NBA Draft Scouting Report: Uruguay's Agustin Ubal

Scouting Report: Agustin Ubal

Contents

1. Prospect Profile
2. Highlights 
3. Draft Projection 
4. 2024 Big Board

Agustin Ubal 

Guard | Uruguay

Height: 6'6” | Weight: 195 lbs

2024 Draft Age: 20.93 

Ron Chenoy / USA TODAY Sports

Prospect Profile

NBA scouts might have caught their first glimpse of Ubal in Las Vegas last summer, as he dropped ten points in just 12 minutes against a USA team mostly composed of G League players, in what was a 105-71 blowout loss for Uruguay. Ubal, however, had been one of the brightest prospects in South America for many years prior to that.

After dominating junior levels of competition playing for Malvin in Uruguay, he moved across the Atlantic in 2019, at just 16 years old, to sign with Barcelona, where he quickly became a staple of their talented junior squads. 

Ubal saw a few minutes for Barcelona’s senior team, before being loaned out to a different team in the Spanish ACB, Rio Breogan, late in the 2021-22 season.

Standing at 6-foot-6 with long arms, Ubal doesn’t exactly play as a point forward, but he brings the ball up often and showed an impressive ability to run an offense for his size, albeit in sporadic situations. He has the vision, timing and touch to run pick-and-roll plays and deliver the ball to teammates through tight spaces, doing a good job of using his size difference against smaller guards to see and make passes over the top of the defense.

One of the reasons why Ubal was adept at creating offense for others is the gravity he was able to generate as a scorer, which started with his improved shooting ability. He connected on five of his ten 3-point attempts during the previously mentioned tournament and while it might not be a substantial sample size, the tape definitely shows the strides he has made as a shooter.

Ubal’s mechanics have improved significantly during the last few years, his shooting stroke is tremendously repeatable and consistent from attempt to attempt, showing a compact upper body with good alignment and a text-book followthrough. Despite not connecting on many attempts off-the-dribble, it’s clear that the shooting potential is there. He shows a similar level of assertiveness as a driver, consistently putting pressure on the defense, getting by his opponent and creating advantages with his ability to change directions and speeds with the ball in his hands.

As consistent as he is at initiating drives, Ubal is not always able to maintain the separation that he creates, as he doesn’t generate a ton of power off of his second and third steps and has a tendency to pick up his dribble as soon as he sees help defenders coming his way, which makes it possible for his primary defender to catch up to him, erasing the space that he created with his first move.

Some of the concerns extend to his finishing as well, while Ubal is able to withstand contact and convert tough shots at the rim, he isn’t always able to create space against defenders via contact.

Both of these issues can be attributed to some degree to his noticeable lack of strength both in the upper and lower body, especially when compared to veteran pro players just like the ones he faced in this competition. While Ubal plays with energy and a good level of aggression, he isn’t always able to move defenders physically, relying on tough shots and getting foul calls, which caused him to turn the ball over after contact when the whistle didn’t go his way.

Over the past year, sustainability and versatility were the two things NBA teams needed to keep the closest eye on. There’s always upside in betting on players who have wing size and are able to dribble, pass and shoot, but there’s a world of difference in the perceived value of a secondary initiator who can hit shots off the catch and the value of a true offensive engine, someone who can run the offense primarily, hit shots off the dribble and attack the rim. 

The closer Ubal gets to the latter archetype, the closer he will get to be the first Uruguayan ever drafted in the NBA at some point.

Highlights 

Draft Projection 

Potential Second-Round Pick in 2024 NBA Draft.

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2024 Big Board

Want to know more about other potential 2024 NBA Draft prospects and where they might get selected? Check out our Draft Digest Big Board.

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