For Egor Dëmin, the offseason checklist is simple, if not easy:
Win the Summer League, build a backcourt connection with rookie Mikel Brown Jr. and ride that into the regular season.
“The first thing, the goal of the whole team is win Summer League,” Dëmin said. “My goal is to benefit that as much as I can and bring the biggest impact I can.
“And building a connection with the whole team, especially the rookies. With Mikel to be on the court as much as we can together and work this whole thing through before we actually start playing in the season.”
Last season, the Nets made Dëmin their first lottery pick in 15 years, then drafted another guard with the sixth pick last month.
But their skill sets not only aren’t redundant, they are actually complementary.
“They can obviously play together,” coach Jordi Fernández said. “Egor provides gravity and elite shooting, obviously ballhandling too. And Mikel, more of a primary ballhandler, very good athlete, scorer, too. So we’re gonna obviously see it in Summer League, but I don’t see any problems with them playing together.”
There had better not be. The Nets have largely staked their rebuild on the pair not only being able to survive but thrive playing together.
Dëmin is better suited off the ball, and his shooting should accentuate Brown’s athleticism and downhill juice. With Dëmin recovered from a plantar fascia injury, the pairing will get their first look together in the California Summer League or ensuing Las Vegas Summer League.
“I love [the fit],” Dëmin said. “[His skills] are going to benefit my game. It’s going to be important to be dialed in with my shooting, and having a guy like this by my side who’s going to get all the defense on him, get to the paint, this is where we can benefit from each other. He shoots the lights out, so for me bringing the ball up sometimes — playing something for him or looking for opportunities in transition — that’s something we could really build on. We could be a special combo.”
For his part, Dëmin swatted away questions about the plantar fascia injury that ended his rookie campaign, saying he’s fine. He’s added 13 to 15 pounds from last year, strength that could help him get downhill.
“We’re about to find out. But being on balance, touching the paint and playing off two feet, you need that strength. He’s done an unbelievable job working in the weight room,” Fernández said. “He looks more like a grown-up, and he’s going to do things way better than he did last year.”
“A hundred percent,” Dëmin agreed. “That was one of the main focus of on-court work we’ve done this summer, is to use what I learned in the lifting room, make sure I use it and get these habits of being more aggressive looking for the gaps and going to the paint, trying to get on the rim more. … That was the main focus, to get used to the contact and get into the paint.”
