Egor Demin, a BYU product and embodied Muscovite mayhem on a basketball surface, made his NBA Summer League debut against the Oklahoma City Thunder Summer League squad with an uneven box score to show for it.
Out of the gate, Egor's scoring diet was severely malnourished as his long-range grasps failed to collect anything tangible. Missing his first three attempts from beyond the arc, he forced the issue early by taking out of rhythm, unbalanced, and blanketed jumpers in the hopes of finding his own shot.
0-3 to open his story.
Unshaken, however, he stepped into a confident catch-and-shoot look from the apex. Nylon. His next attempt was constructed with similar gusto as he utilized an off-ball screen as a castle wall. The ensuing trebuchet reached it's target; bottoms.
Egor tallied his final two points from the charity stripe. With two giveaways to pair with an absence of assists, his first night as a professional basketball player didn't blow the basketball world onto its side.
But hey, the right stuff was on display -- if in limited supply -- and one Summer League game will not make or break the career of the eighth overall pick.
The biggest issue about Egor's debut didn't lie in his numerical output, as he was floating in an unfamiliar spot for the duration of his minutes. Filling in an off-ball spot, Egor didn't have the freedom or opportunity to create with the ball in his hands as he's grown accustomed to in the years previous.
With the three-ball looking solid when in rhythm, NBA Twitter placed a vote of confidence in the Russian's prospects as a professional.
Egor Demin knocks down another deep catch-and-shoot three.
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) July 10, 2025
He's played off the ball for the majority of the night. pic.twitter.com/uCSgEgpWLJ
Egor Dëmin was always going to be a long-term bet and we are seeing it tonight. Not a bad thing by any means.
— Brooklyn Netcast (@BrooklynNetcast) July 11, 2025
Has much physical maturation to do, too skinny and not enough muscle to handle POA defenders right now, especially with the handle at its current state.
The defense… pic.twitter.com/ZUUI9ilgrq
The consensus on Demin's prospects moving forward? Take his first steps with patience -- his role at the next level may look very different than originally anticipated. But given the right amount of trust, development, and well-planned construction, Egor's basketball future could prove to be highly memorable.
For the present, we watch and wait.