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The big news early out of July 4th in Sacramento, California, was that Mikel Brown Jr., the Brooklyn Nets highest draft pick in 16 years, would not play — and won’t play again till Monday, missing Sunday’s action as well as Saturday’s. Later though the big news was not what Brown didn’t do, but what Egor Demin did do in his 23 minutes and 46 seconds. He changed his narrative.
The player who many saw last year as unwilling or unable to touch the paint, finish the play over and over again. The added weight and muscle may have been one reason for the difference, but clearly so was his confidence in himself not just as an NBA player but as a leader…
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He spoke to our Shara Talia Taylor specifically about how he wants to be seen this year: someone capable of handling pressure…
This is of course would be the second time the 6’9.5” Russian has changed his narrative. When he was drafted, the league saw him as the prospect with perhaps the best court vision in his class but a woeful outside shooter. The Nets, however, dismissed that concern and he proved them right. He was along with Kon Knueppel, the best volume 3-point shooter among rookies, closely following Knueppel in the race to become the fastest player in NBA history to 100 threes and setting a rookie record for most consecutive games with a 3-pointer.
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Instead the concerns were that he wasn’t getting to the paint and finishing. How much of that was his issue and how much was the Nets offensive structure was cause for some debate. And the plantar fasciitis troubled him during last summer and again at the end of the season. Was that a factor? He seems healthy now and more mature. He’s less that gangly, almost goofy kid. Last month, in one example of personal growth, he was baptized into the Mormon faith.
It all bodes well for him and the organization as does the prospect of a Demin/Brown backcourt with both capable of being lead guard. There are still going to be issues going forward, some of which Lucas Kaplan touched on at the end of last season in his retrospective but as a senior NBA…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/netsdaily-off-season-report-no-234049819.html
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Publish date : 2026-07-05 23:40:00
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