The Nets have played the first two games of the preseason without Mikel Brown Jr., the lottery pick they drafted to be their point guard.
After a pair of impressive wins, Egor Dëmin is giving signals he can handle the job and, in turn, giving head coach Jordi Fernández options for their rebuild.
With Brown still working his way back from a rolled ankle and unable to make his full debut, Dëmin got the nod at point guard in the preseason opener at Charlotte and again in Thursday night’s 114-108 win over LeBron James and the 76ers at Barclays Center.
As the lead guard, Dëmin has led his team to a 2-0 start to the preseason.
“He’s not afraid to lead, to be honest with you,” said Julius Randle, the Nets’ only former All-Star. “We know what he does on the court, talent-wise how he is and stuff like that, but he’s not afraid to lead and use his voice, and I try to encourage him to do that even more. You’re not too young to be a leader. So, he’s very vocal.
“You can tell he’s comfortable in his own skin, with who he is as a player, and really understands the game. So he’s never trying to prove anything out there. He’s just playing the game and making the right plays. But he’s not afraid to use his voice. You can tell he has a point guard background. So he knows how to lead a team and get us organized. He has a bright future.”
When the Nets used the No. 8 pick on Dëmin a year ago, many mocked the selection and accused them of fumbling their future. He answered doubts about his 3-point shooting as a rookie but was turned all too often at the point of attack as the starting point guard and eventually got moved off the ball to shooting guard.
An offseason spent bulking up and working on his downhill game has paid dividends. After a strong Las Vegas Summer League showing, Dëmin showed downhill juice in both wins against actual NBA players, albeit in preseason play.
Dëmin repeatedly touched the paint in Charlotte. Even though he missed a dunk, it was encouraging to see him try. Then, he crossed up James and blew past the future Hall of Famer, going over center Joel Embiid to finish at the rim in what likely was the best drive of his young career.
“He was comfortable getting into the paint [in the opener]; that’s No. 1. You can see how confident he looks, and it’s through a summer of great work,” Fernández said. “And he missed that dunk he took … didn’t go in, but it was a great play. He’s aggressive. He tries to get there.
“Last year, it looked like he touched the paint, he had no plan for it. He worked, and he put his mind to it. And also handling pressure. He’s just like a new player. And we believe that he could do all those things. Obviously, the shooting, there’s no doubt that he can shoot the ball; he proved it last year. But also this summer, he’s been very aggressive coming off the screen. That’s what I want him to do because every time he shoots a 3, I think it’s going in.”
Dëmin tallied 13 points, a game-high tying five assists and finished a game-high plus-13 in 21 first-half minutes.
The second-year pro helped increase the Nets’ lead by as many as 14 points.
“[I knew] his ability to shoot the ball and score. I was impressed with him last year when I saw him,” Randle said. “But just being here on a team with him, his ability to get us organized, to understand personnel, who’s out there, what sets to get us in, to get guys certain looks, time management, management of possessions, understanding what’s going on within the game.
“[If you] had a few turnovers in a row, get us into something good, or if somebody’s hot, get them going, or they haven’t had a look in a while, get them going. He thinks like a point guard.”
