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The Brooklyn Nets made a massive bet on BYU point guard Egor Demin with the No. 8 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. While the selection shocked many draft analysts, the team believes the Russian floor general can be a future centerpiece. That conviction was evident when the Nets' draft war room erupted after sending in the pick.
ICYMI: A look inside the Nets’ draft war room after selecting Egor Demin.
Jordi Fernandez looked particularly excited, giving a chest bump to assistant coach Steve Hetzel. pic.twitter.com/Kkb3ciHD2j
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) June 27, 2025
Head coach Jordi Fernandez was among the most animated members of the Nets' brass. On Tuesday, he revealed what convinced Brooklyn that Demin was the correct pick with its top selection.
“His positional size and his playmaking. Obviously, it’s very important that we help each other and we give each other the best shot possible, and we believe that he can do it playing pick and roll or simply making the right play,” Fernandez said. “That’s who he is, and if you watch him play and you get to know him, you can see that right away. His ability to shoot the ball [also attracted us]. He’s gonna shoot the ball very well in this league. That is another thing that excites us. But also his work ethic. We know he’s gonna show up, he’s gonna work every day. That’s something that caught our eye.
“As you know, it’s not just watching them play real games, but we know a lot [outside of that] about these guys. That’s what you do through the process. The coaches who were a part of the process were amazing… And selecting Egor, another thing that I believe he’s gonna help us with is his fullcourt pace. His ability to throw the ball ahead, that’s also gonna help the team. We were pretty fast in the halfcourt and slow in the fullcourt, and I think he’s gonna help us be faster in the fullcourt.”
Demin was one of five Nets first-round selections, alongside Nolan Traore, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf. He represents the first point guard the team has drafted in the first round since Marcus Williams in 2006.
Jordi Fernandez, Nets speak on Egor Demin selection at introductory press conference
Egor Demin is widely regarded as the best passer in this year's draft. At 6-foot-8 barefoot with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, the 19-year-old has the size to play other positions with Brooklyn. However, concerns about his athleticism, ball-handling and outside shooting led many to label him a reach at No. 8.
Despite the historic size of the Nets' draft class, Demin's development will take center stage as the team enters a new era. He believes his blend of transition ball-handling, playmaking and defensive versatility offers a hand-in-glove fit for the vision that Fernandez and general manager Sean Marks want to implement.
“This team is a good fit for me, and I'm a good fit for this team,” Demin said. “They have a lot of athleticism, young guys, and I believe we could be a really high pace and high volume team. Just being able to run coast to coast. And for me, how efficiently can I find those defensive rebounds and just find the outlet as fast as I can? Find somebody in front of me who can finish at the rim or find the corners, right, since we're going to learn a lot of spacing, it's going to be a lot of screens and all that.
“And I believe we can really find good offensive and defensive variety in case of the players on the court. As as coach said, and Sean, we can really play one through five, everybody, right? There's going to be rotations where we just switch everything… I believe there are a lot of options I can bring to this team, and I can do whatever coach needs me to do.”
