Juan Nuñez

PROFILE

Early 2024 review and live evaluation- January 2024
By Artau Pascual

Juan Nuñez projects as the most creative PG for the upcoming NBA Draft. Elite live-dribble passer with outstanding pick&roll poise and awareness. He's able to create his shots as a ball-handler in those situations and has improved a lot his off the dribble three-pointer. Covers a lot of ground with his steps and has worked on his balance and follow-through. Great decision-maker in transition without need of going full speed, needs few dribbles to initiate offense in transition after grabbing rebound or offering a passing lane. Gets to the rim and finishes well non-contact in 2c2. Needs to work on his ISO offense to keep improving his offensive game. On the defensive end, he looks engaged and can pick up steals against ball-handlers, also he has a knock for jumping passing lanes easily. Just a different player.

U20 European Championship- July 2023

Not a great athlete overall, but runs the game at his own pace. The best passer in the 2004-born European generation. Went through various ups and downs during the tournament: didn’t find consistency at scoring and struggled to find chemistry with the Spanish rollers, mainly Owen Aquino. However, he left glimpses of his live-dribble passing and showed a good level of self-pride in tough situations. The capability to knock down shots off the dribble will be his swing skill.


General overview- October 2022

Juan Nuñez is a left handed primary ball handler with great spatial awareness to create advantage situations for his teammates off of pick and roll situations. He is a very creative passer who sometimes takes risky decisions because he knows about his talent to execute them in the correct way. He has a good lower body and his upper body is strong enough, but he needs to build confidence to get downhill and add more registers to his offensive game. In addition, he has many ways to go in off the dribble pull up scoring and still hasn't found the way to be an off ball threat.

On the defensive end Juan Nuñez has the tools to be reliable. He loves going under in pick and roll situations and sometimes it costs disadvantages to his team, but in general terms he is good at reading and anticipating the opponents scheme. The game is very slow at his eyes on the defensive end at this point and once he aligns this skill with the physical development and global activity he'll become a solid guard defender.

Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals - June 2021
Núñez had to leave the tournament after the second game because he was called up by the first team in the ACB playoff. In the first two games, he was the leader of the team showing his amazing IQ and passing skills. His creativity is off the charts. He is a solid shooter but not a great scorer in the paint since he lacks of a first quick step


Adidas Next Generation Tournament Istanbul  - March 2021
Juan Núñez is a thick point guard with big size and is very strong in the lower body; he is also explosive and has good athleticism able to dunk in straight line drives or fast breaks. He is a genius creating passing lanes with the ball in his hands using his instincts with live dribble passes and improvising successfully in many different situations. On the other hand, he takes advantage of his physical tools creating a lot of separation against weaker and slower players at this stage. His change of pace and ball-handling skills are very good; his crossover is amazing as he is ambidextrous handling the ball. At this stage, he creates a lot of space because of the combination of explosiveness and skillset and gets easily in the paint but even if he is in an advanced stage of physical development, his first step is not so quick and he is not that creative finishing to compensate it. He relies too much on his strength. His shot is not there yet but he has improved it a lot from previous competitions. The new motion leads to gain deep in his range and is comfortable shooting off the dribble in different contexts. Nuñez is also a consistent defender when he puts attention to it. He slides quickly, uses well his hands, and is an aware defender off the ball: good rotating and helps in the boards.


Adidas Next Generation Tournament Munich  - January 2020
Núñez was named the MVP of the tournament. Physically, has a low upside because he is already developed but has an astonishing creativity and IQ. Knows how to use his strength in the upper body to score in the paint where he shows a good touch with the left hand. His passing game is impressive; is able to make unreachable reads and execute incredible passes very often. Needs to improve his shot from the long range; his form is correct but doesn’t give enough arc to the ball. 


FIBA U16 European Championship Division A - August 2019
Named in the All-Tournament Team. Averaged 10.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.3 steals, with a key performance in the final against France. Huge personality for his age, fearless, willing to take responsibilities. Lefty scorer who is always aggressive off the dribble, good change of speed, solid ball-handler at high speed. Always attacks the rim, good touch with his strong hand, scores over the defense. Impressive step-back jumper, has deep range as a shooter. Shot selection is not always the best.


U16 Spanish Championship - May 2019
He has grown since the beginning of the season. His athleticism is remarkable, especially his speed and his explosive first step. He is a crafty player with the ball, his ball-handling ability is elite with either hands, he can easily create separation with his defender thanks to an amazing use of hesitations and change of pace. His basketball IQ, court vision and passing skills are unusual for a player of his age. He can be turnover prone when he tries to make always the most beautiful pass possible, being sometimes too risky. Defensively, he has quick feet to stay in front of the ball-handler and he has an amazing feel and quick hands to get steals. However, he sometimes gambles too much and his commitment and focus aren’t always at their best.