Egor Demin

Offense

Egor Demin is a tall, theoretically skilled offensive initiator with intriguing vision and feel, but with key physical and technical limitations that raise questions about his transition to the NBA.

More than anything, Demin’s shooting remains a concern. Demin’s form is inconsistent, as he can end up using a lot of arm and doesn’t always appear to be consistent or in rhythm with his lower body. He can shot put the ball at times. This is further exasperated when he tries to shoot off the dribble or the move. And when his shot is off, it’s really off, with wild misses and some shots careening off the backboard. He’s better shooting in rhythm, especially when stepping into a three or taking a single dribble, but overall remains an inconsistent threat from deep.  Still, he’s confident enough that defenders still at least respect his willingness to shoot and still bite on fakes, which keeps some driving lanes and passing options open. That may not hold up at the NBA level, where defenders are quicker and more disciplined.

Demin has solid handles for his size.  He can crossover and hesitate and then use a bit of burst.  He’s not the most elusive, but his size does give him a nice advantage, especially for getting his shot off if the defender overplays him.  He is also deceptively quick and varies pace nicely, but unlike some guards who go from fast to slower, Demin is almost like a great control pitcher who can only throw a 90mph fastball, but still knows how to vary his off speed and changeup enough to keep hitters (or in this case defenders) off balance.  And Demin has the strength and timing to bump defenders and create a slice of space for his step back or around the hoop so he can try to get an angle to score

Overall, Egor is not the greatest ISO creator, but uses screens well and has the passing ability to be effective as a P&R creator, even if more situational than as a primary ball handler.  Even at the collegiate level he still shoots a lot of contested shots.  He doesn’t quite get the separation in midrange for his jumper or at the hoop, which is probably part of why he still shoots so many tough threes, more because he is settling than really being strategic or playing the analytics.

Once Demin gets inside, he is not a springy athlete as he doesn’t jump quickly or have much hangtime, but he uses his size, length, touch, and relative strength allow him to get good angles to score.  However, he is very stiff, which can limit him at times, especially in traffic.  He can somewhat compensates with good footwork, as can execute a step through or step back to create some added space inside where his height can really pay off with his high release point.  Egor is also pretty deceptive and can use a number of pump fakes and small movements in order to get the defender to bite and give him an angle. But there are times his lack of bend and fluidity absolutely impact his ability to get off a good look and score.   Additionally, he doesn’t especially love contact and tends to shy away a bit and not draw a ton of fouls, playing more of a finesse game.

To his credit, Demin moves well without the ball.  He repositions along the perimeter, cuts, and moves into space in the middle, especially if the opposing team is playing a zone.  He was a real focal point of BYU’s offense, but his ability to move and take advantage of the defense could pay dividends in the NBA if he scaled down into more of a  secondary or tertiary offensive role next to another star or two.

Where Demin really shines is as a passer. He’s a high-level processor who makes great anticipatory reads and has excellent accuracy. He sees over defenses with his height and routinely makes the right decision, whether it’s firing a skip pass, threading a wraparound feed, or quickly swinging the ball to an open man within a split second of receiving a pass. He does a great job manipulating defenses and understands help rotations, so he will take one extra dribble to force a defender to commit and whip a perfect pass over to his teammate as soon as the defender has started his next step forward.   He also has great accuracy and is great at hitting players in stride keeping their momentum going to the hoop or putting the ball in their shooting pocket.  Or on the P&R, if a defender even starts to hedge inside to cover a big, he will hit the shooter that man was covering. He understands the action on the court and while not an especially flashy passer, he simply makes the right pass.   This will be a big weapon for him a the next level if he can create enough pressure on the defense or be put into the right type of offensive scheme to use his passing skills.

I am curious to see him play next to a more dynamic offensive big man in the NBA.  While primary P&R big man (Keita) had a lot of strengths, he was strictly a roller who did not even attempt a three pointer all season and would bring his defender into the paint making life harder on Demin. I would love love to see him in more of a five out offense or running the P&R with a more versatile big man who can roll and pop.  This would potentially ease some of his scoring issues inside and let him take advantage of his passing skills.

Of course, Demin is not immune to mistakes. I’m not especially concerned with his passing turnovers given how often he passed and how many assists he racked up.  He could be a bit more careful with crosscourt passes and lobs, but that should be a pretty natural adjustment.  More concerning is that he does need to improve what can be high, loose dribbles if he ever wants a much bigger scoring role in the NBA.  Additionally, he needs to be stronger under pressure.  When he was blitzed or trapped, he could seemingly panic and get stripped or make some poor passes.  I don’t mean a standard double team, I mean when defenders really came after him hard.

As a rebounder, Demin’s anticipation and length help him, but his lack of explosion and time spent on the perimeter limit his impact. He boxes out reasonably well and will help as a team rebounder, but doesn’t crash hard or provide much on the offensive glass.  Once he gets an offensive board, he can immediately push the ball up court and in transition, he’s an asset, either driving himself or firing a pass ahead. He thrives in motion and excels at initiating fast breaks from deflections or defensive rebounds.

More holistically, it’s worth noting that Demin can definitely struggle with length and some better defenses who have more mobile big men who can help contest him around the perimeter and stay with him on the drive. He really struggled to get good looks, for example, against Alabama. Though even against them he showed his great passing and you can imagine a potentially important role in the NBA if he can improve his jumper and use his ancillary skills more opportunistically.

Defense

Defensively, Demin is a mixed bag—he has length, feel, and some better moments where he gets into a stance and locks-in, but his foot speed, stiffness, and limited agility can be liabilities limiting his impact.

First off, Demin often plays upright, which leads to poor angles and sluggish recovery. His change of direction, both laterally and vertically, is below average. On closeouts, he frequently overcommits to fakes or can’t recover if the offensive player puts the ball on the floor. He’s more effective when he’s already engaged in a stance, which helps improve his movement a bit and he will need to commit to this more in the NBA, but even then, his overall agility and bend is limited.

Egor also doesn’t have the broadest shoulders and still only has ok strength and not a ton of physicality, so players are able to turn the corner on him a bit easier than I’d like to see given his size its supposed advantages.  Perhaps because of this, Demin often defaults to sagging into the paint, instinctively trying to protect the rim rather than playing tight perimeter defense where he could be more easily burned. That positioning helps on drives but opens him up to pull-up jumpers or step-backs, where he’s often out of position. His lack of explosion and bend is evident here as he can’t contest meaningfully unless he’s already close or plays the step back perfectly.  On the plus side, he has decent speed and length that can help him to recover and still contest jump shots or cause congestion and contest shots at the rim when beaten by his man.

Egor’s screen navigation is another issue. He struggles to get through screens, as he doesn’t have the best strength or agility to get through screens and can get completely caught on them. He has enough balance and effort that he can take a bump and moves through it pretty quick. But can also get taken out of a player someone puts a body on him. His best maneuver is usually to go under to prevent a quick drive and hope he an use his length to contest if his man pulls up.  But this can also can lead to him trying to anticipate screens and then getting juked if the driver rejects the screen or being susceptible to a step back or quick shot if he dives under. To his credit, when his man screens, he is able to hedge or switch credibly.

Physically, Demin has a somewhat high center of gravity and a lean frame, making him susceptible to being bumped off balance by stronger wings. That said, he’s not completely contact-averse. He’ll absorb contact under the rim and try to challenge shots vertically with his length. Though not a rim protector, he can use his size and length to bother finishers, contest from the help side, and occasionally block shots off recovery.

Demin is at least solid as a rotational defender. He tags rolling bigs, rotates the perimeter well, and communicates on switches. He makes intelligent reads off-ball and covers for teammates with smart positioning. His ability to guard up or down is limited, but he can credibly switch 2–4 for short stretches.  Thought when rotating to the perimeter, he bites on a lot of pump fakes, especially when going out to the perimeter.  His inability to jump is probably why he has to commit and run at fakes so aggressively, if there is any distance between him and the shooter, he has decent speed but isn’t overly fast and he’s not a springly or explosive leaper, which forces him to either commit hard or not get a meaningful contest. When it works it works. But it leaves him open to quick escape dribbles or pump fakes and drives to the hoop.

Demin’s length and anticipation help him to rack up steals and deflections. His long arms and timing allow him to disrupt passing lanes, deflect swing passes, and make digs that force turnovers. He’s particularly effective anticipating skip passes or using his length to bait and recover. These deflections frequently become transition opportunities where he can quickly turn defense into offense.