Peak date: under which number will Egor Demin be selected in the NBA draft

On Tuesday, April 8, Egor Demin's message appeared in the information field that he was running for the NBA draft. Actually, this was reported earlier by insiders, and for most experts, the player's decision did not come as a surprise. What lies behind this step and what prospects the 19-year—old Russian basketball player has to get into the best league in the world is in the Izvestia article.

A simple formula

The Russian's press conference turned out to be exciting, but it was worth it. Egor began it with words of gratitude to Brigham Young University (BYU), which he represented in the debut season of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).

"Thank you to everyone who came and decided to share this moment with me,— Egor began. — I'm a guy from Moscow who made the difficult decision to leave his home and family and go play in Spain. After three years at Real Madrid, I decided to fly to the USA and didn't know what to expect. But it worked! I made the right decision.

And then he moved on to the main point, stating that he was putting himself forward for the draft.

"This is the next challenge that I'm ready to take on," the Russian point guard continued. — Thanks to all the coaches and my teammates. First, I want to thank President Shane Reese for such a good environment at BYU. This is a wonderful university where any athlete and student will feel good. I am grateful for the way I was received here. It means a lot to me. Thank you to the directors for giving us this opportunity to be part of the BYU extended family. They believed in me when almost no one knew me.

In 2025, the draft will be held on the night of June 25 and 26, and Egor has an excellent chance of being selected. After all, it was only a matter of time before a talented defender appeared in the draft of the main basketball league in the world. Demin moved from Real Madrid (where he was one of the leaders of the doubles and even managed to make his debut for the main team in the Spanish championship) to the NCAA in 2024 and has been steadily attracting attention to himself ever since.

The draft lottery (May 12) will probably be a critical point for deciding on Demin's future in the 2025 season. The order of player selection by the clubs depends on His Majesty the occasion. After that, you can figure out which of the teams is capable of choosing Egor.

— In the draft, everything comes down to a simple formula, — Alexey Karvanen, Demin's long—term representative and agent of BDA Sports, told Izvestia. — Who will choose the first, second, third and so on in the draft. That is, we are talking about the order of selection in the lottery and what position each particular club will need. If you noticed, BYU's games and even training sessions were regularly attended by Danny Ainge (president of basketball operations for Utah), Steve Kerr (head coach of Golden State), other famous people from the basketball world and not only NBA scouts. Therefore, I would not be surprised if Egor is taken very high, because some club that chooses at the beginning of the lottery will be in dire need of a point guard. It is clear that Egor has some problems with the percentage of three-pointers. However, they turn a blind eye to this, because they understand that this is all being worked out. But few people in the world have the gift of a playmaker like Egor. And this is with a height of 204 cm. With his basketball IQ, Egor wouldn't be lost in any NBA club right now. The only question is what task the organization that will choose in the draft sets itself.

Special attention

ESPN predicts Demin to be the 12th pick in the draft - if this happens, Yegor will repeat the record among Russians set by Yaroslav Korolev in 2005 (at that time he was chosen by the Los Angeles Clippers as the 12th pick). This season, the point guard helped the BYU team reach the Sweet 16 of the March Madness, but opinions differ about his potential in the NBA. He is big-bodied, strong in passing, but it is more difficult for him to beat opponents one-on-one and consistently throw from a distance, according to ESPN analyst Jeremy Wu.

"Demin should benefit from the difficulties he faced adjusting to the NCAA, but he has to do a good job in the pre—draft reviews when teams want to assess his shooting potential more accurately," the expert writes.

A year ago, ESPN ranked Demin in ninth place, but the drop in the rating is not critical — his chances of getting into the league are high. Bleacher Report, for example, predicts his 18th number.

— I would like to note an important point: everyone understands perfectly well that in the NBA the most important thing for a player is to get a second contract, — said Alexey Karvanen. — According to statistics, only 27 percent achieve this. The remaining 73 percent of drafted players do not gain a foothold in the league. Therefore, it is important to join a team that will be interested in your development. Egor understands this perfectly well.

North Florida Ospreys defender Nestor Dyachok believes Egor deserves to be selected in the top 10.

— Yegor is now in the top 15 in the IOC drafts, his statistics are worse than they were at the beginning of the season, — Nestor said in an interview with Sport-Express. — He may drop in rating, like Matas Buzelis last year. He was just drafted later than expected at the beginning of the season. I think college basketball in the USA is not for Egor Demin. It would be the same if Luka Doncic went to college, he wouldn't play his basketball either. College basketball is more stuffy, if I may say so. It seems to me that he will be drafted in the second ten. There is an option that he will be dropped to the G-league first, so that he gains experience there, and in the G-league he will figure out how to play, what style suits him. However, Egor is a great talent, his place is in the top ten of the draft.

It has been a long time since the NBA draft was followed in Russia as it was this year. After all, we also have Vlad Goldin, Viktor Lakhin, and Olairi Kosu and Anastasia Boldyreva on the way (although they are women's WNBA, but still).

The last time an NBA team selected a Russian in the draft was back in 2013, when Sergey Karasev went to Cleveland at the 19th peak.