Nets Pleased With Egor Demin’s Shooting Showcase in Expanded Summer League Role

Media members and NBA fans have seemingly changed their stance on the Brooklyn Nets drafting Egor Demin eighth overall after his shooting performance at the NBA2K26 Summer League in Las Vegas.

Demin's coaching staff has always believed in his stroke, and the Vegas showing only further confirmed their already-high opinion on the 19-year-old's ability.

Spotrac's Keith Smith confirmed this when he spoke to an anonymous member of Brooklyn's coaching staff while attending the summer league festivities.

“Yeah, his role here [at summer league] was WAY different than what we’re going to ask him to do in the regular season. But that’s what this is for, right? We tasked him to shoot it from deep and to shoot it a lot. He did exactly as he was asked,” the Nets coach said. “We know about the playmaking. This was a chance to see if he could get his shot off against NBA-level defenders. He did and those shots went in a lot too. We couldn’t be happier with his work here [at summer league].”

Head coach Jordi Fernandez knew all along that Demin would be just fine shooting from beyond the arc despite low numbers toward the end of his freshman season at BYU, as he explained just days after the 6-foot-9 guard was drafted.

"His ability to shoot the ball [attracted us]. He’s gonna shoot the ball very well in this league. That is another thing that excites us," Fernandez said on July 1 via ClutchPoints' Erik Slater.

Demin is expected to be Brooklyn's lead guard on opening night, but the skills he displayed during summer league proved that he possesses an added layer of versatility. He didn't get many reps as the Nets' primary facilitator, as those went to Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf.

Still, his massive frame provides too much of a mismatch offensively to not try and develop him as the starting point. And with offensive weapons like Michael Porter Jr. and (presumably) Cam Thomas, defenses may be forced to direct their attention away from Demin.

And that likely leads to easy, open shots, which Demin has now proven he can make with ease.