The Athletic Article on 8 Draft Sleepers - Azuolas Tubelis

[Who]

Yesterday the Athletic put out an article on 8 second round sleeper prospects, all of which are intriguing for the Celtics. I clicked on it looking for info on Adama Sanogo and Julian Strawther but came away with one of my new favorite sleeper prospects in the draft Azuolas Tubelis - 6'11 Junior out of Arizona. Here is the writeup on Tubelis.

For about six weeks during the middle of last season, Tubelis was the best player in college basketball. Between Dec. 22 and Feb. 9, he averaged 22.1 points over a 13-game stretch, to go along with 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 56.6 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. An ankle injury slowed him down just a little the rest of the way, but Tubelis scored 20 or more points in four of his last six games, proving enough to lead him to enter the draft as a junior.

The question for Tubelis will be on defense, particularly with respect to his ability to switch on smaller players away from the basket. That’s why there’s a good chance he won’t even get drafted next Thursday. That would be a mistake. By excelling in one of the country’s fastest programs over the last three years, Tubelis has showed that he can cover a lot of ground on a basketball court, and his Lithuanian pedigree has bestowed him with a high basketball IQ. There’s a reason European players tend to be so successful in today’s NBA, and I fully expect Tubelis to fall into that pattern. With his size, skill and quick mind, he has the potential to be an effective pro for a long time.

Tubelis is a highly productive junior out Lithuania and given the track record of Euro Bigs in the league today I think that odds of getting a quality rotation player in the second half might be too good to pass up. Arizona is the program that produced Lauri Markanen, they play an NBA style with a fast pace.

I am still high on Jordan Walsh and would be fine with Strawther or Sonogo, but I think Tubelis might have the highest upside of the bunch.

Azuolas Tubelis is a player I have struggled to rank. Mid college bball season I have him projected as a late first or high second but that was when I assumed he was bigger then he ultimately measured. At 6'8.75" 235lbs with a 6'11" wingspan he is shorter, lighter, and not as long as I had assumed. This worries me on the defensive end. As a undersized below the rim center I struggle to find value for a player who will likely struggle defensively. Had he measured as a true 7' with a bigger frame he could project as a rim protector.

The reasons why I was so high on Tubelis and honestly this post has me debating moving him up on my board (currently 56) is his production and the parallels he has to Sabonis. Along with college production he was also highly productive at every level of FIBA youth tourneys.

The first guy I thought of after readin this was Mo Wagner. Is Tubelis the next Mo Wagner?

The next was Sengun. How big is Sengun? The Rockets claim he is 6-11 but it looks like they put up the heights of nearly every player on their roster by 1-2 inches this summer. So I am not sure I believe them about any of their new height listings. Is Sengun 6-9 or 6-10 do you think?

Tubelis is the same height as Bam. Bam was also 6-8.75 barefoot. Does not have Bam's wingspan (7-2) or athleticism though.

[Smartacus]

Yesterday the Athletic put out an article on 8 second round sleeper prospects, all of which are intriguing for the Celtics. I clicked on it looking for info on Adama Sanogo and Julian Strawther but came away with one of my new favorite sleeper prospects in the draft Azuolas Tubelis - 6'11 Junior out of Arizona. Here is the writeup on Tubelis.

For about six weeks during the middle of last season, Tubelis was the best player in college basketball. Between Dec. 22 and Feb. 9, he averaged 22.1 points over a 13-game stretch, to go along with 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 56.6 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. An ankle injury slowed him down just a little the rest of the way, but Tubelis scored 20 or more points in four of his last six games, proving enough to lead him to enter the draft as a junior.

The question for Tubelis will be on defense, particularly with respect to his ability to switch on smaller players away from the basket. That’s why there’s a good chance he won’t even get drafted next Thursday. That would be a mistake. By excelling in one of the country’s fastest programs over the last three years, Tubelis has showed that he can cover a lot of ground on a basketball court, and his Lithuanian pedigree has bestowed him with a high basketball IQ. There’s a reason European players tend to be so successful in today’s NBA, and I fully expect Tubelis to fall into that pattern. With his size, skill and quick mind, he has the potential to be an effective pro for a long time.

Tubelis is a highly productive junior out Lithuania and given the track record of Euro Bigs in the league today I think that odds of getting a quality rotation player in the second half might be too good to pass up. Arizona is the program that produced Lauri Markanen, they play an NBA style with a fast pace.

I am still high on Jordan Walsh and would be fine with Strawther or Sonogo, but I think Tubelis might have the highest upside of the bunch.

Azuolas Tubelis is a player I have struggled to rank. Mid college bball season I have him projected as a late first or high second but that was when I assumed he was bigger then he ultimately measured. At 6'8.75" 235lbs with a 6'11" wingspan he is shorter, lighter, and not as long as I had assumed. This worries me on the defensive end. As a undersized below the rim center I struggle to find value for a player who will likely struggle defensively. Had he measured as a true 7' with a bigger frame he could project as a rim protector.

The reasons why I was so high on Tubelis and honestly this post has me debating moving him up on my board (currently 56) is his production and the parallels he has to Sabonis. Along with college production he was also highly productive at every level of FIBA youth tourneys.

https://theathletic.com/4606258/2023/06/13/nba-draft-sleepers-adama-sanogo/

I mean, the Athletic article is the one who mentioned he was 6'11 so I might have been going off false info in my first post. It might be that the author Seth Davis was confusing his wingspan with his height or he was talking about his height in shoes since the combine measure them w/o shoes.

If that's true it certainly changes my opinion of Tubelis as a prospect but I do still like kid's profile. Regardless of his true height, the production is sound and he put up the numbers at a solid program. Interesting to hear about the youth tourney's as well.

[Who]

Looking at Tubelis highlights, it looks like most of his paint scores will not translate to the NBA aside from cuts and that type of stuff. He was able to overpower smaller college players in a way he won't be able to do in the NBA.

Only 0.7bpg in college. Too small.

I am not sure how well he shoots jump-shots. Most his highlights were paint scores. Took only 1 three pointer per game and shot 31%. He has some jump-shot but not sure how much of one.

Does not look good enough to be an NBA player.

[CFAN38]

Yesterday the Athletic put out an article on 8 second round sleeper prospects, all of which are intriguing for the Celtics. I clicked on it looking for info on Adama Sanogo and Julian Strawther but came away with one of my new favorite sleeper prospects in the draft Azuolas Tubelis - 6'11 Junior out of Arizona. Here is the writeup on Tubelis.

For about six weeks during the middle of last season, Tubelis was the best player in college basketball. Between Dec. 22 and Feb. 9, he averaged 22.1 points over a 13-game stretch, to go along with 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 56.6 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. An ankle injury slowed him down just a little the rest of the way, but Tubelis scored 20 or more points in four of his last six games, proving enough to lead him to enter the draft as a junior.

The question for Tubelis will be on defense, particularly with respect to his ability to switch on smaller players away from the basket. That’s why there’s a good chance he won’t even get drafted next Thursday. That would be a mistake. By excelling in one of the country’s fastest programs over the last three years, Tubelis has showed that he can cover a lot of ground on a basketball court, and his Lithuanian pedigree has bestowed him with a high basketball IQ. There’s a reason European players tend to be so successful in today’s NBA, and I fully expect Tubelis to fall into that pattern. With his size, skill and quick mind, he has the potential to be an effective pro for a long time.

Tubelis is a highly productive junior out Lithuania and given the track record of Euro Bigs in the league today I think that odds of getting a quality rotation player in the second half might be too good to pass up. Arizona is the program that produced Lauri Markanen, they play an NBA style with a fast pace.

I am still high on Jordan Walsh and would be fine with Strawther or Sonogo, but I think Tubelis might have the highest upside of the bunch.

Azuolas Tubelis is a player I have struggled to rank. Mid college bball season I have him projected as a late first or high second but that was when I assumed he was bigger then he ultimately measured. At 6'8.75" 235lbs with a 6'11" wingspan he is shorter, lighter, and not as long as I had assumed. This worries me on the defensive end. As a undersized below the rim center I struggle to find value for a player who will likely struggle defensively. Had he measured as a true 7' with a bigger frame he could project as a rim protector.

The reasons why I was so high on Tubelis and honestly this post has me debating moving him up on my board (currently 56) is his production and the parallels he has to Sabonis. Along with college production he was also highly productive at every level of FIBA youth tourneys.

The first guy I thought of after readin this was Mo Wagner. Is Tubelis the next Mo Wagner?

The next was Sengun. How big is Sengun? The Rockets claim he is 6-11 but it looks like they put up the heights of nearly every player on their roster by 1-2 inches this summer. So I am not sure I believe them about any of their new height listings. Is Sengun 6-9 or 6-10 do you think?

Tubelis is the same height as Bam. Bam was also 6-8.75 barefoot. Does not have Bam's wingspan (7-2) or athleticism though.

I have a couple of loose "rules" I use when I rank/project for the draft. One of these is for traditional bigs how will they defend the P&R in high leverage situation IE end of the game or in the playoffs.

Bam is a great example of the elite end of what I call switching big who also have drop big verticality (meaning they can defend in drop coverage). Its a very short list of bigs who I see as both switch and drop bigs, including Bam, Rob, AD, Giannis, Chet (in theory). It was interesting to look back at prospects combined standing reach and vertical leap. This gives us the peak of a players reach. Bam was 12.2'. For comparison at the draft combine Dwight Howard was 12.25', Horford was 11.8', Jeff Green 11.75' and Aaron Gordon was 12'. I only cherry picked a few players to get an idea of how athletic prospects compare to current athletic players. The best I found was Jerricho Sims 12.54'. 

For comparison

Tubelis was 11.54'
Sanogo 11.62'
Timme 11.58'

L Miller 12'
TJD 11.875'
J Phillips 12.08'
GG Jackson 11.9'

For Tubelis, Sabogo, and Timme these numbers indicate that they will not have the  verticallity to work as drop bigs so the next question is can they move their feet well enough to switch? I give Tubelis and Timme a no for that with Sanogo being a maybe.

This is why I have grown so high on Leonard Miller, he will need to get stronger but maybe the rare player who can provide both drop and switching P&R coverage.   

[liam]

Yesterday the Athletic put out an article on 8 second round sleeper prospects, all of which are intriguing for the Celtics. I clicked on it looking for info on Adama Sanogo and Julian Strawther but came away with one of my new favorite sleeper prospects in the draft Azuolas Tubelis - 6'11 Junior out of Arizona. Here is the writeup on Tubelis.

For about six weeks during the middle of last season, Tubelis was the best player in college basketball. Between Dec. 22 and Feb. 9, he averaged 22.1 points over a 13-game stretch, to go along with 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 56.6 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. An ankle injury slowed him down just a little the rest of the way, but Tubelis scored 20 or more points in four of his last six games, proving enough to lead him to enter the draft as a junior.

The question for Tubelis will be on defense, particularly with respect to his ability to switch on smaller players away from the basket. That’s why there’s a good chance he won’t even get drafted next Thursday. That would be a mistake. By excelling in one of the country’s fastest programs over the last three years, Tubelis has showed that he can cover a lot of ground on a basketball court, and his Lithuanian pedigree has bestowed him with a high basketball IQ. There’s a reason European players tend to be so successful in today’s NBA, and I fully expect Tubelis to fall into that pattern. With his size, skill and quick mind, he has the potential to be an effective pro for a long time.

Tubelis is a highly productive junior out Lithuania and given the track record of Euro Bigs in the league today I think that odds of getting a quality rotation player in the second half might be too good to pass up. Arizona is the program that produced Lauri Markanen, they play an NBA style with a fast pace.

I am still high on Jordan Walsh and would be fine with Strawther or Sonogo, but I think Tubelis might have the highest upside of the bunch.

Azuolas Tubelis is a player I have struggled to rank. Mid college bball season I have him projected as a late first or high second but that was when I assumed he was bigger then he ultimately measured. At 6'8.75" 235lbs with a 6'11" wingspan he is shorter, lighter, and not as long as I had assumed. This worries me on the defensive end. As a undersized below the rim center I struggle to find value for a player who will likely struggle defensively. Had he measured as a true 7' with a bigger frame he could project as a rim protector.

The reasons why I was so high on Tubelis and honestly this post has me debating moving him up on my board (currently 56) is his production and the parallels he has to Sabonis. Along with college production he was also highly productive at every level of FIBA youth tourneys.

Sabonis measured 6'10'' in shoes, with a 6'10.5'' wingspan and 238 lbs at the 2015 Nike Basketball Academy. So they are probably very close to each other.

[Who]

Leonard Miller reminds me of Terrence Jones.

That 6-10 frame with good muscle and length. Great size for a forward. A little small but okay for a center. Defensive versatility is very high. Strong rebounder. Can handle some, shot is dodgy, good finisher around the rim.

I really liked Terrence Jones. He was a good prospect but he failed to build on what he came into the league with. He could have been a very good pro.

[gouki88]

Why isn't Keyontae Johnson a lottery pick?

Good size. Great build. Athletic. Tough competitor. Two way player. Can drive, can shoot.

He was going to be prior to his collapse on-court, and subsequent difficulty getting cleared to play. If, and it's a big if, we are comfortable with his heart, I would love him. I think he can be a starter for years

[Celtics4ever]

Very skilled player but doesn't jump well or play above the rim .   He might struggle in the NBA.  But he also knows how to use his body well.  So hard to tell.

 Arizona played a cupcake schedule with the 31 toughest schedule so much of his numbers were against inferior competition

https://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

[Who]

Listening to "The Field of 68" youtube channel who do draft stuff. Listening to their Leonard Miller video.

They just said Leonard Miller was a starting PG in high school. He is only learning how to play off the ball. How to be a big man or a forward.

That explains some of his handles. Why he likes going coast to coast and some interesting drives in the halfcourt.

They compare him to Lamar Odom.


Edit: That was Jason Hart his coach in the G-League talking about him in that video. Took me awhile to cop on to that.

[Smartacus]

Listening to "The Field of 68" youtube channel who do draft stuff. Listening to their Leonard Miller video.

They just said Leonard Miller was a starting PG in high school. He is only learning how to play off the ball. How to be a big man or a forward.

That explains some of his handles. Why he likes going coast to coast and some interesting drives in the halfcourt.

They compare him to Lamar Odom.


Edit: That was Jason Hart his coach in the G-League talking about him in that video. Took me awhile to cop on to that.

That's an intriguing comp, Lamar Odom would have a spot on any of the last several finals teams. Definitely a shifty player for his size.

Cant link the Youtube because of the profanity filter but it's the first one if you search for it.

[W8ting2McHale]

Listening to "The Field of 68" youtube channel who do draft stuff. Listening to their Leonard Miller video.

They just said Leonard Miller was a starting PG in high school. He is only learning how to play off the ball. How to be a big man or a forward.

That explains some of his handles. Why he likes going coast to coast and some interesting drives in the halfcourt.

They compare him to Lamar Odom.


Edit: That was Jason Hart his coach in the G-League talking about him in that video. Took me awhile to cop on to that.

At least they didn’t compare him to Kelly Olynyk, who was also a guard that grew. Vertically at least. That 6’ 10” wingspan would have been nice on a 6’ 4” guard, but not so much on a big measuring 7’ 0” in shoes.

[Who]

Amari Bailey sounds interesting. These guys are saying he is much more athletic than he showed at UCLA because the system was so structured. That in a different system he could have been more explosive if given more freedom to attack. 

Also some interesting ideas of him shifting to PG. A scoring PG. Reminded me a bit of Jamal Murray. Not an old school PG but one of today's new school type of PGs. A combo guard who can score and handle well enough to be the main ball-handler. I don't think Bailey is 6-5. He looks smaller than that. I saw another height that had him listed at 6-3. That sounds more like it. So being able to play PG vs having to play SG would make a big difference for him. He looks small and defensively vulnerable at SG but he has solid size at PG.

That guy looks like he could be more late lotto to mid first round than a 2nd round pick. He has nice upside.

Good skill level. Good athleticism. The shooting shows a nice base with 39% threes on 2 attempts per game but only 2 attempts per game. Only 1 out every 6 shots was 3 for Bailey. So it a component of his game but not a main component. More of a driver and a midrange guy.

If he is only a SG, his lack of size makes him more of a late first early 2nd. I'd probably still rate him as a late first due to his combination of handles and shooting despite his questionable size.

[W8ting2McHale]

Yesterday the Athletic put out an article on 8 second round sleeper prospects, all of which are intriguing for the Celtics. I clicked on it looking for info on Adama Sanogo and Julian Strawther but came away with one of my new favorite sleeper prospects in the draft Azuolas Tubelis - 6'11 Junior out of Arizona. Here is the writeup on Tubelis.

For about six weeks during the middle of last season, Tubelis was the best player in college basketball. Between Dec. 22 and Feb. 9, he averaged 22.1 points over a 13-game stretch, to go along with 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 56.6 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. An ankle injury slowed him down just a little the rest of the way, but Tubelis scored 20 or more points in four of his last six games, proving enough to lead him to enter the draft as a junior.

The question for Tubelis will be on defense, particularly with respect to his ability to switch on smaller players away from the basket. That’s why there’s a good chance he won’t even get drafted next Thursday. That would be a mistake. By excelling in one of the country’s fastest programs over the last three years, Tubelis has showed that he can cover a lot of ground on a basketball court, and his Lithuanian pedigree has bestowed him with a high basketball IQ. There’s a reason European players tend to be so successful in today’s NBA, and I fully expect Tubelis to fall into that pattern. With his size, skill and quick mind, he has the potential to be an effective pro for a long time.

Tubelis is a highly productive junior out Lithuania and given the track record of Euro Bigs in the league today I think that odds of getting a quality rotation player in the second half might be too good to pass up. Arizona is the program that produced Lauri Markanen, they play an NBA style with a fast pace.

I am still high on Jordan Walsh and would be fine with Strawther or Sonogo, but I think Tubelis might have the highest upside of the bunch.

Azuolas Tubelis is a player I have struggled to rank. Mid college bball season I have him projected as a late first or high second but that was when I assumed he was bigger then he ultimately measured. At 6'8.75" 235lbs with a 6'11" wingspan he is shorter, lighter, and not as long as I had assumed. This worries me on the defensive end. As a undersized below the rim center I struggle to find value for a player who will likely struggle defensively. Had he measured as a true 7' with a bigger frame he could project as a rim protector.

The reasons why I was so high on Tubelis and honestly this post has me debating moving him up on my board (currently 56) is his production and the parallels he has to Sabonis. Along with college production he was also highly productive at every level of FIBA youth tourneys.

The first guy I thought of after readin this was Mo Wagner. Is Tubelis the next Mo Wagner?

The next was Sengun. How big is Sengun? The Rockets claim he is 6-11 but it looks like they put up the heights of nearly every player on their roster by 1-2 inches this summer. So I am not sure I believe them about any of their new height listings. Is Sengun 6-9 or 6-10 do you think?

Tubelis is the same height as Bam. Bam was also 6-8.75 barefoot. Does not have Bam's wingspan (7-2) or athleticism though.

Kevin Love falls into that size range too. A bit heavier now than when he came out and he had an outside shot that this guy doesn’t have, at the moment at least.

[Smartacus]

Amari Bailey sounds interesting. These guys are saying he is much more athletic than he showed at UCLA because the system was so structured. That in a different system he could have been more explosive if given more freedom to attack. 

Also some interesting ideas of him shifting to PG. A scoring PG. Reminded me a bit of Jamal Murray. Not an old school PG but one of today's new school type of PGs. A combo guard who can score and handle well enough to be the main ball-handler. I don't think Bailey is 6-5. He looks smaller than that. I saw another height that had him listed at 6-3. That sounds more like it. So being able to play PG vs having to play SG would make a big difference for him. He looks small and defensively vulnerable at SG but he has solid size at PG.

That guy looks like he could be more late lotto to mid first round than a 2nd round pick. He has nice upside.

Good skill level. Good athleticism. The shooting shows a nice base with 39% threes on 2 attempts per game but only 2 attempts per game. Only 1 out every 6 shots was 3 for Bailey. So it a component of his game but not a main component. More of a driver and a midrange guy.

If he is only a SG, his lack of size makes him more of a late first early 2nd. I'd probably still rate him as a late first due to his combination of handles and shooting despite his questionable size.

Watched a highlight video of him this morning after the article, this assessment makes sense. UCLA is a fairly strict system you can imagine what he might have looked like if he went to Kentucky.

Reminds me of a left handed shooting Monta Ellis with longer arms and that is not a bad thing for the range that he's being considered. Maybe less fast twitch explosiveness but more controlled aggression than Monta Ellis.

[CFAN38]

Yesterday the Athletic put out an article on 8 second round sleeper prospects, all of which are intriguing for the Celtics. I clicked on it looking for info on Adama Sanogo and Julian Strawther but came away with one of my new favorite sleeper prospects in the draft Azuolas Tubelis - 6'11 Junior out of Arizona. Here is the writeup on Tubelis.

For about six weeks during the middle of last season, Tubelis was the best player in college basketball. Between Dec. 22 and Feb. 9, he averaged 22.1 points over a 13-game stretch, to go along with 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 56.6 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. An ankle injury slowed him down just a little the rest of the way, but Tubelis scored 20 or more points in four of his last six games, proving enough to lead him to enter the draft as a junior.

The question for Tubelis will be on defense, particularly with respect to his ability to switch on smaller players away from the basket. That’s why there’s a good chance he won’t even get drafted next Thursday. That would be a mistake. By excelling in one of the country’s fastest programs over the last three years, Tubelis has showed that he can cover a lot of ground on a basketball court, and his Lithuanian pedigree has bestowed him with a high basketball IQ. There’s a reason European players tend to be so successful in today’s NBA, and I fully expect Tubelis to fall into that pattern. With his size, skill and quick mind, he has the potential to be an effective pro for a long time.

Tubelis is a highly productive junior out Lithuania and given the track record of Euro Bigs in the league today I think that odds of getting a quality rotation player in the second half might be too good to pass up. Arizona is the program that produced Lauri Markanen, they play an NBA style with a fast pace.

I am still high on Jordan Walsh and would be fine with Strawther or Sonogo, but I think Tubelis might have the highest upside of the bunch.

Azuolas Tubelis is a player I have struggled to rank. Mid college bball season I have him projected as a late first or high second but that was when I assumed he was bigger then he ultimately measured. At 6'8.75" 235lbs with a 6'11" wingspan he is shorter, lighter, and not as long as I had assumed. This worries me on the defensive end. As a undersized below the rim center I struggle to find value for a player who will likely struggle defensively. Had he measured as a true 7' with a bigger frame he could project as a rim protector.

The reasons why I was so high on Tubelis and honestly this post has me debating moving him up on my board (currently 56) is his production and the parallels he has to Sabonis. Along with college production he was also highly productive at every level of FIBA youth tourneys.

The first guy I thought of after readin this was Mo Wagner. Is Tubelis the next Mo Wagner?

The next was Sengun. How big is Sengun? The Rockets claim he is 6-11 but it looks like they put up the heights of nearly every player on their roster by 1-2 inches this summer. So I am not sure I believe them about any of their new height listings. Is Sengun 6-9 or 6-10 do you think?

Tubelis is the same height as Bam. Bam was also 6-8.75 barefoot. Does not have Bam's wingspan (7-2) or athleticism though.

Kevin Love falls into that size range too. A bit heavier now than when he came out and he had an outside shot that this guy doesn’t have, at the moment at least.

After looking further into his stats I will end up moving Tubelis up on my final board.

I agree his measuments are nearly identical to Sabonis who I do think has a stronger base and is an least marginally more mobile, Love is actually shorter then Tubelis but over all a bigger framed stronger over all superior athlete.

For these types of below average physical profile bigs (height,length,athletic ability) they really have to be exceptional to carve out a significant role in the NBA. I don't see Tubelis being at that level but he is a player who will be worth a 2-way and if he can become a better 3pt shooter he might carve out a Muscala like NBA role.