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Nets' Egor Demin ready to 'make a humongous jump' after strong summer: 'I’m even better right now'
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- Nets' Egor Demin ready to 'make a humongous jump' after strong summer: 'I’m even better right now'
In the shadows of their crosstown rival Knicks , the Nets are looking to improve on their 20-win season last year.
One of the main pieces in their rebuild is 2025 No. 8 overall pick Egor Dëmin , who showed promising flashes during his rookie year and even more signs of growth during the Summer League.
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Dëmin picked up where he left off in Las Vegas on Tuesday night during Brooklyn's first preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets (124-90 win), scoring six points (2-for-3 from three) with five assists in a limited 18 minutes of action. After the win, Dëmin expressed confidence in his development and believes he's ready to take the next step in his career.
"Yeah, my goal is to translate not just a part of what I did in Summer League, but even more, right?" Dëmin told the New York Post's Brian Lewis . "Obviously I had some more time after Summer League, and I kept working on that stuff. And I think I'm even better right now than I was in Summer League."
The BYU product averaged 21.0 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.7 rebounds in three Summer League games and 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in the California Classic (two games). By comparison, Dëmin averaged just 10.3 points across 52 games during his rookie season.
Head coach Jordi Fernándezsaid he liked what he saw from the 20-year-old on Tuesday night, noting his improved strength and comfortability on the court.
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"Yeah, you see him with five assists in the first group; so he leads that group in assists, which is great," Fernández said. "Egor was good. I want him aggressive to shoot or to touch the paint, and he's done it the whole summer. He's worked at it, he's stronger, and now he's very comfortable getting there. So, it's great. He's got to keep doing it, got to keep finding his teammates or getting good shots."
Teammate Michael Porter Jr.added after the preseason win that he believes Dëmin can "make a humungous jump" in his sophomore season.
"I'm excited to play with Egor," Porter said. "He's a phenomenal shooter and scorer, but also a great passer. So he can do a lot of things on the court, rebound, push the break, shoot the ball. And now that he's getting in the paint and finishing around the rim, he'll make a humongous jump."
When asked about his goals for the 2026-27 season, Dëmin is focused on winning.
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"To win as many games as possible," Dëmin said. "Our process is oriented now on getting there each day, at least a little bit, but getting there, no matter whether it's a game day, practice day, or an update."
Brooklyn gets its first chance at that goal when the team opens the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 21 against the Hornets.
