Egor Demin will remain out for the Brooklyn Nets' matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, according to head coach Jordi Fernandez. Demin has missed the Nets' last five games due to a right leg bone bruise, including a 124-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
Demin suffered the injury during an Oct. 27 loss to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. The Nets announced on Oct. 29 that Demin would be reevaluated in one week. Fernandez said on Saturday that the Brooklyn sophomore will be reevaluated during the team's off days following Sunday's Mavericks tilt.
“[Egor is] progressing well. He's on the court. He's not going to play today or tomorrow, and then we'll go from there,” Fernandez told the New York Post's Brian Lewis.
Demin was one of the Nets' few bright spots during last year's tanking season. The 2025 No. 8 pick was one of three rookies last season to average over 10.0 points and 3.0 assists with a true shooting percentage above 56.0, alongside Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel and San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper.
However, he got off to an underwhelming start to his rookie campaign.
Egor Demin remains out for Nets vs. Mavericks due to right leg bone bruise
Demin averaged 9.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers on 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) shooting from the field and 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from three across Brooklyn's first three games. He played 10 minutes during the Celtics matchup before injuring his leg, posting two points, one rebound, two assists and one turnover on 1-of-3 shooting from the field and 0-of-2 from three.
Demin entered the season with relatively high expectations following a standout Summer League. The Russian guard posted the NBA's worst two-point percentage among all players 6-foot-8 or taller last season. However, after adding significant muscle during the offseason, Demin showed dramatic improvement as a driver at Summer League. The 20-year-old converted 22 of 29 two-point attempts across five outings.
Yet, Demin's start to the 2026-27 season looked more like a return to the three-point-dependent scoring repertoire of his rookie season. The BYU product has converted just 3 of 8 two-point attempts with seven free-throw attempts across his first four games.
Still, Demin's return should provide an offensive boost for a Nets team that ranks 25th on that end of the floor.
The Brooklyn guard will have two more days to recover following the Mavericks matchup. His next chance to suit up will come when the team continues a four-game road trip against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
Article Continues BelowRookie point guard Mikel Brown Jr. will also miss Sunday's matchup vs. the Mavericks. The No. 6 pick remains on a minutes restriction to start the year and has not yet been cleared for back-to-backs, per Fernandez.
Brown played 25 minutes during the Nets' loss to the Hawks on Saturday. The 20-year-old scored 13 fourth-quarter points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from three. That came after he missed his first seven shots to start the game.
Brown has averaged 12.9 points on 34.6 percent shooting from the field and 31.1 percent from three, with 3.9 assists and 2.1 turnovers per game across seven appearances to start the year. He's played 23.2 minutes per game, the lowest of any of the top six picks from the 2026 draft.
Brown could return alongside Demin when the Nets travel to New Orleans to face the Pelicans on Wednesday at Smoothie King Center.