The Brooklyn Nets' selection of Egor Demin with this year's No. 8 pick was controversial within NBA draft circles. The Russian floor general will have ample opportunity to prove his value as the team's starting point guard. His projected role has some eyeing him as a contender for the 2025-25 NBA Rookie of the Year.
Bleacher Report's Dan Favale recently labeled Demin a wild card for the award.
“Demin quelled some of the draft-night “Really? Him?!?” reactions by proving he can work away from the ball on offense during summer league. Even after the Nets selected a trillion potential creators in the first round, he'll have a prominent role that translates to standout scoring and assist averages,” Favale wrote.
Demin has an intriguing skill set as a 6-foot-9 point guard with elite passing ability. He eased worries about his outside shooting at Summer League, converting 43.5 percent of 7.7 three-point attempts per game.
Is Egor Demin legitimate contender for NBA Rookie of the Year award?
There are still glaring concerns about whether Demin's ball-handling will hold up against NBA pressure. He struggled to separate from defenders at BYU. That continued at Summer League, as he rarely got downhill or touched the paint, attempting just four of his 27 shots from inside the three-point line.
Yet, Demin will have an extremely long leash to work through struggles early this season. Favale isn't the only media member to speculate that Brooklyn's top draft pick could enter the rookie awards conversation.
NetsDaily's Lucas Kaplan spoke about Demin as a First Team All-Rookie candidate when giving his hottest takes for the 2025-26 season on the Locked On Nets podcast.
“I think of all the Nets rookies, he'll get the most minutes… There is a world where he makes enough threes. He's going to have the highlight passes. I think he'll just get his way into points, rebounds, and assists,” Kaplan said. “And voters will enjoy his style of play, more so than maybe a guy like Colin Murray-Boyles, whose per-game averages might really not look that good… Of that back half of the lottery, if Egor has the fattest counting stats and he makes enough threes and he has all these flashy passes and you look up and he has a 14-7-6 game once a week or every two weeks, which I think is feasible, I could see the voters going for it.”
Demin will shoulder a heavy burden this season as Brooklyn's lead ball-handler. He'll play alongside veterans Michael Porter Jr., Nic Claxton, Terance Mann and Cam Thomas, as well as fellow rookies Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf.
