The Brooklyn Nets are banking on a big season from young players like Mikel Brown Jr., Egor Dëmin, and Danny Wolf. Dëmin is the most-intriguing player, as he looks like he's made major improvements.
The Brooklyn Nets have added eight players through the last two NBA Drafts, with Egor Dëmin and Mikel Brown Jr. being the most intriguing of the bunch.
Dëmin, who was by far the most-consistent member of the Flatbush Five last season, has looked strong in the offseason.
Various workout clips have shown Dëmin getting buckets against other NBA talent, while his Summer League performance was also very promising.
ESPN's Zach Cram outlined what the Brooklyn front office is hoping to see from Dëmin in his sophomore campaign.
"Egor Demin was by far the best [rookie on the Brooklyn Nets] last season... The Nets will have more offensive talent next to him this season... and they'd love to see Demin expand his offensive repertoire to take the next step as an NBA player," Kram wrote.
In Las Vegas, Dëmin looked like a more polished offensive player, scoring from all three levels and aggressively hunting high-quality shots.
Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes recently predicted each NBA team's best player in three years, with Dëmin getting the nod for the Nets.
"Dëmin shot 38.5 percent from deep last season and showed all the connective passing Brooklyn hoped for," Hughes wrote. "A Summer League performance that saw Dëmin flash rapidly developing on-ball skills and scoring chops inside the arc puts him over the top."
Popular basketball Youtuber and podcaster Kenny Beecham reacted to the list on live, where he said he is "all in" on Dëmin as a player.
Beecham said that Dëmin looked out of place in the Summer League, which is exactly what the Nets' front office wanted to see.
As a rookie, Dëmin was a surprisingly efficient 3-point shooter, rewriting the narrative on his draft profile coming out of BYU.
After shooting just 27.3-percent from beyond the arc in college, Dëmin's 38.5-percent clip from 3-point range last season was the highest 3-point field goal percentage by a qualified rookie in Nets history.
His highest 3-point output came back in late December against the Golden State Warriors, exploding for seven makes from distance, also a Nets rookie record.
One week later, Dëmin caught fire trailing against the Orlando Magic, making five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and overtime to lead a storming comeback.
With the influx of offensive talent brought in around Dëmin this season, he should be able to play off the ball more often and play a more aggressive scoring role.
Brown and Julius Randle can both handle the ball, and their abilities to drive and kick will help Dëmin continue his hot-shooting start to his career.
