New Nets Playmaker Egor Demin Reveals Which NBA Stars He Studies

Egor Demin, the Brooklyn Nets’ No. 8 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, revealed his predraft preparation and the NBA stars he looks up to.

“Two players I look at overall is obviously Luka [Doncic] and Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander], as big guards, the best players in the pick-and-roll on a really high usage of it during the game,” he said. “Obviously, the heads of the snake, and being able to anticipate and really control the game with the ball in their hands.” 

Demin averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists to 2.9 turnovers at BYU. He posted a 34.6 AST% to a 24.2 TOV% with a 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio. This came on high usage at 25.8 USG%.

“It's exactly what I'm trying to find in Brooklyn, and Coach obviously was talking about me being able to get the rebound and go,” he added. “Just go and find those outlets. Those athletes that the Brooklyn Nets have, those young guys who obviously [have] a lot of athleticism [...] and a lot of talent to be great finishers.”

Demin will now be coached by Jordi Fernández, whose first season with the rebuilding Nets ended 26-56. The Russian playmaker spent 442 possessions as the pick-and-roll ballhandler during his only season in college, per Synergy.  

Demin credited his year at BYU for helping with his adaptation to American-style basketball. Prior to playing for the Cougars, Demin was at Real Madrid’s academy in Spain. Before that, he was at the Trinta basketball academy in Moscow.

Demin explained: “Big 12, it's one of the strongest conferences, and playing against teams like Houston, Iowa State, Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, whoever it is — every game was closed for us [...] and it's still a great experience to play against them, even if we're losing by 30. Obviously, I want to win, right? That's why I'm playing basketball for, but at the end of the day, I realized that every loss is an experience for me and for the future.”

The 19-year-old prospect spent a large chunk of his predraft process in Los Angeles, working out with trainer Zachary Gonzales. Demin reportedly had a tremendous pro day, “putting on one of the most impressive pro day performances we've seen in some time, causing even the most skeptical of NBA evaluators to acknowledge his undeniable talent [...] while making a barrage of 3-pointers with picture-perfect mechanics and a lightning-quick release that offered significant room for optimism,” per ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.

The Nets’ slate of Summer League games starts on July 10 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Brooklyn will then face the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks and Orlando Magic on July 13, 15 and 16, respectively. The team’s other draft picks were Nolan Traoré at No. 19, Drake Powell at No. 22, Ben Saraf at No. 26 and Danny Wolf at No. 27.