With less than a month remaining before the 2025 NBA draft, there are increasing indicators that the Chicago Bulls could be hoping to draft Egor Demin with their 12th-overall selection.
If you're a bit new to this draft cycle, here's what you'll want to know about Demin: He's a 6-foot-9 passing wing out of Brigham Young University. Originally from Moscow, Russia, the 19-year old prospect has a lot of potential due to his unique court vision.
First of all, it should be noted that The Chicago Sun-Times' Joe Cowley was the first to report of the Bulls' interest in Demin, saying that the team is "zoning in" on him ahead of the draft. Would it be a worthy gamble? Well, you tell me.
In his lone season at BYU, Demin showed off a plethora of passing skills and playmaking ability. A truly cerebral player, he sees the floor extremely well and is consistently able to make things happen. Egor has speed and quickness that pair nicely with his spectacular passing chops.
Egor Demin could be the pick for Chicago
There's reason to think that Demin's game will translate to the NBA level rather well. His BYU team played an NBA style offense last season, which is already a solid start when it comes to getting him ready for the league. But on top of that, his physical style of play is also an anomaly that will give him an advantage over his peers.
Most guys are a little thrown off by the physical nature of the NBA when they first enter the association. But Demin has not been bothered so much by bigger defenders to this point, and doesn't seem to mind contact like some other players do.
With all these positives, there's always going to be some negatives as well. As skilled and unique as Egor is as a passer, he's far from a reliably consistent scorer overall. Demin only registered one 20-point outing in his freshman season in college, and there are clearly some concerns when it comes to his three-point shot as he made just 27% of his attempts from beyond the arc last season.
So, should the Chicago Bulls take a chance on him with their 12th pick? Egor Demin is certainly something of a project, but there's a lot to like about what we see from him so far. He's a somewhat similar player to Josh Giddey, so perhaps the organization's future plans with number three will determine how they view Demin as a prospect.