Matteo Spagnolo

[Hal14]

Am I crazy, or is this guy the most underrated prospect in the world for 2022?

Nobody is talking about him pretty much. I searched this forum to see if there was already a thread for him and literally 0 results came up in any thread for "spagnolo". Any of the early mock drafts online, he's nowhere to be found in them.

Yet here he is...

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Only 18 yrs old. Turns 19 in January. 6'4". Good vertical pop, as you can see him many teams easily getting above the rim for dunks. An insanely smooth shooting stroke. In 10 games this season he's shooting 50% from 3 on 2.6 attempts per game. Really quick, excellent handle, makes some really good passes.

He's no. 15 on my big board right now.

Dare I say, he kind of reminds me of Drazen Petrovic?

[The-Power]

Good call. He looks like an interesting prospect to keep an eye on.

[Gibson22]

I know him very well, I'm from his city, and I know him personally (We talked a couple times, and actually played pickup when he was 12 I think -already elite, his story is that he was scoring 70 every game for his team, so at 13 the best italian youth team selected him and a couple years later real madrid, which is the best european youth team, selected him- we aren't friends or anything).
He has always been one of the best european players in his age group, he belongs to real madrid who gave him to cremona on loan. He's currently averaging 11/3/2,3 on 47/50/80 splits, in 25mpg. Really solid numbers, even tho he plays a in a below average team and he wouldn't have that much space in most Serie A teams.
As a player, he has very good shot creation ability, ball handling and vision, and a very solid shot. He's also a pretty big guy, he's the full 6'4, what I mean is that he would easily be listed at 6'5 in the nba, he also has a very solid build. But he isn't great athletically, not very fast or shifty, or things like that, he also is a below average defender atm. Obviously he's a PG, that's his role.
I don't think he is nba ready. I mean, the guy proved that he's a legit Serie A player at 18, which is very impressive, but he has ways to go to be a good piece for a euroleague team (atm, I don't see him as someone who could be a good piece in an elite Serie A team) If I had to forsee his career, or maybe it's what I hope for, he comes back to real madrid in a couple years, and then he becomes a good euroleague player in the next 3 years. Then, if nba teams are interested in him, he can try the nba route and he could succeed. I think this also would be better for his career. As of now, he would suffer defensively and he wouldn't be athletic enough to create at an high level, and even tho he's skilled, he doesn't have yet that super elite level skill to overcome that.
The truth is that, it's much easier to be an nba player if you're a center, or a 3&D forward, or things like that, but if you are a pg, you have to be incredibly elite for an nba team to select you as their main creator for a stretch of time, so, I think he could eventualy be good enough but not right now, that's my take

[Gibson22]

Also from what I know, he isn't really thinking nba right now, he's thinking build up for euroleague and then eventually nba

[Gibson22]

Now, I can see someone drafting him, I mean, a lot of players that get drafted are less deserving/less ready/worse than him, but I just don't think that's the right trajectory for him at all, I'm hoping for a bogdanovic route

[Hal14]

I know him very well, I'm from his city, and I know him personally (We talked a couple times, and actually played pickup when he was 12 I think -already elite, his story is that he was scoring 70 every game for his team, so at 13 the best italian youth team selected him and a couple years later real madrid, which is the best european youth team, selected him- we aren't friends or anything).
He has always been one of the best european players in his age group, he belongs to real madrid who gave him to cremona on loan. He's currently averaging 11/3/2,3 on 47/50/80 splits, in 25mpg. Really solid numbers, even tho he plays a in a below average team and he wouldn't have that much space in most Serie A teams.
As a player, he has very good shot creation ability, ball handling and vision, and a very solid shot. He's also a pretty big guy, he's the full 6'4, what I mean is that he would easily be listed at 6'5 in the nba, he also has a very solid build. But he isn't great athletically, not very fast or shifty, or things like that, he also is a below average defender atm. Obviously he's a PG, that's his role.
I don't think he is nba ready. I mean, the guy proved that he's a legit Serie A player at 18, which is very impressive, but he has ways to go to be a good piece for a euroleague team (atm, I don't see him as someone who could be a good piece in an elite Serie A team) If I had to forsee his career, or maybe it's what I hope for, he comes back to real madrid in a couple years, and then he becomes a good euroleague player in the next 3 years. Then, if nba teams are interested in him, he can try the nba route and he could succeed. I think this also would be better for his career. As of now, he would suffer defensively and he wouldn't be athletic enough to create at an high level, and even tho he's skilled, he doesn't have yet that super elite level skill to overcome that.
The truth is that, it's much easier to be an nba player if you're a center, or a 3&D forward, or things like that, but if you are a pg, you have to be incredibly elite for an nba team to select you as their main creator for a stretch of time, so, I think he could eventualy be good enough but not right now, that's my take

thanks for all the info.

I feel like he is quicker and better defensively than you indicate, though - at least from the footage I've seen..

[Hal14]

Now, I can see someone drafting him, I mean, a lot of players that get drafted are less deserving/less ready/worse than him, but I just don't think that's the right trajectory for him at all, I'm hoping for a bogdanovic route

Maybe.

It just seems like the Bogdanovic/Ginobili route of staying overseas till you're roughly 25 and then come to NBA is super uncommon. Pretty much everyone is getting drafted at age 19 or 20, then either coming straight to NBA or stashed overseas for another 1-2 yrs..

[GSWFan1994]

(...)

Great post. Very informative. Thank you.

Seems like a nice player. Let's hope he's not done growing up, as that would help him a lot in the next level of competition.

Cheers from Brazil.

[Gibson22]

He had a great season even tho his team was relegated, he exceeded my expectations as a shooter, questions about his athleticism (defense, scoring at the rim, blowing by guys) still remain

[Toxicity]

He just entered 2022 NBA Draft...

[jman3134]

Could be getting feedback. Any inside insights?

[Gibson22]

He got drafted