Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin is coming into the 2025-26 NBA season as the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft with some wondering how effective he will be. Brooklyn could potentially be starting Demin at the point guard spot to begin the season and if they do, he could be one of the wildcards to win the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year award.

“Demin quelled some of the draft-night “Really? Him?!?” reactions by proving he can work away from the ball on offense during summer league,” Dan Favale wrote for Bleacher Report when discussing the scope of the award. Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg is most likely going to win the accolade if he has just a solid performance, but if that happens, Demin could take advantage by playing above his expectations.

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“Even after the Nets selected a trillion potential creators in the first round, he’ll have a prominent role that translates to standout scoring and assist averages,” Favale continued. To Favale’s point, Demin calmed down some of the noise surrounding his game after he played in the Las Vegas Summer League due to how well he played off the ball for a significant amount of time.

Demin, 19, played three games in Las Vegas and averaged 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 40.7% from the field and 43.5% from behind the three-point line. While Demin is expected to get a solid amount of playing time even if he isn’t the starter, his case for the Rookie of the Year would be bolstered by being able to win the starting point guard job out of training camp.

As of this writing, Demin will be competing with players like Nolan Traore, Ben Saraf, and Keon Johnson for minutes at the point guard position, but the former BYU Cougar should have the benefit of the doubt. Demin will be battling against some history as the last player who won the Rookie of the Year award after being taken with the eighth overall pick was Portland Trail Blazers guard Geoff Petrie during the 1970-71 season.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets’ Egor Demin deemed wildcard to win 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year