Could BYU’s Egor Demin become the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA draft?

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BYU guard Egor Demin (3) controls the ball while guarded by Idaho Vandals guard Miles Klapper (24) during an NCAA men’s basketball game held at the Marriott Center on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

For a long, long time, NBA draft observers have been looking at 2025 as the Cooper Flagg Draft.

The now-Duke freshman (he doesn’t turn 18 for another 18 days) has been seen as far and away the best prospect in the draft and the consensus No. 1 overall pick.

To be sure, Flagg is still widely seen as the player who will be the top pick, but more and more people are talking about someone overtaking him, with a primary threat being BYU’s own fabulous first-year player, Egor Demin.

Demin has been shooting up draft boards since BYU’s season began a month ago, and this week alone several draft observers have written about how the jumbo Russian point guard could supplant Flagg.

On Monday, veteran NBA draft reporter Krysten Peek wrote on X, “After talking to over 40 NBA scouts and executives this past week, the general consensus is there are 4 players right now who could go No. 1 in June.”

She quoted a scout saying, “This is not a Wemby draft,” referring to San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama.

The four players Peek listed who could go No. 1? Flagg, Rutgers freshmen stars Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey and Demin.

After talking to over 40 NBA scouts and executives this past week, the general consensus is there are 4 players right now who could go No. 1 in June. “This is not a Wemby draft,” one scout said.
Cooper Flagg (Duke)
Dylan Harper (Rutgers)
Ace Bailey (Rutgers)
Egor Demin (BYU)

— Krysten Peek (@krystenpeek) December 2, 2024

Meanwhile, The Athletic’s draft expert Sam Vecenie on Tuesday released a Top 100 big board.

He slotted Demin at No. 2 behind Flagg but wrote, “Right now, if I were taking bets on the player who could supplant Flagg at No. 1, Demin would be my pick. Why? His passing and…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/could-byu-egor-demin-become-174725512.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-12-03 17:47:00

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