The Brooklyn Nets have been busy this offseason as they made more than a few trades to get ready for the 2025-26 NBA season, including trading for forward Michael Porter Jr. Brooklyn acquired Porter and a 2032 first-round pick from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for forward Cam Johnson and rookie Egor Demin is excited about what the trade means for the franchise.
“Of course, it’s a good sign for the franchise, I’ve already had a chance to talk to him a little bit and understand how he thinks,” Demin said during an interview with Championat earlier this summer. Demin, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, could potentially be the starting point guard that feeds Porter the ball coming off a screen so it makes sense that he is excited to play with a player of Porter’s caliber.
“He’s here to help us win, and also to work hard not only on his own game, but also on helping other players on the team,” Demin continued. “He’ll bring this team not only a lot of experience, but also a work ethic, which, frankly, the Nets organization has in abundance. The philosophy of the club is that if a person doesn’t work, he doesn’t play on this team.”
Porter, 27, is coming off a 2024-25 season in which he averaged 18.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 50.4% from the field and 39.5% from three-point land. Porter, who came to the Nets after spending the past seven seasons with the Nuggets not only comes to Brooklyn as an NBA champion, but also as a player that has averaged at least 16.7 points per game and shot 39.5% from deep in four of the last five seasons.
As this relates to Demin, he comes into his rookie season with questions over whether he will be able to provide enough shooting to allows players like Porter and Cam Thomas to have the space necessary to operate. Time will tell if Demin is able to take the shooting ability that he showed in Las Vegas and apply it to the regular season, but at the very least, he is excited about playing with Porter.
