Sergio de Larrea Scouting Report
In the last two decades, we have seen several Spanish guards finding their way to the NBA or the top of European basketball. As of today, the 6'6" jumbo initiator, Sergio de Larrea is next in line.
Finding good ball handlers is getting harder and harder. This particular aspect is something I value when I am evaluating leading guards. After watching the Adidas Next Generation Tournament and the FIBA U19 World Cup, Sergio de Larrea was a guy that immediately caught my attention.
At 6’6”, de Larrea has the size NBA franchises are looking for. The 2005-born turns 18 years old in December, but already has nearly 1,000 minutes of professional basketball under his belt at the LEB Silver level, the third division in Spain.
De Larrea can play both guard positions but stands out mostly as a pick-and-roll playmaker. The reads that he’s making at his age is remarkable, and he’s ahead of his years on that end. He uses his size to see over the defense and is a quick decision-maker. He stays composed at all times and reacted well on most hard hedges and blitzes the defense threw at him, making me lean toward him being able to be a primary creator in the future.
His offensive arsenal is mostly focused on getting downhill using his craft and tight handles. Although De Larrea lacks a good first step and burst, he’s already matured his game in terms of covering his limitations in the best way, and that’s quite special for a 17-year-old in this stage of his career. However, in an environment with more athleticism, I project that De Larrea will struggle against smaller and quicker guards and wings.
As a defender, De Larrea has shown that he recognizes opposing schemes effortlessly and he’s very vocal and takes on the leadership role on the teams he played for. As a team defender, he recognizes rotations with ease and due to the size and fairly good frame, De Larrea can switch and defend the one, two, and three positions. His high basketball IQ was visible at all times, making it more likely he can continue impacting teams as he gets older.
However, as a point-of-attack defender, De Larrea was exposed a couple of times against quicker players. Laterally, his quickness is decent but lacks the defensive footwork to compensate for most of his deficiencies. That’s an area he has to work on this upcoming season.
Another early concern is that he’s most effective with the ball in his hands and that the amount of on-ball reps will likely decline as he gets older. His off-ball game is something I want to see more from him next season because in terms of his game translating to the NBA, De Larrea has to improve as a three-point shooter.
While shooting 29.8% on 84 attempts last season, the numbers match the eye test. He doesn’t look confident shooting-wise, although De Larrea has shown he can knock down open shots.
As a rebounder, De Larrea boxes out hard on every opponent miss, but at times, he’s psychically outworked by stronger opponents, which was more visible in the minutes he played at the LEB Silver level. However, I am taking his psychical development into consideration in projecting him to be a plus rebounder as a guard in the future, especially if he gets stronger, which is a very important thing in terms of his NBA potential.
Like most European guards, De Larrea loves to create shots via post-ups. At the Adidas Next Generation Tournament, this was more visible than at the professional level, but that’s due to the difference in physicality from opposing defenders. His patience and ability to draw help defenders stood out. This particular aspect is something that’ll translate well in college basketball.
Overall, it’s crystal clear that De Larrea studied Luka Dončić’s game when he still played at Real Madrid, which is one the main reasons why he’s already good at covering his psychical limitations. The change of pace is crucial. Although he needs to improve on finishing through contact, De Larrea got to the free-throw line in bunches. His body language is changing as well. What caught my attention is that as of late, he’s playing with more of an attitude that is showing how confident he is in his own game.
NBA Draft Projection
De Larrea should draw a lot of attention from most mid-major and some high-major D1 schools. In terms of expectation, I foresee him playing in Europe for one more season, before transferring to college basketball for the 2024-25 season.
It’s still early to put De Larrea in a box in terms of draft expectations, but if he manages to get stronger, expand his range and improve as a three-point shooter, he has the potential to be a top 40 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.