The 2025 NBA Draft was among the most anticipated in Brooklyn Nets history. Much of the excitement surrounding the day was tied to the team's first lottery pick in 15 years. The Nets shocked the draft community, selecting BYU point guard Egor Demin at No. 8.

General manager Sean Marks revealed what led Brooklyn to target the Russian floor general.

“I think first and foremost was the IQ. We looked at how he played the game, how he moved the ball, involved his teammates, saw one or two plays ahead,” Marks said. “Obviously, the size for his position is great when you’ve got a 6’8” combo guard, point guard, but he can move and play off the ball, too. We enjoyed watching him at BYU, and then we had multiple opportunities to see him in Brooklyn up close and personal, and get to meet him. I think his defense is great, how he guards pick-and-rolls. I think that he has great length. So there are a lot of attributes there.”

Demin is widely regarded as the best passer in this year's draft.

He's a pick-and-roll savant, reading coverages with ease while using his incredible height to see over defenders. Whether finding rolling big men, cutters, or weakside shooters, few other prospects are more natural anticipatory passers.

“Passing is something that I was always doing. This is who I am. This is who I'm trying to be,” Egor Demin said. “I believe in the game of basketball as a creative place. It's like art for me, and I want to play beautiful. I want to play pretty. I want to play efficient. For me, there's never a sacrifice of something [when it comes to passing]. A sacrifice of myself for the team or something like that. It's about making the right decision, which I'm always trying to do.

“I was playing all my life at point guard, so I see myself as a point guard. But I also am willing to do whatever it takes for me to bring success to the team and impact the game in a good way. If Coach wants me to be a center, I'll be a center. I have no problem with that. I just know I'm a playmaker, and no matter what position I'm playing or what spot I'm playing on the floor, I'm going to make plays.”

However, Demin's average athleticism, rudimentary handle, and three-point struggles (27.3 percent on 4.7 attempts per game) have raised concerns about his viability as a lead ball-handler at the next level. Despite this, he has an ambitious vision of the role he can grow into with Brooklyn.

“Two players I look at overall are Luka [Doncic] and Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander],” Demin said of the NBA players he models his game after. “[They're] big guards, the best players on the pick-and-roll, on the really high usage… Obviously, [they're] the heads of the snake. And [they're] able to anticipate and really control the game with the ball in their hands. It's exactly what I'm trying to find in Brooklyn.

“Coach [Jordi Fernandez] obviously was talking about me being able to get the rebound and go. Just go and find those outlets, those athletes that Brooklyn has, their young guys who have obviously a lot of athleticism and a lot of talent to be great finishers.”

Demin's ceiling will hinge on his development as an outside shooter. He opened the season hot from three, converting 56.5 percent of his attempts over his first five games. However, he shot an abysmal 22.1 percent over his final 28 appearances.

The 19-year-old shot the cover off the ball during his pre-draft workouts, which could have helped quell concerns among the Nets' brass.

“I think we saw flashes of what Egor [Demin] can do over the course of the year, specifically the shooting. And I think shooting would be the easy thing to say, ‘Hey, he can improve in shooting.' I think that's a skill that you can improve over time, being diligent,” Marks said. “I think there were a lot of other attributes in respect to Egor and why we wanted him. I think there's a lot of untapped potential there. I loved just how hard a worker he is. I saw him up close and personal in his individual workouts and the other workouts that we had here with the group. I was able to compare what we saw during the season to what we saw now, and the uptick and the improvement was pretty outstanding.

So I know he's a class act of a young man, but he's also a real worker, and that's exciting for me… I never want to pencil him into ‘Hey, you're going to fit in this little box.' To me, it's exciting to see what he does. I suspect the shooting is going to continue to improve, but he showed us out here at HSS that he can absolutely shoot the basketball.”

Ultimately, Marks' selection of Demin is a gamble on upside. If the newest Net can develop his three-point shot and add muscle to his 6-foot-9 frame, he has the playmaking ability to be an offensive engine. If his weaknesses are exposed against NBA talent, Brooklyn could be looking for a new GM in the not-so-distant future.

“It's a great opportunity to be in a team where I will be able to develop myself and also impact the game any way I can,” Demin said. “Just learn a lot from the guys who are already in the team, from the coaching staff, from the front office. This is a historical club, a historical organization. Obviously, it's a lot related to Russia in the past. A lot of Russian players were going through this organization. For me, it's an honor to be a part of the Nets.”