Egor Demin Scouting Report
As one of the most talented Russians of the last decade, Demin's transfer from Real Madrid's top youth development is a good sign for his NBA future. Why? And what will be his NBA role? Find out below
With Timofey Mozgov (2018) being the last Russian in the NBA, the basketball-loving nation cannot wait for the next one to arrive. Brigham Young signee Egor Demin is the most talented Russian of the last decade, who earned a highly-regarded status after growing into one of the top prospects in Europe’s best youth development club: Real Madrid.
Size, versatility, and being able to play in multiple roles and positions are the keys to the NBA’s future. With more teams experimenting with four and five-out offenses, having multiple screen navigators, point-of-attack defenders, and consistent shooters is how teams are trying to build toward a championship.
Demin earned his reputation with his ability to make it look easy to play simple. To give more context: fundamentally he’s one of the most gifted Europeans of the last few years, looking to prepare himself for the NBA in the best possible way. With stellar performances at the Adidas Next Generation tournaments and the European youth scene, it was time for him to move to the United States.
Physical Profile
At 6’9”, Demin has excellent positional size to play as a one, two, or three at the next level. He has a slim frame but broad shoulders with an improving frame. He needs to get stronger in the next few years to fully tap into his long-term potential as a defender.
His unrivalled strength is his screen navigation. While having an incredible feel for the game and awareness, he’s able to solidify his status as a pick-and-roll defender. The context around that is that he hasn’t faced many NBA-caliber athletes throughout his career, thus making that a challenge for his early adapting to college basketball.
He has long arms. With no official wingspan measurement being available, the eye test makes me lean toward a seven-foot wingspan. With his fluid hips and strong upper-leg area, Demin shows the mobility to move fluidly while not having to rely on his burst when he’s defending. For his long-term development, physical improvement is what NBA decision-makers have to focus the most on for the best of his development.
Offense
The scalable part of Demin’s offense starts with his three-point shooting off the catch. Despite shooting 18.6% on 43 attempts in both Adidas Next Generation Tournaments in 2024, the outcome isn’t relevant as the process of the shot itself says more about long-term improvement. In Demin’s case, his consistency as a shooter stood out. He sets his feet quickly and is comfortable shooting from a standstill or off movement. His size advantage helps him leverage his jab steps and interior pressure to create separation with the ball in his hands.
The composure before the shot is another indicator an NBA decision-maker likes to see. While focusing on his misses, the first play of four below marks his ability to utilize his closeout-attacking threat to get some separation before the launch. Whether Demin is on a cold spell or hot, it doesn’t take away his self-confidence as a shooter. That’s crucial to sniff consistency as a volume shooter, which is a realistic role.
At times Demin falls in love with his jumper too much, as shown in the second and third plays below. In both possessions, some hesitation to shoot is visible in his stance. His still launching while bailing the defense out by giving them extra time to close out didn’t help him. However, that’s not an issue for the longer term. Especially if he’s getting more aggressive as a closeout-attacker and interior scorer.
Another positive indicator is Demin’s vocality on the floor. He’s actively asking for the ball when he’s being used as a spot-up shooter. That’s crucial as he doesn’t disappear in offense while using his shooting gravity well to run to his positions and get himself open. An area to work on for the long term is to not bring the ball down too much after the catch. Especially when Demin fills his frame and gets stronger in the next few years, experimenting with no-dip three-point shots is an area to consider for NBA decision-makers. Given the fluidity of his jumper, while setting his feet quickly, that’s where Demin can grow into an above-average volume shooter.
Another indicator for NBA teams wanting to invest in Demin’s offense is his ability to pressure the rim. Demin has a good first step while showing the craft and handles to generate paint touches. He is not a great ball handler, but he's good enough to continue playing as a slasher in his freshman year at BYU. His creativity is visible in a variety of scoring options once he gets downhill. His touch at the rim is another indicator that Demin can help a team maintain its offensive rating with him on the floor in the early stages of his career.
With Coach Young’s vision to play an NBA-styled offense at BYU, Demin’s quick decision-making stood out in the first play below. His offensive footwork by aggressively placing his pivot foot before the launch shows how well he reads the game. By attacking the weaker side to help the defense with the straight-line drive, Demin keeps leveraging his passing while attacking the rim at will. The play resulted in an example of his soft touch finishing.
The ability to attack the rim is another weapon of his to leverage when creating open three-point looks, as shown in the second possession below. With a wide-open driving lane, the one-dribble pull-up wasn’t the best way to execute that amount of spacing, as dribble penetration would have collapsed the defense for a dump-off pass to a play-finisher inside. Regardless, the aggressiveness as a shooter is the value, but shot selection is what the BYU coaching staff needs to pay attention to.
The third play shows how well Demin uses fakes and jab steps to get good looks inside. He attacks the strong side while showing a fearless way to attack the rim. The fluidity at 6’9” combined with his craft and touch at the rim is how NBA decision-makers will trust Demin's usage with plays where he can get his production as a slasher.
The fourth possession shows a similar outcome, but this time Demin relies more on his craft than his burst considering the good closeout. The opposing offense keeps two bodies around the rim, where Demin effortlessly responds with the up-and-under finish while hanging in the air before releasing the ball.
At over four assists per game, Demin gives good returns as a passer. The feasibility of his passing chops is the instincts that help him execute his reads. Whether he’s used as a playmaker or ball-mover, making quick decisions is what coaches can trust him to do for them.
In the first play below, Demin scans the floor well before delivering the cross-court pass to the elbow. Executing basic reads is a must-have for slashers to succeed at the next level. Considering how well Demin leverages the threat of his interior scoring and rim pressure, makes it easier for him to find open teammates while utilizing his plus positional size. This is put on notice at the second possession, where Demin’s touch-pass after the baseline-out-of-bounds play leads to a clean one-on-one opportunity near the rim.
In the third possession, we see Demin operate as a pick-and-roll creator. He does very well to hit the stagger screener after collecting the ball via the hand-off. The jab step before using the screen whereafter keeping the ball on his right. Hereafter, forcing the defense to cover the pick-and-roll and an ICE is how he kept the space in the middle wide-open before hitting the play-finishing big man with a timely wraparound pass. As a secondary playmaker, that’s his value in a guard-heavy college basketball game.
The classic “sees well over the defense” argument is being thrown around easily on plus-sized guards. However, Demin is an example of this argument being true in some cases. In the fourth play below, the dribble penetration looks like a risky move with two defenders stepping out of the perimeter to guard him. Hereafter, Demin does well to hit the play-finishing big man down low with an accurate wraparound pass over the defense. With more space to operate in the last play below, Demin did well in attacking the rim before delivering the alley-oop pass against a paint-crowding opponent.
In the long run, the offensive potential will be determined by Demin’s ability to produce in a ball-dominant role. Therefore, his interior scoring as the pick-and-roll ball handler will be an area NBA decision-makers will focus on during his time in Provo, Utah. As of today, when creating with the ball in his hands Demin continues to tend to settle for jumpers. He bails defenses out rather than trusting his craft to get to the rim consistently.
The first play is an example of the above-mentioned. In the long run, it can lead to defenses being comfortable putting bodies on Demin while he’s on the perimeter. With the growing importance of four and five-out offenses, having guards who can create advantages off the dribble becomes more important. That’s the most vital part of Demin’s long-term potential to tap in for an NBA franchise.
The needed aggressiveness is shown in the second play below. Demin quickly shifts gears while he’s getting two feet in the paint, thereafter trusting his touch with the tough fadeaway finish. Despite the miss, that’s the type of look he needs to go after when creating out of the pick-and-roll. Whether it’s the extra pass or finishing the play off himself, consistent rim pressure keeps the defense honest and allows Demin to use his paint-generating gravity to make it easier for his teammates on the perimeter in four and five-out types of play.
When it comes to Demin’s offensive creativity, he shows a variety of ways to score. Although he takes a few seconds off the clock before choosing his way to attack the rim, the spin move before fading away for the jumper in play three and the sudden pull-up in the fourth possession speaks volumes to his confidence as a scorer.
An area of development for Demin is to be more physical while initiating contact before pulling up for his jumper. In the last play below, we see him bring his defender out of balance before the launch. However, against quicker and stronger NBA athletes, Demin filling his frame and improving upper-body strength will turn him into a better self-creating scorer.
Defense
Demin will be used as a pick-and-roll size on defense. His excellent positional size and screen navigation form the base for his NBA role. In a switch-heavy league where teams focus on maximizing offensive rating with four and five-out offenses, it’s crucial to have multiple screen navigators. That’s the value of Demin’s plus size at 6’9", combined with his positional versatility.
Demin is a natural screen navigator who does well to slightly place his body ahead to slide between the ball handler and the screener. He also uses his length very well to actively tag or keep up with the ball handler once the screen is being utilized, as shown in the first play below. Overall, defensive awareness is what makes it easy for Demin to determine where the incoming ball screener is located. With Real Madrid’s youth development focusing heavily on the fundamentals, it’s clear that in his decision-making he grew up with a ‘substance over flash’ brand of basketball, benefitting intangibles such as his screen navigation.
In the second possession, the ball handler creates separation via the ball screen. This will happen at the NBA level as well. That’s a given. However, the way he responds is what an NBA decision-maker is focusing on in these situations. He keeps the intensity up and does well to eventually rotate to the help defender’s assignment before using it to still impact the shot and collect the rebound.
In the third play, Demin is forced to go under by the well-placed ball screen. However, he’s quickly back with one foot outside the perimeter to impact the pull-up three. Despite the make, that’s an area for him to focus on. While playing against stronger athletes in the NBA, the physicality to fight through screens is what is needed to maintain his status as a good screen navigator. Therefore, adding strength to his frame is crucial to focus on for NBA decision-makers.
The amount of physicality is shown in the fourth play. He’s impacted by the big man’s relocation before taking on the assignment. The lack of strength is forcing him to play much more aggressively, leading to the and-one make here. Despite having only six personal fouls in eight Adidas Next Generation Tournament games in 2024, it’s imminent that he’ll be vulnerable to more personal fouls once he’s facing stronger athletes in college basketball compared to his age group in Europe.
Considering the importance of three-point shooting, Demin will also be asked to be the primary defender against movement shooters. That’s a growing specialty where teams run schemes involving multiple screeners to set guys up. Although that’s a smaller portion of a whole game, adding value to a team’s defensive rating by having answers to those schemes is what makes Demin’s screen navigation so valuable.
In the four plays below, Demin is actively dodging screens on plays where he’s responsible for not allowing the movement shooter to get clean looks. In the first play below, he snakes between two opponents to stay within the range of the shooter, heavily contesting the shot as a result. In the second possession, Demin derails the offense by dodging the staggered screen, forcing the ball handler with the entry pass after picking up his dribble.
In the pindown on the third play, Demin loses his assignment. The most vital detail in this play here is instead of chasing him and allowing an open driving lane in the middle, Demin focuses on relocating to the center of the paint and keeping his assignment at 180 to 270 degrees. Those are the intangibles NBA decision-makers look for in screen navigators. Because it’s imminent that opponents will find separation. The way the prospect responds to that given separation is how much value the screen navigation has in the long run.
Another area for Demin to impact is his ability to make defensive plays via closeouts. His footwork forms the base for his consistency as a closeout-defender. Commonly, Demin aggressively places his pivot foot at his last step when closing out, using it as a tool to control the opponent’s drive. That’s a common tactic where the defender both secures his balance and forces the opponent to respond, rather than the defender adjusting to what the scorer wants.
In the first play, Demin does well to use his pivot foot to force the ball handler to the strong side. Hereafter, while sliding his feet well, Demin shows lateral quickness to stay in front of his opponent. Despite the lack of upper body strength, Demin shows toughness in not backing down for physical contact while stopping the opponent from bringing him out of balance to create a good scoring angle.
In the second possession, Demin is positioned too far inside the paint to timely close to the open shooter in the corner. His area of development is to focus on keeping one foot in the paint, rather than two to help him be less vulnerable against schemes that are built around more ball movement. That will be a likely scenario in the NBA, where teams are keen on executing against defenses collapsing due to bad positioning. Another area to focus on for Demin is to stay within 180 degrees of his opponent when closing out. In the heat of the moment, the opponent got bailed out by the rushed closeout, simply stepping away to find a wide-open look.
A strength in Demin’s profile is his ability to serve as a help-side defender. His positional size will help to translate that part of his game to the NBA. Especially if he gets stronger in the next few years. in the third play below, Demin boxes out for the defensive rebound whereafter the opponent gains a second-chance opportunity. Hereafter, his body language is what stood out as he’s actively coaching his teammates in their rotations, which shows his leadership as one of the top prospects on his team. Hereafter, he does well to rotate after the drive to the rim and come up with the stop at the rim.
The same applies to the last play below. Timely rotations from Demin lead to him picking up the big man while winning the post-up positioning. This led to the opponent not delivering the entry pass, thus keeping the ball moving. The cutter located in the corner eventually gets the entry pass to pul-up from the midrange, where Demin shows his hard play and toughness with the shot contest despite the high-arcing finish. There’s room for Demin to grow to grow into an above-average closeout defender in the NBA.
As mentioned earlier, Demin continues to show that he’s caught out of position often when he’s closing out on spot-up shooters. In NBA settings with more ball movement, he tends to place two feet in the paint, making closeouts on open opponents almost impossible. Because NBA floors are better spaced than in Europe, that effect trickles down to much worse. An NBA decision-maker should focus on contextualizing the above-mentioned, as it is often a result of Demin wanting to make the winning play too much. He’s in constant help mode while being vocal on the floor.
The first play is a good example of the above-mentioned. In the second possession, we see Demin rotate much better, as he’s already moving toward the corner shooter to contest the three after the catch. Despite the make, that’s a good play on Demin’s end. He’s most comfortable when not having to guard from the paint, as shown in the third play below. When he’s out on the perimeter, Demin is much more fluid in his rotations while actively using his pivot foot to chase shooters off the line and forcing them to make the extra pass or pull-up while not fully set for the shot.
Another area of development is to be more composed when he’s too late on rotations, as shown in the fourth play below. Demin needs to cover more ground, as he was too close to the basket. Hereafter, his opponent made it clear as water that it would result in a pump-fake. However, that’s not an issue for the long run, as more reps as he gets older will help Demin in making better decisions in situations such as these.
NBA Draft Projection
For an NBA decision-maker, here are the above-mentioned areas summarized:
Strengths
Has incredible touch at the rim. Combined with his scalable role, he offers feasibility when it comes to maintaining a team’s offense rating by using him as a floor-spacer and slasher.
Excellent screen navigator who will be used to respond to an opponent’s best movement shooter while growing into a reliable pick-and-roll defender.
Areas of development
Needs to fill his frame in the next few years. The lack of upper body strength will likely lead to him struggling in physical contact against better athletes. In a more fundamental-based European game, the level of athleticism will be the first area of adjustment for Demin once he’s in the Big 12.
Demin is often caught settling for jumpers, leading to him bailing defenses out. With his ability to use his craft to get downhill, and having the touch around the rim to be effective.
Based on the above-mentioned strengths and areas of development alongside the details in this scouting report, I project Egor Demin to be a top-20 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The top-10 projections from big media outlets are too rich for my taste, as Demin doesn’t project to be a primary scorer or ball handler whereas his point-of-attack and pick-and-roll defense and excellent slashing will lead to a serve in a complementary role rather than a leading role.
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