Egor Demin, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, will make his preseason debut on Friday when the Nets play the Toronto Raptors in their final exhibition game before the regular season starts next week.
The 19-year-old has been out with a plantar fascia tear, causing him to miss Brooklyn's first three preseason games. Demin suffered the injury after summer league, GM Sean Marks said at the end of September during media day, but head coach Jordi Fernandez noted Thursday that he's been playing five-on-five and is "ready to take the next step."
"So he’s been practicing based on the program that we’ve had for him. As you guys know, it’s been a ramp up and he’s been able to play five-on-five, and now he’s ready to see the floor," Fernandez said, via the New York Post. "So, good news is (Friday) he’ll have some minutes. And that’s exciting. I’m excited for him. He’s done a great job and now we’re ready to take the next step."
Demin, along with fellow rookie guards Nolan Traore (No. 19 pick) and Ben Saraf (No. 26 pick), will all play a major role for the Nets during their rebuilding 2025-26 season.
Traore started both preseason games against the Suns in Macao, China, playing 17 minutes in each and scoring four points and six points, respectively. While Saraf came off the bench in those two preseason games and showed some impressive flashes, dishing out 11 assists in Brooklyn's 111-109 win on Oct. 12.
As for how Fernandez will operate the lineups with all three rookie guards in the mix, the coach is excited to see them fight for minutes while he figures out the rotation.
"Yeah, I don’t have a crystal ball, so I don’t know if I can answer the question," Fernandez said. "What I’m very excited about is seeing how that process is going to go. They’re all going to fight for some of the same minutes. They’re all going to fight for some of the wing minutes.
"But right now for sure the starting point guard and backup point guard, those three are fighting for those minutes. And that’s great because we’re going to see a lot of the young talent we drafted playing real NBA minutes."
Demin, who's listed at 6-foot-9, averaged 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.0 steals per game over three NBA Summer League contests, shooting 43.5 percent from three-point range. Fernandez believes the rookie's size and skill will be a boost for the team, adding that he wants to see Demin "have fun" in his first preseason minutes.
“Yeah I don’t have too much (expectation) for him as far as he doesn’t need to feel much pressure or anything. I want him to enjoy his first minutes,” Fernandez said.
“Obviously, I’m going to ask him things like I ask everybody else as far as doing certain things with purpose, and play really hard and use his superpowers. That’s his passing and shooting and his size. But don’t overthink it. I don’t want him to try to analyze everything, and just go out there and have fun.”
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