“Demin is another player who has been tough to pin down in terms of his landing spot, having worked out for the vast majority of franchises inside the top 20” wrote ESPN reporters Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo in their report covering the Mock Draft. The former BYU and former Real Madrid player had created a reputation as a playmaker with quick decision-making ability, and possessing guard-like skills despite being the size of a wing player, to earn a spot as a speculated first-round pick. His poor shooting and other deficiencies, however, made him out to be a pick for late-lottery teams. But to the surprise of many, the Brooklyn Community came in and switched that narrative!

The ongoing 2025 NBA Draft ceremony dropped one of its first major surprises of the night recently: the Brooklyn Nets have now drafted Egor Demin as the 8th overall pick!

It’s a big development, especially since, according to mock drafts by the NBA and ESPN, Demin was expected to go as the 13th overall pick. Demin is now the first BYU product to be drafted since Jimmer Fredette in 2011. He is also the 18th Cougars player drafted since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.

The Nets entered the 2025 NBA Draft as one of the most influential teams, possessing a total of five picks. Therefore, people are not that upset that Demin was picked. Rather, they were upset that, given the number of choices the team had, they could have picked Demin later in the draft, too. The 8th pick could have been used to get another top talent like Khaman Maluach. And lo and behold, the fanbase descended on X to make their disappointment public!

NBA Fans criticize the Brooklyn Nets choosing Egor Demin: “i hate being a nets fan.”

One social media user made his unfiltered opinion and feelings known by writing “i hate being a nets fan”. Given the team’s lack of offensive prowess, one thing the Brooklyn Nets would have wanted to get from the NBA Draft was an offensive force who could have complemented D’Angelo Russell and Cam Thomas well.

However, Egor Demin made only 69.5% of his free throws and is known to not have a soft touch on tough layups or floaters. In 33 games, he averaged 3.8-9.3 (41.2%) field goals and 1.3-4.7 (27.3%) 3-pointers. Demin could make only 27.3% of his dribble-jumper 2s, 23.9% of his dribble-jumper 3s, and 27.3% of his catch-and-shoot 3s, as reported by Synergy. For someone who has a long way to go, being the 8th overall pick is a surprise.

One individual wrote, “lmao!! what a reach”. It is not about picking Egor Demin so much as it is about picking him early. However, the Nets front office might have seen some potential in the player that would have been missed by others. Furthermore, after the 8th pick, the next pick that the team had was the 19th. Therefore, if the Nets hadn’t swooped in, Demin would have easily gone, presumably, to the Atlanta Hawks as the 13th overall pick in the NBA Draft.

One social media user wrote, “That was not their guy 😂”. Certainly not since, according to Mock Draft reporters, the Brooklyn Nets were on track to get someone like Tre Johnson, Khaman Maluach, Derik Queen, Kasparas Jakucionis, or Jeremiah Fears. Tre Johnson, however, had already been selected as the 6th overall pick by the Washington Wizards, while Jeremiah Fears went to the New Orleans Pelicans as the 7th overall pick. Despite that, several of the other people whom the Nets were speculated to pick were still available. Unless we get a word from a front office member of the team, we can only speculate why this decision was made.

One individual wrote, “Egor Demin footage definitely shows potential as a big guard and pass first. I just think we reached for that. Time will tell”. Despite boasting a 6-foot-8 stature, with a 6’10¼” wingspan, Egor Demin does not let his size affect his abilities as a guard. His versatility on the ball allowed him to be usually found on big boards during BYU’s recent season. The 5.5 assists per game he recorded ranked 38th across Division I basketball. However, off the ball, his value isn’t that great. Then again, people should give Demin at least one chance.

One social media user reacted to the draft pick by writing, “It’s like the Thunder drafting Giddey at 6”. Similarly to Demin, Josh Giddey was speculated to go Top 15 in the first round, but not as high as 6. Many suggested back then that the Oklahoma City Thunder had taken a gamble with this draft pick. Over the next 3 seasons, it became apparent that Giddey just didn’t seem to fit with the Thunder at times. After all, he often needed the ball to be in his hands to be impactful, which meant Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was simply not getting it more. In his first season, he averaged 5.2-12.4 (41.9%) field goals, 1.0-3.9 (26.3%) 3-pointers, and 1.0-1.5 (70.9%) free throws.

Overall, the majority of reactions highlighted people agreeing that Egor Demin should not have been the 8th overall pick. Therefore, we have something else to look forward to in the next NBA season, as we will see whether Egor Demin can prove all his critics wrong or not.