Nets picked right time to shut down Egor Demin for rest of season: foot specialist

After waiting 15 years to have a lottery pick, the Nets saw Egor Dëmin’s rookie campaign cut short, shut down early by plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

A foot specialist who spoke with The Post called the condition “painful and sometimes debilitating,” and added Brooklyn picked the right time to shelve Dëmin and has reason to believe the situation won’t become chronic.

With the Nets — who got pounded by the Pistons 138-100 on Tuesday night at Barclays Center — investing the No. 8 overall pick of the 2025 draft in Dëmin, they’d better hope not.

“The take-home point is for a jumping athlete like a basketball player, it can be a significantly painful and sometimes debilitating condition,” said Dr. Andrew Brief of the Ridgewood Orthopedic Group — a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who hasn’t treated Dëmin but specializes in foot surgeries.

“I would say that the organization has reason to be optimistic that because he’s young and healthy, plantar fasciitis is usually a diagnosis that will ultimately resolve itself, and won’t be chronic. However, it seems as though he’s had recurrence in the past, so they’re going to have to consider other options if he doesn’t get better, after being shut down.”

Dëmin hasn’t played since Feb. 27, and the Nets announced Monday that he was being shut down for the season.

The Russian rookie averaged 10.3 points, 3.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds, the first Nets rookie since 2019 to make the Rising Stars roster at All-Star weekend. While coach Jordi Fernández couldn’t say when the plantar fasciitis — which had plagued Dëmin over the summer and during training camp — flared back up, Dr. Brief told The Post it almost certainly hindered the guard’s play.

“He might just have a high pain tolerance. But it seems like an opportune moment for the Brooklyn Nets to shut him down now, given the fact that he’s having symptoms, and he’s had recurrence,” Dr. Brief told The Post. “It’s probably affecting his play, and the team is not in the situation right now where they’re playing for a playoff spot.”

Egor Dëmin looks to make a move during the Nets’ loss to the Spurs on Feb. 26, 2026. NBAE via Getty Images

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Quite the opposite, Brooklyn is playing for the lottery. The Nets are 17-48, and fourth in the lottery standings.

Meanwhile, Dëmin — who has struggled getting by defenders all season, but compensated with hot shooting — had gone into a funk. He averaged only six points on 31.4 percent shooting in his last six games before being shelved, just 6-of-24 from deep.

“An athlete’s ability to play with plantar fasciitis is mediated by pain, so the more activity, the more they are likely to experience discomfort,” Dr. Brief said. “Therefore, being in a situation where you need to make an explosive play or jump, you’d be limited because of how much pain that you are in. So, it certainly could affect performance, if you’ve had long-standing plantar fasciitis.”

Dëmin and the Nets are hoping to put the long-standing issue behind them.

Egor Dëmin prepares to shoot a jumper during warmups before the Nets’ loss to the Spurs on Feb 26, 2026. Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Fernández said Dëmin is expected to have a nonsurgical procedure, and Dr. Brief said there are a number of options.

“When treating plantar fasciitis, you really want to throw every single nonsurgical option at them before surgery is even a remote consideration, because most people get better without surgery,” Dr. Brief said. “Besides immobilization, oral medication, physical therapy, acupuncture, braces, orthotics, etc., usually procedural-based treatment for plantar fasciitis involves injections.

“Cortisone is typically the first line of injection treatment, but sometimes people utilize alternative type of injections like platelets [PRP] or stem cells or amniotic tissue injections; that could be what they’re referring to with procedure-based treatment. PRP most likely is in the treatment algorithm if someone hasn’t responded to everything else.”

Knicks fans will recall the impact plantar fasciitis had on Patrick Ewing and Joakim Noah, but that was some time ago. Anthony Davis managed chronic plantar fasciitis throughout the 2024 season.

With Dëmin just turning 20 and getting early treatment, the Nets will be confident of avoiding chronic woes.

“You could obviously say that he has had state-of-the-art foot and ankle care, so this is not a matter of improper treatment,” Dr. Brief said. “I think it’s just the luck of the draw: he’s clearly a great athlete with great medical care and is just the recipient of some bad fortune during his rookie season.”