{"id":293337,"date":"2026-07-11T18:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/293337\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T18:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:50:11","slug":"egor-demin-mikel-brown-jr-build-chemistry-in-nets-summer-league-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/293337\/","title":{"rendered":"Egor D\u00ebmin, Mikel Brown Jr. Build Chemistry in Nets Summer League Win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6x\">NBA Summer League is about more than wins and losses, although the Brooklyn Nets opened the Las Vegas slate with a dominant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba-summer-league\/boxscore\/_\/gameId\/401881830\/league\/nba-summer-las-vegas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">91-65 win over the New York Knicks.<\/a> The game offered another encouraging glimpse of what that future backcourt could look like with Egor D\u00ebmin and Mikel Brown Jr. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">The duo combined for 40 points while fueling Brooklyn&#8217;s dominant second-half performance. D\u00ebmin finished with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, knocking down three of his nine attempts from beyond the arc while adding three rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in 22 minutes. Brown matched him with 20 points on an efficient 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from three, adding three assists, two steals and a block in 22 minutes. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">While the box score highlights their scoring, their developing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/nets\/onsi\/egor-demin-and-mikel-brown-jr-tabbed-among-best-prospects-in-the-summer-league\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">connection stood out <\/a>just as much. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">D\u00ebmin, entering his second NBA season after averaging 10.3 points, 3.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds across 52 games as a rookie, looked more comfortable balancing his role as a facilitator and scorer. Instead of playing timidly, the 6-foot-8 guard consistently forced the issue by attacking downhill when opportunities presented themselves. Brown benefited from that patience, finding space to score both in transition and within half-court sets. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">Brown arrived in Brooklyn as one of the nation&#8217;s best offensive guards after his freshman season at Louisville, where his shot creation and decision-making helped establish him as a lottery selection. Those same traits were on display Friday. After a quiet start, Brown erupted in the second half, confidently knocking down jumpers while showing the shiftiness and creativity that made him one of college basketball&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/nets\/onsi\/mikel-brown-jr-labeled-player-to-watch-for-the-nets-at-nba-summer-league\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">most exciting freshmen<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">The pairing works because each player complements the other&#8217;s strengths. D\u00ebmin&#8217;s size allows him to see passing lanes over defenders and initiate offense from multiple spots on the floor, while Brown thrives attacking closeouts and creating advantages once defenses begin rotating. Rather than competing for touches, the two appeared comfortable alternating as primary ball handlers. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">That chemistry has been a point of emphasis throughout the summer. D\u00ebmin has spoken openly about wanting to build a connection with Brown before the regular season begins, and Friday&#8217;s performance suggested meaningful progress toward that goal. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">There is still work to be done before the games begin to count, but the early returns are promising. If this performance was any indication, Brooklyn may have found a backcourt capable of growing together for years to come. Their shared 40-point outing was an early glimpse of the offensive partnership the Nets hope becomes a cornerstone of their rebuilding effort. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA Summer League is about more than wins and losses, although the Brooklyn Nets opened the Las Vegas&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-293337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}