Both players are at least in line to be in the conversation for Brooklyns next game against the New Orleans Pelicans, giving the team a possible boost after a short turnaround and a chance to regain some needed stability in the backcourt. [Read more 🡒]
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Then the closing stretch turned into the kind of loss that tends to linger in a locker room and in the film room. The 124-121 defeat to Atlanta left Brooklyn sorting through player grades and individual performances, but the bigger concern is harder to grade: how a game that was there to be closed slipped away when it mattered most. [Read more 🡒]
Julius Randle May Have Just Changed Brooklyns Late-Game Rotation
Jordi Fernndez got a useful look at something different in the fourth quarter against Charlotte, and it helped carry the Nets to a 114-104 win. Instead of leaning on the usual late-game mix, Brooklyn kept reserves Danny Wolf and Terance Mann on the floor, and the move paid off as the group helped the Nets separate in the final period.
Julius Randle still did his part with 22 points, but he also showed the kind of selflessness coaches love when a game starts tilting in the right direction. The bigger question now is whether Fernndez treats that stretch as a one-off adjustment or the start of a new closing formula, especially with Wolf and Mann making a strong case to stay in the mix when games tighten up. [Read more 🡒]