Dëmin looks to trade his specialist label for stardom by punishing defenders both inside and out.
Egor Dëmin was arguably the best rookie for the Brooklyn Nets last season, but 72% of his shots were threes, and that should change in his sophomore season.
Dëmin averaged 6.2 threes per game, leaving room for 2.4 two-point attempts. He finished as the fifth-best rookie shooter, shooting 38.5% and making 124 threes, ranking fourth-best.
It's an impressive turnaround after shooting 27.3% as a freshman at Brigham Young last year. Mock drafts projected the BYU product as a late-first-round pick, but Brooklyn overlooked those weaknesses and gambled by selecting him in the lottery.
Ending the season as one of the best rookie shooters is promising, but the 20-year-old has to become a more versatile scorer to make a sophomore leap.
Plantar fasciitis ended his campaign in March, and he's taken initiative in his early offseason to build muscle. He's filled out his frame, which has allowed him to absorb more contact when driving downhill.
Dëmin looked like one of the best players throughout summer league with a more aggressive approach to scoring. He showed his improvement as a downhill scorer, shooting 100% inside the arc in his first two California Classic games.
The second-year guard scored 23 points on 8-for-15 and grabbed seven rebounds in the California Classic opener against the Sacramento Kings. Dëmin, known for his outside shooting, struggled from beyond the arc (2-for-8), but his rim pressure prevented him from having a bad night.
He averaged 21.8 points on 47.3% shooting over five games, improving nearly 8% from 39.9% last season. An impressive summer earned a selection to the All-Summer League Second Team.
Media outlets have crowned him as Brooklyn's breakout player and best player in three years. What he showed in summer league offers a glimpse into how he could be a more efficient, versatile scorer next season.
The Nets have low expectations, with ESPN predicting an 18-64 record, two fewer wins despite an active offseason adding more talented rookies and veterans.
Dëmin's improvement is crucial to the team's success, as it would solidify him as a rotational player on a rookie contract. Brooklyn would have one of its five 2025 rookies develop into a contributor, and needs Danny Wolf, Ben Saraf, Nolan Traoré or Drake Powell to follow in Dëmin's footsteps.
The next step is maintaining his performance across an 82-game regular season. Pairing downhill scoring with elite shooting could turn Dëmin from a head-scratching gamble into one of the best steals from the 2025 draft class.
