TORONTO \u2014 Rookie Egor D\u00ebmin finally made his debut Friday. The Nets and their fans had to be happy with what they saw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After D\u00ebmin missed training camp and most of the preseason with a foot injury, the teenager got his first taste of NBA competition. He looked like he belonged \u2014 and like the best of the Nets\u2019 trio of first-round point guards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was excellent,\u201d coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez said after a 119-114 loss to Toronto. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be things he\u2019s going to keep working on. We\u2019ve got to keep building him up physically to be able to sustain more minutes. \u2026 But I\u2019m very happy with his presence, how composed he was, how he talked to his teammates, all those things. And made it look easy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe shot the ball every time he was open or halfway open, got to the free-throw line and rebounded. He got five rebounds, made nice plays at the rim. It was good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Nets\u2019 Egor Demin (8) drives past Toronto Raptors\u2019 Scottie Barnes, left, during second-half preseason NBA basketball game action in Toronto on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. AP<\/p>\n
D\u00ebmin also had 14 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep, with an assist, a block and two turnovers. He went 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, an indication of how well he handled the Raptors\u2019 length and physicality. The latter bodes well and buoys his confidence for the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, 100 percent. I\u2019ve been told a lot about the Raptors as one of the most physical and longest teams from the standpoint of pressure almost the whole game, and how pesky they are,\u201d D\u00ebmin said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say I was scared, but I was super aware of what to expect. But I also couldn\u2019t understand what to expect in my first game \u2026 so I\u2019m just happy we went through this and had this experience. It\u2019s a huge lesson for all of us, and I can\u2019t wait for the start of the season.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For D\u00ebmin, finishing plus-1 in 18:47 encouraging minutes off the bench was a solid start. He looked more comfortable than Ben Saraf and Nolan Traore despite the lack of a training camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old out of BYU had been out with a plantar fascia tear that he revealed didn\u2019t occur at Las Vegas Summer League but before June\u2019s draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Egor Demin of the Brooklyn Nets looks on during the game against the Toronto Raptors on October 17, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n