Nets’ Jordi Fernandez sends stern message to Egor Demin doubters after rookie’s career night

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Nets’ Jordi Fernandez sends stern message to Egor Demin doubters after rookie’s career night

Erik Slater, ClutchPoints · ClutchPoints

Wed, Nov 12, 2025 ·

5 min read

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The post Nets' Jordi Fernandez sends stern message to Egor Demin doubters after rookie's career night appeared first on ClutchPoints .

The Brooklyn Nets ' selection of Egor Demin with their first lottery pick in 15 years was much-maligned. However, after a slow start, the rookie point guard is slowly but surely proving his detractors wrong.

Demin turned in the best performance of his young career on Tuesday during his third consecutive start. The 19-year-old posted 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 from three with four rebounds, five assists and one turnover during Brooklyn's 119-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors .

"We all believe that he belongs," head coach Jordi Fernandez said postgame. "You keep seeing plays that catch my eye, like the way he shoots and gets to spots… I'm very happy with where he's at right now and what he's shown. How aggressive he was; 11 field goal attempts is a good number. And five assists to one turnover against a team that is very aggressive and very handsy, I think that shows growth right there… The challenge now is sustaining it. And then, going into the defensive end, being more efficient, and learning from his minutes."

Demin's usage has skyrocketed since moving into Brooklyn's starting lineup in the wake of Cam Thomas' hamstring injury . The No. 8 pick has been productive amid his increased workload, averaging 11.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and just 1.7 turnovers over his last three games.

He's been efficient as a three-point shooter and driver during that span, shooting 12-of-25 (48 percent) from the field and 8-of-17 (47 percent) from distance.

Nets rookie Egor Demin shows steady improvement since moving into starting role

Demin's outside shooting , a primary concern entering the draft, has been a resounding positive. The BYU product has attempted 8.3 threes per 36 minutes — the second-most among 17 rookies to play over 125 minutes, behind only Kon Kneuppel (9.0). He's converted 37.5 percent, the third-highest mark among seven rookies to attempt over 40 threes this season, trailing only Kneuppel (40 percent) and Cedric Coward (40 percent).

Despite his hot shooting start, Demin's lack of aggressiveness out of the gate was concerning. The rookie failed to attempt a two-point field goal through his first five appearances. However, he's ramped up his assertiveness as a driver over his last six games, attempting 13 two-pointers and converting six (46.2%).

"Everything comes with the reps," Demin said. "That's a big part of my transition on this level, just getting used to those things that I haven't met before on the pick-and-roll, the physicality, looking at the different coverages… And obviously, the ball pressure. People are trying to press me because they know I can lose the ball sometimes. But I'm getting more comfortable with it, for sure, because as I said, it's just repetition."

Almost all of Demin's drives have come out of the pick-and-roll, similar to his lone college season. The Russian floor general ran 442 possessions as a pick-and-roll ball-handler at BYU, posting efficient numbers as a scorer and playmaker. He's shown flashes with Brooklyn, but his pick-and-roll impact has taken a sizable step back against NBA defenses.

While Demin was expecting more space to operate in the NBA, he said the size and athleticism of defenders have stood out.

"[BYU Head] Coach [Kevin] Young had been telling me all the time that the space is gonna be different and there's gonna be so much more room. But honestly, everybody's just bigger and takes up so much space with their bodies, IQ, quickness, and understanding of positioning," he said. "People can guard both players at the same time… There is more space, for sure. There are [different] rules, like no three seconds. Obviously, in college, you can just put the tallest guy in the paint and he can stay there… But just from the feeling, it's not that big of a difference to me from the standpoint of space because everybody knows how to guard."

"It's harder, just because everybody's bigger, stronger, and faster. Sometimes you think the defender is helping so much, but then he's quick enough to get on the ball and steal the pass… People are more experienced. I think nowadays, there is playmaking not only on offense but on defense. You face those [defensive] playmakers individually and really good team [defenses] who understand how to play mind games. That's probably the [biggest] difference."

Demin's pick-and-roll scoring and playmaking are gradually improving with added reps. However, without an elite first step or handle, he's been completely reliant on ball screens to generate downhill advantages. His ability to reach his ceiling will hinge on whether he can expand his on-ball repertoire to leverage his elite passing skills.

Demin's performance since joining Brooklyn's starting lineup has quelled concerns after his rocky start. The rookie point guard will be back in action when the Nets travel to face the Orlando Magic on Friday.

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