Milan Momcilovic Scouting Report
NBA teams know what they are getting with Milan Momcilovic: a knockdown wing-defending shooter with ball-moving and scoring duties in the post. Is it enough to get drafted? Find out more below.
Entering college as an 18-year-old, Momcilovic had a successful high school career with over 2,000 points scored and being named in the Naismith High School Preseason Watch List.
The 2023 USA Basketball U19 Training Camp attendee is one of the highest-ranked recruits in Iowa State’s history. While being labeled as a shooter, he’s already quickly adapting to the D1 level and continues to show an all-around offensive game that’ll intrigue NBA decision-makers.
Physical Profile
At 6’8” and 220 pounds, Momcilovic has a bulky build that allows him to compete against stronger players in the post. He lacks a good first step and his overall athleticism is limited.
The lateral quickness is decent, but not suited to consistently guard in the point-of-attack at the next level. During his high school days, Momcilovic kept being challenged to find ways to compensate for his lack of athleticism, leading to his game being skill-based, rather than utilizing the athleticism that came to him naturally.
With broad shoulders and good upper-body strength, Momcilovic is suited to play the three and four at the next level. As a freshman, he already shows he can handle the physical forwards of the Big 12.
Offense
On the offensive end, NBA teams will get a natural shooter with a great understanding of the fundamentals of the game. Momcilovic never brings the ball lower than his waist, and he prefers to keep the ball high at all times, making it tougher for the defender closing out to contest his shot.
The release is high and he barely jumps on his jumpers, winning even more time against the defender. Despite the slow release, the process of his shot is at a high level, leaving NBA coaches very little to worry about.
In the play below we see an example. An area where Momcilovic should improve is to avoid turning into a predictable player. With how he set his feet, the jumper was the move everyone anticipated. Despite the shot being open, hitting the wide-open teammate at the top of the key was a move to consider, especially with the 11 seconds remaining on the clock.
What sets Momcilovic apart from his peers is his ability to effortlessly get to his spots, and execute his looks with very limited dribbles. As an off-ball mover, he makes great decisions and mostly utilizes pindowns or fake screens to confuse the defense.
In the play below, he lures his opponent to the switch, while smartly relocating to the elbow. Instead of waiting for the ball, he moves to the elbow on the weakside to offer his teammate in the post a straight passing lane. While quickly setting his feet, Momcilovic launches the shot with a high arcing release.
With today’s NBA being more focused on motion and off-ball screening actions, Momcilovic shows that his activity as an off-ball player leads to him getting to his spots with quick execution.
To stay on an NBA floor consistently, you have to have a counter for every move the opponent throws at you. With Momcilovic, it’s the ability to attack the paint for the self-created midrange pull-up, an area he’s shooting close to 50% on 12 attempts so far this season.
He lacks the first step to create separation off the dribble and anticipates by stretching his arm to the side where his dribble will head towards. This way he avoids a reach for the ball and keeps the passing lane in front of him open. His game is designed to either make the pass in this scenario or pull up from the spots he’s comfortable with. The hip mobility before fading away for the jumper is something that stood out in this play.
Momcilovic understands very well that his lack of athleticism doesn’t have to hurt his chances to succeed as a pro. His footwork is another area that projects to translate to the next level. With shooting alone, a long-term career isn’t sustainable, so he has to offer more options to the NBA franchise that’s drafting him.
Therefore, making strides as a scorer in the post is an area of development for him this season. As a freshman, Momcilovic is showing he isn’t afraid to take the matter into his own hands to bring the Cyclones some self-created buckets.
In the play below, Momcilovic plays booty ball and after not being able to find the open shooter, he takes it to the rim for the finish himself. Another play where he shows his solid hip mobility.
As a consistent shooter, Momcilovic shows that he has a scalable game suited for the NBA. As a spot-up shooter, it’s hard to see past the lack of athleticism to justify a first-round draft pick. However, what he does well is to show his aggressiveness as a scorer.
While coming off the pindown, Momcilovic shows his ability to fake an opponent and immediately switch sides. Momcilovic aggressively placing his pivot foot at the level of the high post was well executed together with his changing sides and attacking the rim for the lay-up.
However, upon coming off the screen, hitting the roller was the right move. This is something Momcilovic has to improve. With only one assist in thirty minutes of play, he doesn’t show enough as a passer yet.
At the NBA level, Momcilovic could serve as a ball-mover. Especially when it comes to complete ball reversals or to hit off-ball players moving out of screens or other actions.
It’s key for him to utilize the shooting threat to find an open teammate. So far this season, Iowa State relies on Lipsey and Gilbert to create for others, but Momcilovic can and should put up bigger assist numbers than he’s currently doing.
The two plays below show that he can execute simple reads by using his shooting threat. It’s not a game-changer by any means, but it’s crucial to play in an NBA rotation, especially on teams that like to keep the ball moving.
With the consistent jumper being the most important unique selling point of his profile, Momcilovic shows that he’s an effective off-ball mover with untapped potential as a passer.
It won’t take long before he’s fully adapted to the NBA level, and with the NBA’s need for smart low-usage shooters, Momcilovic will draw enough attention from teams that are trying to win.
The limited amount of ball touches makes his self-created scoring opportunities via the post less valuable as of now, but in terms of long-term potential, that’s a value-riser of his profile. Especially if he improves as a passer and gets rewarded with more ball touches as a bigger part of the offense.
Defense
On the defensive end, one of the most important things that Momcilovic will have to do consistently is to close out effectively. With the lack of quickness, being able to recognize rotations timely is going to matter much more if he wants to succeed in the NBA.
What stood out is that Momcilovic is very vocal on the court. He doesn’t shy away from taking leadership and actively communicating with his teammates when he sees rotations changing. However, the play below shows that he was the one missing his assignment, resulting in not closing the corner out on time.
As a freshman, plays such as these are all learning moments. Throughout this season he has shown consistency in staying vocal and making his teammates better. Leadership is an important intangible for NBA decision-makers that they have to consider when projecting a future for prospects within their franchise.
The play below summarizes that Momcilovic reads the offense very well, as the closeout on the strong side was good, as well as his rotations were timely. The three-ball going in doesn’t change anything in the process.
However, against better competition that uses more motion in their offense, Momcilovic still struggles to recognize his rotations. One of the habits that needs to improve is that he should stop overhelping on defense.
In the play below, Momcilovic is communicating that his teammate should take over his assignment, as he rotates to the corner shooter, but the big man in the low post already made the necessary rotation. As a result, his assignment relocates to the top of the key, with the screening action causing enough separation for Momcilovic to close out on time.
This is what consistently came back during the early-season schedule. While it’s tough to immediately improve the feel for the game as a decision-maker in off-ball defense, which is a crucial part of his NBA role, Momcilovic has the opportunity to impact his team at the NBA level early in his career if he shows that he can improve as the season continues.
The same goes for defending opponents who attack the closeout. His defensive footwork is something that Momcilovic has to improve if he wants to compensate for the lack of a good first step and quickness, while still being an effective defender.
In the play below, the opponent utilizes the weakside, and while closing out, Momcilovic places his pivot foot on the strong side, where he should have placed it on the weakside, to cover the driving lane towards the baseline more effectively, especially considering it was early on in the shot clock with the defense being set well.
Instead, Momcilovic bites on the pump-fake, causing the defense to collapse. A learning moment where decision-making combined with defensive footwork would have led to a better outcome for Iowa State on this play.
Anticipating Momcilovic’s NBA role, opposing scouting reports will switch and target slower wing defenders in the point-of-attack. Despite him not being a full-time point-of-attack defender, it’s promising for the long run that Momcilovic already does all the things well and shows he can guard isolation effectively.
He slides his feet well in the play below and uses his arms to tag the driver and force him to drive to the strong side with the help of the defense being ready. What stood out is that he used his strong frame to absorb the hit to force the ball-handler into a tough floating finish.
The only area of improvement is that Momcilovic should actively box out after the miss, despite his opponents not attacking the offensive glass on this play.
As a team defender, I like how Momcilovic doesn’t just gamble on defense but takes well-thought-out decisions based on what happens on the court. In his style of play, he’s playing with the assumption that teammates follow up with communication in rotations, which is a good sign of leadership that NBA teams love to see.
Coach Otzelberger and his staff have set a solid base for Iowa State’s halfcourt defense, which ranks 12th in the country with only 0.93 SQ points-per-play given up per possession. And Momcilovic executing the defensive game plan has a part in their success.
In the play below he moves inside the paint with the Cyclones going for the ICE as their pick-and-roll coverage. As the roller gets hit with the pass, Momcilovic already rotates and positions himself to take the charge or to leave a touch pass to the backdoor cutter as the only option.
Despite Momcilovic not being consistent with timely rotations, it doesn’t take anything away from the fact that he’s able to be an above-average team defender at the next level.
With more playing minutes in a tough Big 12 conference, Momcilovic will face tougher offensive schemes than he did in the early-season schedule, so that’s the most important area of development that will have to be followed up by NBA decision-makers.
Momcilovic shows that he can make winning plays when his team needs it the most. The opponent changes to the weakside with the one-handed skip pass, and Momcilovic shows he trusts his big man to cover the rim after quickly checking the status on the backdoor cutter, whereafter he decides to cover the lane. His strong frame combined with his upper-body strength makes it much tougher for opponents to score on him near the rim.
Improving his feel for the game when it comes to rotations is the biggest area of development for Momcilovic. Because he doesn’t turn 20 until September 2024, a long-term improvement on this end is imminent, especially with the tougher part of Iowa State’s basketball still being ahead of us and there will be enough reps available for him.
NBA Draft Projection
Shooting is one of the most-wanted skillsets for NBA teams, and this alone won’t be a guarantee for a long-term career. However, in Momcilovic’s case, his great off-ball movement combined with his ability to get to his spots with ease are good signs early on.
With a projected role as a ball-mover in the early stages of his career, Momcilovic shows enough untapped potential as a passer that NBA teams can utilize in schemes focused on ball movement.
What sets Momcilovic apart from his peers, is his ability to provide consistent shooting and be a threat with his scoring in the post. His combination of skill and footwork keep that part of his game underrated, with his shooting production being the focus concerning his NBA role.
As a defender, Momcilovic has to improve in recognizing rotations and executing. His strong frame and team defense however are a strong base for what’s more to come in the next few years. His already showing leadership as a freshman is another plus that NBA decision-makers shouldn’t forget when evaluating his profile.
Overall, getting an NBA-ready shooter with passing and self-creating scoring with more usage is a valuable combination, especially since his game projects to translate early on at the next level. Based on the above-mentioned strengths and areas of development, Momcilovic’s profile holds enough value to get drafted in the latter stages of the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.