Egor Demin Aims for Consistency Amidst Brooklyn Nets' Sophomore Struggles

Egor Demin, the 20-year-old guard, is facing the challenge of establishing consistency in his second season with the Brooklyn Nets, a team that has heavily invested in its 2025 draft class. This year's draft class, which included an NBA-record five selections, has seen mixed development, with Demin emerging as a central figure.

While other sophomores have faced varying roles—one making a first start, another out of the rotation, and two others in the G-League—Demin is carrying significant expectations. However, his performance has been inconsistent, marked by a difficulty in maintaining effectiveness throughout games.

"It's going to be one of the most important parts for me," Demin stated regarding his quest for consistency. "For me personally, I’m trying to figure it out. I’m a different type of player as I had been last year, so I’m just trying to figure out how to play within these players now, and everybody else is trying to play with me. That’s what teams go through. So, I’m not panicking. I’m excited for what’s coming next for us."

Entering a recent game against the Celtics, Demin's statistics reflected the inconsistency. He was averaging 9.7 points, 3 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game, with shooting percentages of 30.8% from the field and 31.6% from three-point range. These numbers represent a decline from his rookie campaign.

His early season struggles were evident in the season opener, where he scored just four points on 2-of-10 shooting, missing all five of his three-point attempts. A subsequent strong performance in Cleveland, where he scored 22 points and shot 5-of-10 from deep, was followed by a downturn the next night. In that game, he managed only three points on 1-of-6 shooting and finished with a minus-20 plus/minus rating in just over 19 minutes.

A primary area of concern for Demin has been his effectiveness when driving to the basket. Despite touching the paint more frequently this season, he has struggled to convert opportunities at the rim, making only 1-of-4 attempts and missing his sole dunk attempt. This is an area he and the coaching staff are actively addressing.

"Yeah, effectiveness is important in the NBA in everything you do. You touch the paint, obviously you can spray it for your teammate to shoot a good shot, or you finish at the rim, dump off and so forth," said Nets coach Jordi Fernández. "One of the conversations I’ve had with him is, last year I felt like everything went 1,000 mph. And right now, one year in, more games under your belt, now it feels like he has more control of what we can see or what he sees or doesn’t see. So again, we’re going to keep working with him and encourage him to keep doing the things that he does very well, but also keep improving in all those areas."

Demin acknowledged this as a key focus for his development. "One hundred percent," he said. "That’s the ultimate goal for me, to be able to not just get there to get there but to get there to be efficient and score. And not just score, but create for others. That’s going to be the next step for me as a playmaker, being able to choose between finishing and finding someone else."

The team's overall performance has also been a challenge, with the Nets entering a game against Boston winless and appearing disoriented defensively. Demin attributed some of the early-season struggles to overexcitement and anxiety, rather than external pressure.

"Everybody was very excited for this season, and there’s certain expectations and goals. That’s [making] us a little too excited about it, a little anxious…which is not necessarily bad. We’ve just got to convert it into effort and into energy," Demin commented. "I wouldn’t say pressure. … For us, it could be an inner pressure, just being able to be the best versions of ourselves. And how do you [improve]? Just by sticking together. That’s going to help us get on a deeper level of communication and understanding of each other. We just talked about it, being able to trust each other no matter what’s going on, what the game looks like. That’s gonna be the key."