The Brooklyn Nets had played three preseason games prior to Friday night, but Egor Demin — the former BYU Cougars star and the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft by the Nets — had yet to play because he was dealing with plantar fasciitis.
Demin finally took the court Friday night as Brooklyn faced the Toronto Raptors on the road, and the return was extremely positive.
In 19 minutes of play off the bench, Demin tallied 14 points, five rebounds, an assist and a block. Perhaps most importantly for the 19-year-old Russian, he shot 3 of 5 from the field — including 2 of 3 from behind the 3-point line — and went 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
The performance had Nets fans and others on social media buzzing. Here’s just a sampling.
It was a continuation of the strong shooting performance Demin had during NBA Summer League in July and comes as the major knock on his game since before he arrived at BYU was his inconsistent shooting.
For the Raptors Friday, former Utah Runnin’ Utes star Jakob Poeltl had 10 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist, and former Utah Jazz guard Ochai Agbaji tallied two points, two rebounds and an assist.
Former Wasatch Academy standout Collin Murray-Boyles did not play after sustaining an elbow injury last week.
Both teams have now completed preseason action as they gear up for the beginning of the regular season next week.