Egor Dëmin insists he didn’t just “sit on the bench” this summer and used his idle time recovering from a plantar fasciitis injury wisely and purposefully to prepare for his first season in the NBA.
The athletic 6-foot-1 point guard stood at just 199 pounds when the Nets made him the eighth selection in this year’s draft out of BYU, incredibly making him the franchise’s first lottery pick since Derrick Favors was selected at No. 3 in 2010.
But Dëmin has used his downtime to add more than 10 pounds to his slender frame, and he noticed the difference when he finally made his impressive preseason debut Friday night in Toronto with 14 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
“I think the main goal for me was to at least get to 205 before the season starts,” Dëmin said in preparation for Wednesday’s regular season opener in Charlotte. “[I wanted] to compete with athletes like us [in the NBA]so I can be a little bit heavier to be stronger on defense, on offense, to get into the paint, and things like that.
“As long as I’m above it [number]it’s good, but not too much [because] I still want to be able to run. But I think I am in a good balance with my weight, muscles and fitness at the moment.”
The 19-year-old Dëmin was the first of a record five first-round picks selected by the rebuilding Nets, and he competes with fellow rookies Nolan Traore (19th overall) and Ben Saraf (26th) for point guard minutes from second-year Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernández, who is still without the Opening Night starter announced.
Traore and Saraf split the starts in the team’s four preseason games, while Moscow-born Dëmin tried to learn as he worked his way back from the summer injury.
“As a player you rarely see the game from a different angle,” says Dëmin. “Normally you just see it from the standpoint of being on the field or just waiting your turn. For me it was like, okay, how can I have my own influence?” [game]and since I don’t practice, how can I get better?”
Dëmin continues to work on improving his outside shot after hitting just 27.3 percent from 3-point range during his lone season at BYU.
He shot 43.5 percent from long range in summer league play in Las Vegas and hit two of three attempts from beyond the arc against the Raptors on Friday night.
“Definitely, it was the same when I started summer league. People said I can’t shoot or stuff like that, and if you look at the college season you can probably say I couldn’t shoot. I was probably 28 percent from 3, which is insane,” Dëmin said. “But it’s not like I’m sitting on the couch at home, is it? That’s certainly something I’m working on.”
“And it’s not just something that’s obvious, but pretty much everything. Things that people talk about, you have to get better at dribbling, get better at shooting, things like this, that’s obviously something that I’m aware of, and I really spend more time on that than anything else, things that I’m weak at. But I don’t just try to do what I’m good at and be happy with what I have. I try to be a versatile player and be able to execute what I’m good at. am. being asked, and having the opportunity to be the player who can shoot and dribble and do what I’m asked to do.”
Dëmin claims to be “super excited” about the start of his rookie season on Wednesday night, but his preseason debut last week was also a big moment.
“I’ve probably been waiting almost two months for the moment to get back on the court, and now that I’m back I feel like I’m in good shape, I’m in good physical condition because I’ve managed these two months without basketball,” Dëmin said. “I’ve gained some weight, so I feel a little stronger and a little more powerful. And now that I’m getting to know people better, I can really speak up and try to be a leader on the court and be a point guard.”
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