At one point, when he was talking to a current NBA coach about Egor Dëmin, Kevin Young started listing the qualities of his BYU star.
Dëmin, who spent the 2024-25 college season playing for Young’s program before the Nets drafted him No. 8 overall, clocked in at 6-foot-9.
He had long arms. He could shoot the ball — even if his percentages with the Cougars weren’t the best in games. He was a strong passer, too.
And during their conversation, the NBA coach asked Young, “Why is this kid not even higher than people think?”
Given his history in the NBA — including when he worked with superstars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in Phoenix — before taking over BYU two years ago, Young will always look at players through an NBA lens. And when he recruited and coached Dëmin, Young saw plenty of potential for how his skill set could mesh into the modern game.
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It took time. The talent didn’t necessarily translate right away on a rebuilding Nets roster.
But recently, Dëmin has started to flourish as a regular starter for head coach Jordi Fernández, averaging 10.4 points and 3.4 assists per game, and his recent selection for the NBA Rising Stars this week only served as the latest example of that.
“I’m biased, obviously, but I wasn’t convinced that he didn’t have the second-most upside in that draft class,” Young told The Post of Dëmin, who will miss Thursday’s game against the Nuggets due to left plantar fascia injury management. “I mean, just look at — the NBA is made of guys that are that size that have a skill set. It’s not made up of a bunch of 6-2, 6-4 guards. … His upside is through the roof.”
Dëmin shot just 27.3 percent from beyond the arc on 1.3 attempts per game for the Cougars last season, but those numbers have ballooned to 39.7 and 2.5 in his first season with the Nets.
He tied an NBA rookie record Tuesday with a 33rd consecutive game with a made 3-pointer, and though he won’t have a chance to set the record until at least Friday, shooting is what keeps players on the floor in the NBA, Young said.
“Most kids that come, it’s like, ‘Man, if this kid can ever learn how to shoot,’ you know,” Young said, “and obviously, I think he’s fast-tracked that and that puts him in a position to expand other parts of his game now because I think that’s something that he and the Nets have grown to rely on.”
That potential always existed for Dëmin at BYU. There was a left-handed dunk against Ole Miss that made Young think, “OK, that’s different,” and when Dëmin ended up trapped near the half-court line in a pick-and-roll situation against Oklahoma State, he still managed to whip a pass to the opposite corner.
Dëmin served as a prized recruit for Young at BYU, the first key commit he landed after shifting from the NBA, and he averaged 10.6 points and 5.5 assists as one of the centerpieces for a team that advanced to the Sweet 16.
Even if it took time, Young always knew Dëmin would eventually become comfortable in the NBA, too. The Nets being a rebuilding group — even if that presented challenges at times and plenty of losses — only gave Dëmin more runway to develop, Young said, and he still has other evolutions to unlock, too, such as learning how to create opportunities off the dribble against defenders who are quicker and stronger.
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But, if anything, Dëmin has quickly become a building block. The Rising Stars nod — and the continued development that Young once helped spearhead — served as just the latest tangible sign.
“It’s definitely a good sign,” Young said of the Rising Stars nod. “To say I expected it, I mean once he started to really get more consistent opportunity and … his production was going way up, I did think it was something that could be there for him.”
In addition to Dëmin, Terance Mann (back soreness), Ziaire Williams (left calf contusion), Cam Thomas (left hamstring) and Noah Clowney (back) were ruled out for Thursday.
