NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets surprised many around the NBA when they chose BYU guard Egor Demin with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft last week. While many NBA Draft experts had expected Demin to be picked later in the Draft, Brooklyn did not risk Demin being off the board and it seems that the team and Demin understand why the partnership happened this way.
“Well, I think I’m just a good, good fit. This team is a good fit for me, and I’m a good fit for this team,” Demin said during the Nets‘ press conference with all of the rookies that the team took in the Draft. Demin was in attendance along with: general manager Sean Marks, head coach Jordi Fernandez, No. 19 pick Nolan Traore, No. 22 pick Drake Powell, No. 26 pick Ben Saraf, and No. 27 pick Danny Wolf.
“Obviously because it’s a lot of athleticism, young guys, and I believe we could be a really high pace and high volume team,” Demin continued. “Just being able to run coast to coast. And for me, how efficient can I find those defensive rebounds and just find the outlet as fast as I can. Find somebody in front of me who can finish at the rim or find the corners, right, since we’re going to learn a lot of spacing, it’s going to be a lot of screens and all that.”
Demin, 19, is coming off a 2024-25 freshman season at BYU in which he averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 41.2% from the field and 27.3% from three-point land. Despite the fact that Brooklyn’s selection of Demin was surprising, it’s hard to ignore why the Nets were interested in the Russian who stands at 6-foot-8 and 199 pounds and is considered the best passer in the Draft.
As Demin discusses his fit for a Nets team led by Fernandez and Marks, it will be interesting to see how much he can improve on his flaws while developing at the same time as four other rookies on the roster. Demin, who struggles with turnovers and outside shooting, will have the Las Vegas Summer League later in July to show what he can do at the NBA level before the coaching staff tries to improve his overall game.