LIGA ACB Stash Watch: Juan Nunez and James Nnaji

Juan Nunez has joined Barcelona and James Nnaji has left for the upcoming season. Both are expected to play significant roles with their respective teams, and strong play could increase their chances of coming over to the NBA sooner rather than later.

Juan Nunez / fiba.basketball

In a busy summer for Barcelona, the club was involved in two transactions that affected NBA draft-and-stash players. Juan Nunez, the Spanish point guard whose rights are retained by the San Antonio Spurs after a 2024 draft day trade from the Indiana Pacers, joined the team from Ratiopharm Ulm in a convoluted transfer due to Real Madrid still having his Tanteo Rights (Spain’s version of Bird Rights, which only applies for Spanish teams) from his youth days with Real Madrid. 

Center James Nnaji, whose rights are retained by the Charlotte Hornets following multiple trades in the 2023 NBA Draft, left the club to join CB Girona - owned by Marc Gasol - on loan after he barely featured in the previous season for Barcelona. Both players are looking forward to playing for a bigger club and playing in a bigger role respectively. 

Nunez will have a lot of competition for point guard minutes. The starting spot will likely remain with Tomas Satoransky due to his defensive prowess, but the summer departures of Ricky Rubio and Rokas Jokubaitis (New York Knicks stash) will leave backup point guard responsibilities to him. Additionally, Nico Laprovittola and Kevin Punter could see minutes as the primary ballhandlers as well under new head coach Joan Penarroya.

Nunez is coming off consecutive impressive seasons with Ulm, last season as a starter. He averaged 9.9 points and 4.9 assists per game and remains one of the best pick-and-roll operators in basketball who's not playing in the NBA. Nunez has shot 32 percent from deep the past two seasons and slightly upped his volume in 2023-24. Barcelona will want to see improvement there if he wants to earn more minutes, and also from the charity stripe. He’s shot only 61 percent on free throws in consecutive seasons which casts doubts over his long-term development as a shooter. 

Nunez will run plenty of pick-and-roll when he’s on the court. With Jan Vesely, Willy Hernangomez, and Youssoupha Fall taking minutes at center he’ll have great options with his rollers. He’ll have plenty of spacing as well with Punter, Laprovittola, Justin Anderson, Jabari Parker, Alex Abrines, and Chimezie Metu taking up the other positions on the floor. Nunez will have space to operate and do what he does best, but Barcelona and the Spurs will want to see improvement as a shooter and scorer. With more responsibility last season, Nunez saw a drop in his 3-point shooting with more volume. Connect that to the continued poor free throw shooting and the concerns about his ability to be a dynamic pick-and-roll threat in the NBA one day are validated. 

Nunez will need to maintain volume, generally look for his own shot more, and maintain an overall bump in accuracy on the season. His in-between game needs to improve as well. Per Synergy Sports, Nunez was 4-for-23 on short and mid-range jumpers last season. He was 5-for-33 the season before. A good environment and opportunity will be there for Nunez next season, but it will be on his shoulders to take a leap that entices the Spurs to bring him over next summer. 

Nnaji was a non-factor under Roger Grimau last season, and somewhat frustratingly. Barcelona struggled with rim protection all season long. That wasn’t a surprise with a center rotation of Vesely and Hernangomez but Grimau never gave Nnaji a shot to potentially fortify their back line. In the season before, head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius made use of Nnaji as a specialty defensive center, especially in El Clasico matches against Real Madrid where Nnaji impressed against All-EuroLeague center Edy Tavares. 

Nnaji could start for Girona in the upcoming Liga ACB season, and thus be entrusted to play upwards of 20 minutes per game. Nnaji will need to prove he can handle an uptick in minutes like that without regularly getting into foul trouble. His new role will bring new responsibilities. As a specialty player, he didn’t have to worry about foul trouble, that changes now. He needs to do what he does best - anchor a defense with rim protection and switchability - without the reckless abandon he’s previously been afforded in senior basketball. 

On the offensive side, Nnaji has played a limited role catered to his limited skills. He screens, he jumps, and he dunks. Can he be more than that for Girona? With more minutes he could get repetitions in dribble handoff sets and be trusted to put the ball on the floor occasionally. He’ll get the ball in the short roll more as well, and slip screens. Can he read shifting defenses and find the open man? There is no pressure at Girona to compete for championships, meaning there should be patience with Nnaji’s growing pains in the early stages of the season. Foul trouble, turnovers, and other mishaps will be acceptable in October and November, but improvement will need to be on display come December and beyond. The physique Nnaji has makes him tailor-made to play in the NBA one day, and what he does this season will shine a light on how realistic that career outcome is for him. 

With new teams, Nunez and Nnaji will see different expectations this season. For the third season in a row, Nunez will have to settle concerns about his career shooting and scoring outlook which currently caps the ceiling of his otherwise elite pick-and-roll skills. Nnaji will finally receive the opportunity he has desperately needed to prove he is capable of being a starting overseas center and eventually more. Both will tackle these challenges head-on as they always have, and the Spurs and Hornets front offices will be tracking their progress closely.

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