Sophomore Breakout Candidates: Milos Uzan
The Oklahoma guard has won me over with his feel, touch, ambidextrous play, and blossoming off-ball arsenal
This article is an installment in our “sophomore breakout” series looking closely at seven specific sophomores who I believe could be first-round picks in the 2024 NBA Draft. Each installment will feature a video breakdown as well as written thoughts and smaller clips detailing my analysis. Those seven players:
UConn’s Donovan Clingan
Duke’s Kyle Filipowski
Florida’s Riley Kugel
Florida State’s Baba Miller
Duke’s Tyrese Proctor
Oklahoma’s Milos Uzan
Indiana’s Kel’el Ware
Two other rising sophomores, Syracuse’s Judah Mintz and UCLA’s Adem Bona, received full-length scouting reports this year as part of my pre-draft coverage when they initially declared for the 2023 NBA Draft. I have top-40 grades on both. Please click on the hyperlinks of each player to find my thoughts on each.
A former top-100 recruit, Milos Uzan had a solid first year for the Oklahoma Sooners. He started 24 games, played over 28 minutes a night, and averaged 7/3/3 on 47/41/76 splits. A 6’4” lead guard with decent size, Uzan is more of a facilitator and crafty playmaker than he is a scorer. Finding balance not only could unlock the Sooners’ upside but could help land him on NBA radars — a place I’m fairly certain he belongs.
More than anything, Uzan’s feel for the game is off the charts. As I am evolving as a scout, I’m starting to prioritize that unique feel, quick processing speed, and winning decision-making more than raw traits or skills. Uzan could be in the 99th percentile of all players someday in terms of decision-making… and that is worth getting excited about. He throws pinpoint accurate passes, tears apart aggressive ball screen coverages, is adaptive enough to adjust at the last moment, does that thing I love where he manipulates the defense with his eyes, and is not a mistake-prone or overly fancy player. Be still, my heart.
Those traits don’t pop in a two-minute highlight video or a clip of his overall season best plays, but they stand out quite a bit in full-game settings when he just makes those around him better. I’m pretty excited about Uzan… especially if he can shoot 44.1% on catch-and-shoot opportunities again as a sophomore.
Uzan needs to take a bit of a leap to improve his on-ball creation, but a bet on him is as much of a bet on feel and touch being traits that can carry a guard to success in the modern NBA. As a scout, I’m trying to learn from the success trajectories of guys like Tyrese Haliburton, Josh Giddey, Anthony Black, and LaMelo Ball, players who have elite intangibles and basketball IQ that manifests itself with the ball in their hands.
Uzan isn’t the same size as those players, and he isn’t as polished of a scorer as many of them. But there’s a lot to love with his overall feel, and his winning background is incredibly important.
Background
Milos is the son of Mike and Frances Harris Uzan, and the youngest of four. Milos went to Desert Pines high school and led them to the state championship game in 2020 before leaving for Prolific Prep.
Basketball runs in their family. His father, Mike, is the head coach at Desert Pines. Milos’ older brother Capri played at Westcliff (NAIA) and helped lead them to the NAIA Tournament this past year while shooting 40% from 3.
Nicknamed ‘Los’, family and friends take note of his positive disposition and ability to consistently be at ease with who he is. He has the pedigree of a winner, is a coach’s kid, and was sharpened by playing against older players (like his brother) his whole life.
Offense
Let’s look first at the signature skill that Uzan brings to the table: playmaking feel. There are several indicators I look for in trying to evaluate ball screens, and only a few prospects achieve the Coach Spins Seal of Approval to be called an elite playmaker. A couple of those include:
Consistent eyes up while driving
Mastery of acceleration and deceleration based on what the play calls for
Lack of over-dribbling when coming off screens
Reading the tagger as soon as he adjusts his positioning on D
Live-dribble passing & quick, timely transition from dribble to kick
Accurate cross-court passing going either direction (or with both hands)
Eye manipulation of help defenders through no-look passes
Uzan checks every single box based off his play his first year. Truly there are only 5-10 players who have cleared this checklist in my seven years evaluating the NBA Draft.