A new report suggests teams like the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, and Brooklyn Nets are seriously considering using their top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft on a player similar to NBA veterans Ben Simmons and Luka Doncic.
After Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper, this year’s draft is as unpredictable as it’s ever been. For weeks, there have been rumors that lottery teams are open for business and willing to move down or out of the first round this month. The reason is the wild variance among scouts about the top prospects in this year’s class.
That was a topic of focus in a new Stein Line column from NBA insider Jake Fischer. Certain college stars look like they could be a risk with a top 15 pick. However, one player that seems to be growing in interest among many teams is BYU star Egor Demin. A player seen with a higher floor than most of the prospects in 2025.
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“BYU’s supersized playmaker is known for his standout feel on both sides of the court. ‘He’ll have multiple homes, because he can fit so many places,'” an Eastern Conference executive told Fishcer. “His college coach, Kevin Young, deemed Demin a natural point guard. One who already stands 6-foot-8 when barefoot and boasts a 6-foot-10 wingspan at that. Other teams might be tempted to slot him on the wing as a jumbo secondary creator after Demin flashed some improved shooting efficiency during the Chicago Draft Combine.
“… With the NBA Finals headed for a deciding seventh game and having repeatedly illustrated how handy it is in the modern NBA to assemble a roster outfitted with multiple ballhandlers and positional versatility, Young argues that what the scouts see as Demin’s floor needs to be raised. ‘Outside of Dylan and Cooper, he has the most upside,'” the BYU coach told Fischer.
Egor Demin stats (2024-25 BYU): 10.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.2 SPG, 27% 3PT
Could Egor Demin be the next Luka Doncic or Ben Simmons?
egor demin
Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The Russian prospect has been getting comparisons to the Los Angeles Lakers superstar for quite some time. They are both very tall ball handlers who hail from Eastern Europe. And they are teenage veterans of Spain’s Real Madrid basketball club. Fischer added more to the consistent Doncic comparisons.
“Also somewhat Luka-like: From a young age, Demin has always loomed large at his position with that elongated frame and a tremendous feel,” he wrote. “He played all kinds of sports growing up in Moscow. From soccer to hockey to skiing. Giving him all sorts of perspectives to see the game from different angles, no matter what surface was beneath his feet… Now he whips one-handed dimes 40 feet to the opposite corner. Or two-handed, soccer-throw-in-style darts that zip over the top of the entire defense.”
However, there are also similarities to another foreign-born over-sized point guard currently in the league: Ben Simmons. Both have a very similar frame, and neither was highly regarded for their shot entering the draft. However, what makes him more like Simmons than Doncic is that the Slovenian has always been a weak link on defense. Simmons became a star in the league partly due to his versatility on defense, and Demin is similar.
Fischer revealed Demin has had pre-draft workouts with the Jazz (No. 5 pick), the Wizards (No. 6), Pelicans (No. 7), Nets (No. 8), Trail Blazers (No. 11), Bulls (No. 12), Hawks (No. 13), and Thunder (No. 15).
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After earning his journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos served as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sucka ... More about Jason Burgos