Arizona Wildcats' Azuolas Tubelis declares for NBA Draft

After a junior season where he led the Pac-12 in scoring and rebounding and helped Arizona to a 28-7 record and second conference tournament crown in a row, Azuolas Tubelis is entering the 2023 NBA draft.

Per a report from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Tubelis told ESPN of his plans Thursday morning.

Although the 6-11 forward from Lithuania became a consensus second-team All-American this season while averaging 19.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, Tubelis is not projected to be drafted. As of Thursday, ESPN rates Tubelis the 68th overall prospect available — although that’s up from 75th not long ago. This year’s draft is slotted for 58 total picks.

Givony, an ESPN draft analyst, wrote midseason that Tubelis had exploded into one of college basketball’s best players, though his NBA potential was in question.

“While he has improved thanks to his terrific smarts, toughness and instincts, he doesn’t cover ground well when isolated due to his upright stance and average lateral quickness.,” Givony wrote. “He also lacks the length to be much of a deterrent contesting shots around the basket or on the perimeter and gets targeted a fair amount by opposing teams, fluctuating with his energy level.

“Tubelis’ productivity and skill level should put him firmly in the draft conversation, but he’ll have to continue to make strides with his perimeter shooting, passing and defense to carve out an NBA role.”

However, Tubelis has several options in pro basketball. Even if he isn’t drafted, Tubelis could command a two-way contract between the NBA and G League, which now pay just over $500,000, or half of the NBA rookie minimum. He could also sign an “Exhibit 10” contract that pays up to $90,000, while standard G League contracts average about $40,000.

There’s also the possibility Tubelis could command a low-six-figure deal in Lithuania, or he could return to the Wildcats for a fourth season, most likely if there is a suitable NIL package.

According to sources quoted by Lithuanian news site 15min.lt, Tubelis has a European market value of about $108,000-$216,000. His European rights are still owned by the hometown club he played for, Rytas Vilnius, but the buyout is only about $54,000 and could be easily absorbed by a higher-paying club that plays in the top-level Euroleague such as Zalgiris of Kaunas, Lithuania.

Recruited by then-UA coach Sean Miller mostly over Zoom because of the COVID restrictions of 2020, Tubelis became a starter seven games into his freshman season of 2020-21, averaging 12.2 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds while becoming an all-freshman Pac-12 pick.

Tubelis was named to the all-Pac-12 first team as a sophomore in 2021-22, averaging 13.9 points and 6.2 rebounds during the Wildcats’ run for a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed, but finished that season roughly before elevating into a national award contender as a junior.

Tubelis had just five points and four rebounds against TCU in an overtime game the Wildcats barely escaped in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and then scored only two points, four turnovers and 0-for-8 shooting against Houston in Arizona’s Sweet 16 loss.

He cited the memory of that finish for spurring him on through a grueling offseason that eventually produced 14 double-doubles as a junior last season.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“I knew that if you work out all summer, the result will come,” Tubelis said. “Maybe not in (the) beginning of the season, but the result will show up.”.

Last season, Tubelis wound up the leader during Pac-12 play in both scoring (19.9) and rebounding (9.1), becoming the first player to do so since Cal’s Leon Powe in 2005-06, peaking against Oregon on Feb. 2 at McKale Center.

During the Wildcats’ 91-76 win that avenged a blowout loss at Oregon just three weeks earlier, Tubelis scored 40 points, the most ever by a UA player at UA’s home arena in three decades.

Tubelis shot 16 of 21 from the field, collected nine rebounds, dished three assists, ripped off three steals, blocked a shot and drew nine fouls, going to the line for five and-one opportunities. He hit 8 of 9 free throws.

“What he did today was … I don’t even know how to put it into words, to be honest,” then-UA guard Kerr Kriisa said. “I’ve never witnessed anything like this while playing (with a) teammate.”

While Tubelis appeared a frontrunner to win the Pac-12’s Player of the Year award after that game, UCLA’s Jaime Jaquez eventually won it after finishing the season strongly and leading the Bruins to the Pac-12 regular-season title by a four-game margin.

However, Tubelis won the Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player award after leading the Wildcats past Stanford, Arizona State and UCLA in Las Vegas from March 9-11.

But while Tubelis had 19 points and 14 rebounds against Jaquez and the Bruins in the Pac-12 championship game, he and the Wildcats struggled five days later in their shocking first-round loss to Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Tubelis had 22 points against the Tigers but just five rebounds while committing six turnovers in UA’s 59-55 loss on March 16.

After that game, Tubelis declined to say what he might do next season.

“My thoughts are now just to get better, take some time off and get back in the gym,” Tubelis said. “I have no idea when I’m going to play, what I want to play, what to do. We just lost a tough game, so you can’t really expect an answer right now. I don’t know.”

Photos: Arizona vs Princeton in first round of NCAA men's tournament