Nets Playmaker Egor Dëmin Talks NBA Adaptation

Egor Dëmin finished with 14 points, five rebounds, zero assists and six turnovers in the Brooklyn Nets' Summer League finale win against the Orlando Magic.

The No. 8 overall pick had a rough start to the game, but lit up in the fourth quarter with three consecutive 3-pointers made. Dëmin took nine shots against the Magic on Wednesday, and eight of them were threes. This trend falls in line with the rest of his Summer League. 

Dëmin debuted on July 10 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he was 2-for-5 from the field, and all of his shots were from downtown. In his second game on July 13 against the Washington Wizards, 10 of Dëmin's 13 shots came from beyond the arc. As a whole, the Russian playmaker is averaging 9.0 field goal attempts per game, with 7.7 being threes.

Summer League head coach Steve Hetzel addressed Dëmin’s shot diet and process after Thursday’s game. Hetzel is an assistant coach for Jordi Fernández.

“The physicality of these players — he's going up against some guys that have been out of college for a while now, their bodies are fully developed — and the physicality is something that he's going to have to get used to,” Hetzel said. “We saw the same things in his days at BYU in his ability to play pick-and-roll, and he'll get there, but right now, he's got to focus on the weight room, getting stronger, being able to hold off his defender and then be able to play in the play-and-roll.” 

Dëmin averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 33 games at BYU. The 19-year-old was largely utilized in the pick-and-roll. He ran 442 possessions as the pick-and-roll ballhandler, per Synergy. Dëmin also spoke about his adaptation process following Brooklyn’s win against Orlando.

“It's a big transition, same as it was when I just got to college and start[ed] playing conference games, right?” Dëmin said. “Providence game, everybody saw this game. 
Can't say it was the best experience I've ever had, but it was a really useful game because those games prepared me for the most important part of the season [which] is March Madness, where I was playing point guard full time.” 

The former Cougars prospect was referring to a Dec. 3, 2024 contest in which he finished 0-for-10 from the field with two assists to one turnover. BYU also lost that game 64-83.

“For me, it's just time, and adjustment. I need to get used to that, spend more time [in] practice handling the ball, thanks to our guys [who are] not being selfish by not playing great defense against me, right?
 Tyson, Q, DJ, Dre, all these guys were guarding me in the practices, and it's pretty hard. So for me, having this experience, not just on the games, but in the practice facility is huge.”