The Nets have a silver lining: how Egor Demin spent his first season in the NBA

Brooklyn Nets point guard Egor Demin's bright debut season in the NBA is unfortunately over — the Russian will miss the rest of the championship due to a recurrence of a foot injury. At the end of February, the basketball player took a break to recover, but the damage turned out to be more serious than the club expected. In terms of points in the NBA's debut season among Russians, Demin lost only to Andrey Kirilenko (0.4 points), and in assists to Alexey Shved (the same 0.4 points).

An informed decision

Egor has not played since February 28: the last match of the season was a meeting with Boston (111:148). After that, the 20-year-old basketball player did not go out on the court due to an exacerbation of plantar fasciitis of his left foot — the pain that had been bothering him in the summer returned again. Demin was expected to miss only a few games, but in the end, the injury turned out to be serious.

"He is expected to return to basketball activity at the beginning of the offseason and take full part in the summer development program," the release on the NBA website says.

For Brooklyn, the loss of Demin is a serious blow. During the season, the team has not been able to find stability, the Nets regularly lose to even the weakest opponents and are located at the bottom of the standings. Since the beginning of February, they have 13 defeats and only three wins.

— The decision was made by the club, and it is very balanced, — the player's agent Alexey Karvanen emphasized to Izvestia. — Nets general manager Shawn Marks literally told his starting point guard to be healthy by the start of the new season. You can see for yourself what the situation is in the standings in the "East". Brooklyn is not competing for a place in the playoffs.

Egor could have played the remaining regular season matches through discomfort, which he has been doing in recent weeks, but there is no point in this, the agent added. The upcoming summer, which the point guard must spend as efficiently as possible, is much more important than fighting this injury until the end of the regular season.

Egor was one of the few rays of hope in the Brooklyn team. The Russian, who was selected at number eight in the draft, was able to gain a foothold in the starting five and was remembered by fans as an effective sniper. In terms of the number of accurate three-pointers (124), he currently ranks second among all debutants in the league (Charlotte forward Kon Knippel has 224 hits).

"Demin came to the NBA for a long time"

VTB United League President Sergey Kushchenko — about Egor's debut season at Brooklyn and the main problem of European basketball

Hard work and talent

Demin is a graduate of the Moscow Trinta (until 2021) and the Real Madrid system, where he played for youth teams from 2021 to 2024. He became the first Russian in Real Madrid in 20 years, won the junior Euroleague with him and made his debut in the main squad, after which he moved to the NCAA. In his debut season in the National Basketball Association, the native of Moscow managed to celebrate several club achievements at once, including breaking the league record for scoring three-pointers for rookies in one match: he made seven shots from beyond the arc in a game against Golden State. He also set an NBA record among debutants for a series of matches with successful three—pointers: he was accurate in 34 consecutive matches - from November 7, 2025 to January 30, 2026.

— So far, Egor has shown only a part of his capabilities, — Alexey Karvanen continued. — In my opinion, next season he will take another step up and scratch out the role of the undisputed leader of Brooklyn. Because when he's on the ball, the team gets a completely different basketball. The fans of the team also appreciated it. Vladimir, Egor's father, recently traveled to New York and told me that there are a lot of people in the arena wearing number eight T-shirts. And private equipment stands sell only Demin and Michael Porter T-shirts.

In total, Demin played 52 games for Brooklyn (45 in the starting lineup), averaging 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and also making 39.9% of shots from the game, 38.5% from beyond the arc. In February, he broke the 500—point mark and even won his first title, at the NBA Rising Stars mini-tournament in Los Angeles. It is noteworthy that Egor became only the third Russian to receive an invitation to the prestigious young talent tournament. Before him, Andrey Kirilenko (Utah) in 2002 and 2003 and Alexey Shved (Minnesota) in 2013 were called up for the star weekend.

"I won't get tired of repeating: his hard work will allow him to meet all the expectations that fans and the club's management place on him," Sergey Kushchenko, president of the VTB United League and a former member of the Brooklyn Board of Directors, told Izvestia. — You don't have to squeeze him, you don't have to put pressure on him. The guy is only 20 years old.

Kushchenko also said that he had recently discussed the point guard's prospects with the Nets' medical staff. According to him, experts have noticed that Egor has not yet gained the muscle mass necessary for NBA players, but his body structure allows him to do this over time. But even so, the basketball player is already demonstrating a very decent level of play in defense.

The president of the United League also suggested that in two or three years Egor will be able to gain the necessary muscle mass and develop the necessary skills, in particular, to improve the average throw and passes. In this case, according to Kushchenko, the player is able to become the undisputed basketball player of the starting five, and in the future it will be possible to build a team around him, claiming at least to reach the finals of the Eastern Conference.