Just over a year ago, it was a little bit of a surprise that former BYU basketball star Egor Demin was selected eighth overall by the Brooklyn Nets in the 2025 NBA Draft, as most projections had him going 5-10 picks later than that.
Demin made the Nets look good though, as he averaged 10.3 points, 3.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game in a rookie season that was cut to just 52 games because of injury.
Most impressively, Demin shot 38.5% from behind the 3-point line, a far better number than he had previously put up at any level.
As such, there’s an argument to be made that Demin didn’t need to play in summer league for the Nets this year, but he is indeed doing so.
On Saturday in Brooklyn’s first 2026 summer league game against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento at the California Classic, Demin did exactly what a good NBA player should do at summer league, as he led the Nets with 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting with seven rebounds.
Brooklyn did lose 79-76 as Kings guard Nique Clifford made the game-winning 3-pointer with six seconds left, but final scores hardly matter in summer league. Far more important is how players are developing, and Demin certainly showed well in that department (Sacramento rookie Darius Acuff Jr., the seventh pick in this year’s draft, led all scorers with 25 points).
Asked after the game what drove him during his big performance Saturday, Demin alluded to the idea of playing well since he is becoming an established NBA player.
“I don’t want to say pressure of being a leader, but kind of embracing the role of a guy who’s been a year in the NBA already,” he said. “I want to take that role on myself coming here and lead the team mentally on the bench and on the court as well.”
Here are some highlights from and what some said about Demin’s performance Saturday.
The Nets will continue summer league play Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks.