NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets guard Egor Demin is in an interesting position heading into his second NBA season as he will be one of the key members in the rotation this year. Brooklyn will be led by forwards Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle, but Demin has the chance to be the kind of the leader that the Nets have been hoping for since drafting him two summers ago.
"He's not afraid to lead, to be honest. We know what he does on the court, talent-wise, how he is and stuff like that. But, he's not afraid to lead and use his voice," Randle recently said of Demin when asked for his opinion on the second-year guard. Randle, who is in his 13th NBA season, is no stranger to being one of the leaders for a team so it's telling that he sees those leadership
qualities in Demin.
"I try to encourage him to do that even more. You're not too young to be a leader so he's very vocal. You can tell he's comfortable in his own skin with who he is as a player and really understands the game," Randle continued. "He's never trying to move anything out there. He's just playing the game and making the right plays, but he's not afraid to use his voice until he has a point guard background."
Demin, 20, is coming off a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 39.9% from the field and 38.5% from behind the three-point line. Demin make a significant leap in the summer league this offseason after strengthening his body and so far looks like a different player in the preseason. Demin takes what Randle thinks of him to heart and is doing his best to follow through.
"We did have this conversation and obviously for me as a second-year player, it was very valuable words for me to hear from a guy like him who's been in the league 12 years, this [being] his 13th year," Demin said of his talks with Randle. "It's important to hear that because then I can comfortably communicate even better with the whole group because obviously him coming [to Brooklyn], I have to understand how to manipulate that."
Under head coach Jordi Fernandez, Porter and Randle will be the main sources of leadership on and off the court for one of the youngest teams in the league this season. However, Demin will also have the opportunity to learn what his leadership style is and how both of those veterans can show him how it's done so that he's ready to lead his own team one day.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Egor Demin is ready to be a leader and vet Julius Randle agrees
