BYU’s Egor Demin is adapting to the NBA game — and the NBA life

LAS VEGAS — Egor Demin texted Kevin Young to tell him he was mad at him for not coming to Las Vegas to see him make his Summer League debut with his new NBA team.

Of course, it was all in jest. Demin isn’t actually mad. He understands that Young is busy recruiting and preparing for next season, and Demin is busy too.

It’s not that he’s intimidated by the bright lights that await him in New York. When he thinks about transitioning from the quiet and the mountains that surrounded him in Provo while playing for BYU, to the fast-paced world of the NBA and playing for the Brooklyn Nets, he’s more than ready.

After all, he’s from Moscow and was recruited to play in Madrid when he was just 15. Big cities and adapting to new surroundings is something that he’s proven he can handle, and handle with success.

It’s the transition from collegiate basketball to the NBA that is at the forefront of Demin’s mind. He’s going to have to adapt to a type of physicality and speed that he’s never faced, and he’ll have to do it while also earning the trust of his teammates and learning a new system during an 82-game season that is unforgiving.

“It’s the same as when I was coming to the NCAA for the first time, playing in Big 12 and I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s different level,’” Demin said. “I need some time to get used to that here. And it took some time for me (before). But at the end of the day, I felt comfortable playing Big 12 and playing in March Madness.”

He’s going to rely heavily on the fact that even though he struggled at times during his season at BYU, that the decision-makers with the Nets saw his potential and trusted in it so much that they selected him eighth overall in the 2025 NBA draft.

The Nets saw that even when Demin was facing tougher competition and sometimes struggling to keep up his efficiency on offense that he was learning how to be an effective leader and teammate through it all.

Additionally, they saw all of the right mechanics and that Demin is able read the game at a high level and make his teammates better despite any individual struggles.

“There was a lot of questions about my shooting at the end of the NCAA season,” Demin said. “It’s good for me that Brooklyn trusted me. They believe in me as a good shooter in the future. This is where I take confidence from.

“Obviously, when coaches are telling me ‘shoot the ball,’ that’s what I’m gonna do, right? I’m gonna be confident in myself, knowing how many reps I put into this.”

So far, in Summer League, Demin is making Brooklyn’s choice look like a good one. He’s shooting 40% from 3-point range and showing improvement in his understanding of the NBA game everyday.

Of course, he misses Utah, but there’s not a lot of time that he can spend on missing the last chapter of his life. He’s just turning the first pages of the new chapter of his life and there is a lot to take in.