Playing for the Brooklyn Nets is a fate I wouldn't wish on my very worst enemy. It's not just that the team is inept, incapable of putting together a full 48 minutes of competent basketball. It's not just that the team drafted five rookies and played just Egor Demin in a blowout loss against undefeated Philadelphia. It's not even the cruel and unusual punishment of sharing a single basketball with the offensive black hole that is Cam Thomas.
It's a combination of all these things that make my heartstrings emulate the world's smallest violin for their rookie point guard out of BYU. Egor Demin, a player whose unique size and skill set combination make him a rare commodity in the National Basketball Association. Standing at six feet and nine inches with point guard skills and one of the most nurturing 3-point jumpers in professional hoops, Egor has been something of a revelation in his early NBA action.
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Not because he'll be a Rookie of the Year candidate by the end of the season -- he won't -- but because his game has translated to the professional level much more seamlessly than many expected after watching his up-and-down freshman campaign with Brigham Young.
But man, oh man, it's a tragic thing watching Egor struggle for playing time on a team that has nothing to compete for. With no playoff aspirations, no play-in hope, and an blank menu when scanning over their options for meaningful basketball, one would think that the Nets would place an emphasis on developing their young talent first, and worrying about being a competitive (heck, we'd settle for capable) basketball team second.
One would think incorrectly.
Against the unbeaten and rampant Philadelphia 76ers, Jordi Fernandez opted to run a lineup of veterans -- Nic Claxton, Terrance Mann, Cam Thomas -- rather than carve out floor time for his rookie class. Ben Saraf, a point guard who enjoyed starting minutes in his first five appearances, held a goose egg in the minutes column. Nolan Traore suffered the same fate.
When Egor Demin, the eighth overall pick and a critical piece of the Nets' future, checked into the game, it wasn't even a guarantee that he'd get the chance to do much aside from simple cardio exercise running from one end of the floor to the other. Players like Cam Thomas, Michael Porter Jr., and Nic Claxton swallow up every possession with ball dominance and tunnel vision -- a wonderful combination for a team whose priority should be giving valuable playing time to their bushel of newbies.
Even down 25 points with less than two minutes to play, as the 76ers benched their starters and flipped on the cruise control, the Nets simply refused to play any rookies not named Egor Demin. Egor saw just 15 minutes of playing time in a blowout loss on Sunday.
Despite this, he made the most of his limited and inconsistent playing time. He was active on defense, poking the ball loose several times, and even getting a steal that led to a fast break score on the other end (Thomas didn't get back on defense). He tallied five points on 50% shooting (he attempted his first two-point basket of the year!), dished two assists, and finished with one steal.
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The Nets aren't a serious NBA basketball team this year; this is the reason why they invested so heavily into the draft. They remain winless to this point in the season. None of their veteran players will likely be rostered by the time this team is ready for postseason competition. In spite of logic, reason, or brain activity in the slightest, they've chosen to prioritize the sub-optimal band of veterans that pepper their depth chart.
It's frustrating for Egor Demin, who deserves more freedom to experiment and learn in NBA action. It's unquestionably irritating for the other four rookies on the team, none of which saw a minute of competition in a 24-point drubbing.
The Brooklyn Nets must be the very worst home for a rookie in the entire NBA. It's basketball pergutory. It's hell on hardwood. It's a vacuum where competence is absent. Negligence is the norm. Priority is just a section of an airplane. Agony. In spite of all this, Egor Demin has looked solid in his early appearances, and that's all one could ask given the circumstances.
Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.