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Mar 27, 2025; Newark, NJ, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Egor Demin (3) drives to the basket against Alabama Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears (1) during the second half during an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

2025 NBA Draft Profile- How Would BYU Guard Egor Demin Fit With The Atlanta Hawks?

Originally posted on Atlanta Hawks on SI
By Kahlil McCuller | Last updated Jun 17, 2025 8:30 PM ET

The Atlanta Hawks have had an interesting offseason so far, and it has been swarmed with reports of trades, draft picks, and potential free-agency signings.

While the No. 1 pick of the draft is already set in stone, there are questions throughout the rest of the lottery and one of the most interesting teams to watch on draft night is going to be the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks got some lottery luck by landing the No. 13 pick courtesy of the Sacramento Kings and they have the No. 22 pick, courtesy of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Hawks have a chance to add some valuable players to their roster in three weeks.

Now, what will the Hawks do with these picks? Will they stay at No. 13 and No. 22? Will they package them together to try and move up for a player they like, who they don't think will be there at No. 13? Could they trade one or both picks for a veteran to try and help their team now? Those are the questions that will await new Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh and the two new hires to the front office, Bryson Graham and Peter Dinwiddie.

In a recent mock draft from ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, they made a pair of interesting selections for Atlanta, including BYU guard Egor Demin.

Egor Demin is undoubtedly worth the lottery pick.

Fits a very modern & unique mold we are seeing more of in the NBA. Size of a forward, vision & fluidity of a 1 guard. If the scoring & shooting take big strides he could be AWESOME in the NBA pic.twitter.com/241RJLNQ4s
— Ryan Hammer (@ryanhammer09) June 12, 2025

Let's take a look at Demin's strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths:

Egor Demin has developed a dominant playmaking ability and has shown he can handle bigger defenders when guarded by them. His passing skills are both in tight lanes and are flashy, as well as using his IQ combined with his quickness to get to his spots on balance and use of screens to his advantage with defenders on him. One of the advantages that Demin has compared to some of his peers in the draft is that BYU runs an NBA-styled offense, which can give him the upper hand in draft stock and at the NBA level. Demin also excels at making quick decisions with the basketball, and his 6-foot-9 height helps him make the right plays and has good speed. Defensively, he plays well with his length, forcing turnovers off deflections and excelling at rebounding. Demin has shown an ability to move without the ball and is effective at getting to the basket, as well as utilizing his size to score over smaller defenders in the paint.

At 6'9", Egor Demin displays high-level talent and a feel for the game that are difficult to come by at 18 years old. He picks apart pick-and-roll defenses with outstanding court vision and creativity, playing some of his best basketball in the NCAA Tournament. https://t.co/xarBVoRTR8 pic.twitter.com/Zcm6ka9c0N
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 8, 2025

Weaknesses:

Demin struggles with his shot, specifically from the three-point range, and can't seem to score consistently compared to his peers at his position, as he shot 41.2% from the field and 27% from three-point range. His consistency can be a significant concern at the NBA level, as he has only scored 20 points once this season and has had multiple games where he has scored five points or less at a terrible efficiency. His effectiveness without the ball in his hands will create problems at the next level for him, depending on the team he gets drafted to, and he will likely be relied upon to score the basketball wherever he goes, which means he would need to work on his shot often this offseason.

If Egor Demin's shot comes around, he will be a very good player. The form looks solid and the volume from 3 was good, but the percentages were very bad:

27% from 3
69% from the free throw line
35% on long 2s

Just hard for me to really believe in the shot with these numbers.
— Jim (@Wiz_Weekly) May 15, 2025

Overall:

The Atlanta Hawks drafting Demin wouldn't be as ideal of a fit right away, to say the least, for a plethora of reasons. Still, the main reasoning is that he needs the ball in his hands to be effective, which gets in the way of what Trae Young does as he leads the team in assists and could cause problems, as we've seen in the past with him and Dejounte Murray as backcourt mates. Another reason this wouldn't be ideal is the lack of consistency and shooting that Demin has, as the Hawks are already lacking in those areas, so adding someone else with the same problem wouldn't be the best decision. However, this could work in the Hawks' favor based on the height and speed that Demin brings defensively, and his experience of playing in an NBA-styled system at BYU won't take him long to adapt to the pro level's playing style. Another reason this could work is Demin's IQ and passing ability, although good, still have room for growth, as he is only 19 years old at the time of his draft.