Egor Dëmin will be sidelined for at least a week after being diagnosed with a right leg bone bruise, the Nets announced Thursday.
He'll be reevaluated next week after leaving Tuesday's overtime loss to the Celtics with the injury.
Jordi Fernández said after Thursday's practice that Dëmin's injury is not long-term.
But without the second-year player, another 2025 first-round pick, Nolan Traore, will likely be counted on more.
Traore, who played well against the Celtics in his first start of the season before leaving due to cramps, has impressed when he's been able to stay on the court.
He's been able to use his speed, which Day'Ron Sharpe called his "biggest threat."
Dëmin and Traore were the two highest draft picks by the Nets a year ago and they had five in total.
On Thursday, the team announced it was picking up the third-year options on all of them, including Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf.
"We brought them in for a reason,'' Fernández said. "We believe every single one of them has a future in this league. Everyone has different paths to get there and that's OK. I think it shows we believe in the process."
Powell (G-League assignment) was listed as questionable for Friday's game, while Saraf (G-League assignment) is out.
Nolan Traore looks to make a play during the Nets' overtime loss to the Celtics on Oct. 27, 2026 in Boston. Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
Mikel Brown Jr. accepted the blame Tuesday for making a pair of late mistakes in the loss to the Celtics.
His coach and teammates were quick to defend him and praise the rookie for taking accountability.
"Honestly, we're not in that situation without Mikel hitting a couple big shots down the stretch,'' Michael Porter Jr. said. "So people can look at the mistakes, but it doesn't get to where we're at [Tuesday] without him doing what he did."
"That's the type of person he is," Fernández said of Brown. "He's tough. He holds himself accountable. Other people have excuses. That's not who he is. … He's not down on himself. He likes big moments. I'm excited for him to keep giving us those moments."
Through four games, Sharpe is averaging a career-high 21.5 minutes per game.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that he's also averaging 3.8 fouls per game, significantly higher than the 2.4 fouls he put up a year ago.
"I just think you can't be over-physical,'' Sharpe said. "That has me in trouble with fouls. I'm not trying to foul. I'm so busy trying to be impactful. I've got to start playing harder, with purpose [and] control my physicality."
