The Egor Demin era is officially underway in Brooklyn.
Though his team fell 136-117 Wednesday night to the Charlotte Hornets, there was still plenty to like from the BYU product in his NBA debut.
In 22 minutes of action, Demin scored 14 points with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
As a 3-point shooter — an area where he sometimes struggled in his freshman campaign at BYU — Demin made 4 of 6 attempts from behind the arc.
“This is something I’ve been working on all summer,” Demin told reporters after the game of his 3-point shooting. “… So this is something I would expect from myself going on from here."
Demin was drafted No. 8 overall by Brooklyn in this past June’s NBA draft. In his lone season with BYU, the Russia native averaged 10.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game to earn All-Big 12 honorable mention honors and helped the Cougars reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011.
His professional career did not get off to the smoothest start, however, as a plantar fascia injury limited him for most of training camp and the preseason, putting him on a minutes restriction against Charlotte.
But given how he shined in limited action Wednesday night, look for Demin’s role to grow over time as he fully heals and becomes more comfortable with the NBA game.
“I got stronger, and I feel better playing against athletes like this, I’m feeling more confident in my defense,” Demin said. “Obviously there’s a lot of room to work on, things like playing against pressure, not losing the ball, being under control, trying to organize the team better and trying to be a leader, but I think we’re on the right path.”
With Demin’s debut, he is the first former BYU player to appear in an NBA game since Elijah Bryant in 2021.