That was certainly unexpected.
Egor Demin, the lanky international point guard out of BYU, was off the board eighth overall to the jubilation of the Brooklyn Nets' war room. High fives all around, fellas; this is the kid that the Nets were hoping for all along.
Nets fans... did not gather in a united celebration following the pick's announcement, however. A controversial pick, and one many thought may be available with a later selection, Egor Demin will enter his new home to mixed fanfare.
Some fans are already voicing their frustrations with their team's bold top-10 selection. One notable example was at the forefront of the ESPN broadcast, shouting "who is that?" toward the new selection.
This Brooklyn fan wasn't a fan of the Egor Demin pick 😅 pic.twitter.com/8j6X5daFSk
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 26, 2025
How unfortunate for one's basketball knowledge to be so surface level as to be completely unaware of a projected lottery selection.
Though opinions of the Russian's upside in pro basketball vary wildly, the Brooklyn Nets still retained the rights to four more first-round swings and would use each of them to take a wild swing at even more Vegemite prospects. Love them. Hate them.
Nolan Traore. He came off the board 19th overall as a French point guard whose inability to shoot the basketball drew comparisons to Killian Hayes, who no longer plays NBA basketball.
Drake Powell. A UNC product who slid down the board thanks to his game being so unrefined was next to join the Nets' ranks. His game is likely years removed from consistent production.
Ben Saraf. He certainly drew plenty of comparisons to Egor Demin. A third point guard. Potentially the biggest question mark of the bunch.
And finally Danny Wolf. The 7-footer from Michigan was a dominant force in the collegiate ranks, but questions about any attributes that can give him a leg-up at the pro level.
Egor Demin is the face of an awkward draft session for the Brooklyn Nets, and opens up a workshop of player development that could either progress or hamper the rebuild in the coming years. That said, Egor enters a situation conducive to letting him make mistakes, learn, and play real NBA minutes.
Egor's new home will be in disrepair for the moment, but seeing him enter an environment that could let him stretch his skill set will be fascinating to see moving forward.