Added to cart: how Egor Demin adapts to the NBA

Egor Demin is successfully spending his debut season in the strongest basketball league in the world. The 19-year-old Russian regularly plays in Brooklyn's starting five and has earned many positive reviews for his game from Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez and experts. Read more about the latest matches of our point guard in the NBA in the Izvestia article.

Heavy schedule

December started well for Brooklyn, with three successes in the first four Winter Games. After beating Charlotte, Chicago and New Orleans, the Nets stumbled only in their home game against Utah. Based on these results, it is important to note several points. First of all, Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez seems to have found a striking combination of players for the decisive moments of the fourth quarters (as it was dubbed — Jumbo five, or "Giant Five"). Obviously, a 206 cm tall point guard couldn't help but find a place in it. In all the December games, Demin was on the court at the most important moments of the second half. But in the meeting with Utah (3 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists), the Russian defender did not play very well. However, for the classic winter reason for our region — a cold.

"Egor played the game against Utah without his usual energy," The New York Post quoted Jordi Fernandez as saying. — The cause is an upper respiratory tract infection. Despite his illness, Egor tried very hard to act against Jazz with his usual dedication. The doctors allowed him to play, and it was my decision to let him out on the court. But, of course, he did not show his level. Yegor needs, first of all, to have a good rest, sleep well and regain his strength.

After the game with Utah, Demin apparently took the coach's advice literally. And he went out to the match with New Orleans as if nothing had happened. The Russian made a significant contribution to his team's victory, scoring 8 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists.

The current Brooklyn is far from winning the National Basketball Association. But the steps in the right direction at the beginning of December are clearly visible. One of them is that the Nets did not allow the Pelicans to return to this game. Yes, the guests made a couple of small leaps. But every time Brooklyn found an answer to them. As a result, the 119-101 victory continues the Nets' more than successful start to the month.

"In this match, we won three quarters out of four and conceded only 100 points," Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said at the postgame press conference. — Among the positive steps forward, I can't help but mention that we played proper basketball on both halves of the court. It's never easy to win in the NBA, because every team in the league is good in its own way. Today, I would like to mention Michael Porter's productive game and how it helps all his partners. Also noteworthy are Nick Claxton's triple-double, Dayron Sharp's effective play from the bench, and Egor Demin's seven assists and how he played defense in the fourth quarter, exposing himself to a passing opponent and forcing a counter foul. It is very important when players can sacrifice themselves in the right episode for the sake of the team's success. I'm proud of it."

Another important moment for the Nets in early December was the steady play of Danny Wolf. This rookie missed the start of the season due to injury. But in the last five matches, the 213 cm tall center has scored 12.4 points and averaged 5.8 rebounds per game. Moreover, Wolfe scores 44% of three-pointers and manages to make two and a half assists. In other words, it is an ultra-modern version of the big one, with classic post playing skills and excellent pass culture.

"Danny is a very smart player with a high basketball IQ,— Jordi Fernandez told The New York Post about the rookie. — His contribution to our good ball play in the positional attack in recent matches has been very tangible.

The ball is on his side: how Egor Demin started his first season in the NBA

The Russian point guard is showing good stats, but his team is still going winless.

It's unlikely that Danny will apply for the position of the Nets' main point guard. But the fact that the team got another great passer is a fact.

"Egor got into a very good place," Sergei Karasev, an ex—Brooklyn player (2014-2016) and captain of Zenit BC, told Izvestia. — There are a lot of young players in the Nets, they give everyone a chance. Egor is being released in the starting five, which means they are counting on their prospect (after all, they chose him at the eighth number of the draft). You definitely need to use this and show all your skills. At the same time, it is important to understand that the schedule is extremely difficult, there is almost no time to recover. Therefore, the first year will be very difficult in every sense.

There are only three above

So far, Egor played his best game in the NBA at the end of November, scoring 23 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists in a losing game against Philadelphia. Of the Russians, only Andrey Kirilenko (31 points), Timofey Mozgov (28) and Alexey Shved (25) scored more in the strongest league in the world.

Thanks to his confident performance, Demin is among the top 10 best rookies of the 2025/26 season. Con Knippel (Charlotte) and Cooper Flagg (Dallas) are the leaders in this ranking - both have already received the Rookie of the Month award this year. Egor occupies the ninth position.

"Every NBA player has his own unique path in basketball," Dutch Gately, who is responsible for the development of young talents at Brooklyn, shared his opinion about Egor's game. — There are no experienced point guards in our team. We just need young people to play consistently in this position. In the Nets coaching staff, we always knew that Demin had a great passing game and a great sense of play. In the first matches, he had uncertainty when it was necessary to go to the paint. But from the first start, Demin does it much better: he confidently dribbles under the ring and finishes clearly with both hands. It is significant that sometimes he even tries to score through an opponent from above. He has made tremendous progress before our eyes. If it had taken three months, no one would have bothered. That would be fine. And Egor gained weight in just a few days. We, the Brooklyn coaches, are pleased to see how he becomes more confident in his skills with each match.

Demin's team will play their next game on Saturday, December 13, away against the Dallas Mavericks.