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Draft insider reveals why Nets’ controversial Egor Demin pick could be home run
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- Draft insider reveals why Nets’ controversial Egor Demin pick could be home run
The post Draft insider reveals why Nets' controversial Egor Demin pick could be home run appeared first on ClutchPoints .
Many within the NBA community made a mockery of the Brooklyn Nets following their historic 2025 draft. Much of that skepticism centered on the team using its first lottery selection in 15 years on Egor Demin . While the majority of the draft community has labeled the pick a reach , one draft analyst is pushing back.
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No Ceilings' Corey Tulaba, who spent time with Demin throughout the pre-draft process, ranked the Russian point guard No. 5 on his big board and mocked him to the Nets at No. 8. He recently laid out the case for why Brooklyn's much-maligned selection could turn into a home run.
"The sell isn't hard. Here's a guy who's 6-foot-9 or 6-foot-10, depending on what shoes he's wearing, with insanely creative and manipulative passing skills and a jumper that maybe you can buy in the long run, just by the aesthetics of it rather than the percentages at BYU," Tulaba said on the Locked On Nets podcast. "You look at the trajectory and trends of the league where you have these big, versatile, multi-tool ball-handlers who maybe aren't tied down to a position but can swing up and down a lineup, I think they're really valuable. For me, it's easy to see an outcome where Egor returns really high upside value… I honestly don't think that this is an overdraft or a misuse of capital. I think that they took a very calculated risk on a player who makes a lot of sense in the modern NBA."
Demin was widely considered the best passer in this year's draft, averaging 11.6 assists per 100 possessions at BYU. However, he struggled to create separation against college-level defenders and shoot from the outside (27.3 percent from three), which dropped him down most draft boards.
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Can Egor Demin reach his upside as foundational piece of Nets' rebuild?
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Those concerns did not scare away the Nets, who selected Demin over prospects such as Collin Murray-Boyles , Khaman Maluach , Noah Essengue and Derik Queen . The BYU floor general reportedly dazzled in his private workouts and interviews with Brooklyn.
Tulaba echoed a similar sentiment, outlining how the workouts he observed quelled his concerns about Demin's weaknesses.
"It was [things I saw in workouts like] different ways that he was going to handle help defenses rotating over, or different ways that he was going to avoid defenders reaching in with high pick-ups. When you look at a guy like him, you think, 'Alright, maybe he's watching Josh Giddey or Luka Doncic or LeBron , these big playmakers.' But Egor and his trainer, Zach Gonzales, were watching guys like Donovan Mitchell , Dejounte Murray , and Ja Morant ," he said. "Different pick-ups coming into the lane, different kinds of footwork, finishing around the basket. And then obviously, the big question mark is the shooting. From what I saw up close, both what he was working on with the versatility of his shot diet as far as movement, catch-and-shoot, off the bounce, at the elbows, behind the three-point line, and just the aesthetics of it all, that looked clean."
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That behind-the-scenes improvement, coupled with Demin's strengths on film, gave the draft analyst confidence that the Nets point guard can reach his upside.
"I was also a big fan of his tape because I think his passing is special, and at the top of the draft, a lot of times you swing for special. Sometimes you might strike out, but he has a special skill, and you couldn't necessarily say that about every prospect in the draft," Tulaba said. "His passing is legitimately special, his vision. What he can do out of ball screens, where most guys at his age are just reacting to defenses, he's manipulating the defenses. So, in combination with his film throughout the year, where I thought the one constant was his special playmaking, and then what I saw behind the scenes as far as him working on a lot of that stuff [he needed to work on], I think he's on an upward trajectory."
Demin backed up Brooklyn's confidence in him as a shooter at this year's Summer League, converting 43.5 percent of 7.7 three-point attempts per game. He also looked capable defensively, using his 6-foot-10 wingspan to shrink driving and passing lanes. However, he continued to struggle to handle ball pressure or get downhill, attempting just four of his 27 shots from inside the arc.
Time will tell whether Demin can add the size and ball-handling skill necessary to excel as an offensive engine at the next level. He'll have no shortage of opportunities to experiment this season while stepping in as the rebuilding Nets' starting point guard.
