Max Shulga Scouting Deepdive
VCU's Max Shulga has a polished offensive arsenal and well-rounded skillset, but will that be enough for the fifth-year combo guard to hear his name called on draft night?
In most cases, I am not the most prominent proponent of the traditional combo guard archetype. This term of classification is typically associated with players who are neither equipped to play the point guard nor shooting guard full-time but are talented enough in certain areas of the game to make some kind of impact. These players tend to have low ceilings, stagnant roles, and are easy to gameplan for. However, some players are considered combo guards not because they lack the agreed upon requirements of both backcourt positions, but because they are able to play both positions at an elite level. That happens to be the case for VCU guard Max Shulga, an experienced combo guard who has developed his unique playstyle throughout his five-year collegiate career. He’s currently in the midst of an excellent individual season, one that could potentially result in him hearing his name called in the 2025 NBA Draft. Let’s break down his game and discuss why he’s such an intriguing professional prospect despite being in his fifth year of college basketball.
Player Profile:
Max Shulga is a 6’5” and 210lb combo guard from Kyiv, Ukraine who is currently averaging 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.1 steals, and .1 blocks per game on shooting splits of 47.1% from the field, 40.3% from beyond the arc, and 71.1% from the free-throw line. Before coming stateside, Shulga starred for the Basketball School of Excellence in Torrelodones, Spain. He also stood out for the Ukrainian U18 national team in 2019 before making the jump across the Atlantic to kickstart his collegiate career at Utah State under head coach Craig Smith. The Aggies would go onto hire head coach Ryan Odom following Smith’s departure to Utah, a decision that would be pivotal in Shulga’s trajectory. He would play three seasons for the Aggies, starting all 35 games during his junior season and playing second fiddle in the backcourt to eventual Creighton Bluejay, Steven Ashworth. Odom would then take the VCU job, bringing Shulga with him across the country to star for the Rams. Star is exactly what Shulga has done throughout his two seasons with VCU, and now he’s leveraging that stardom into a potential jump to the best basketball league in the world.
Interior Scoring:
Shulga is a supremely interesting interior scorer, someone who both excels and struggles in different ways when attacking the rim. One could argue that his ability to accelerate and decelerate on his way to the hoop is his most “pro-ready” trait, and it’s a skill that he utilizes to consistently create efficient offense on close range attempts. He has an elite first step, often finding himself wide open near the basket after dismantling his defender along the perimeter. When he doesn’t leave his man in the dust from the get-go, he’s able to utilize his herky-jerky deceleration to throw off their timing and get good looks even when a defender is on his hip. The only issue is that when he doesn’t beat defenders in this way, he tends to struggle to convert against physicality and solid rim protection.
As you can see, Shulga faces minimal interference at the rim on a ton of his layup attempts. Like I said, a big reason for this is his ability to beat defenders along the perimeter using his first step acceleration. His passing acumen is another reason why defenders seem uninterested in contesting him at the rim, as they’d rather give up the free layup than allow him to kick the ball out to a shooter. VCU plays guard and wing heavy lineups, forcing defenses to stick around the perimeter, opening the interior for Shulga to make plays such as these. In situations where the paint is relatively clear, he is about as good as it gets on penetrating the paint and converting at the rim.
Plays where Shulga is forced to utilize his elite deceleration to create offense for himself on the drive are, in my opinion, significantly more impressive than his first step acceleration drives. These scenarios usually occur when he’s matched up against more proficient defenders, ones that aren’t so easily beaten by his first step. He’s able to accelerate before suddenly nullifying his momentum before immediately accelerating again. This momentum and speed manipulation allows him to wrap defenses around his finger as he finds himself open at the rim despite a legitimate defensive presence. Because he doesn’t attack the rim in one fluid motion, help defenders have more time to enter the picture in an attempt to contest him around the hoop. That’s why converting on these attempts is not only more impressive than converting on traditional layups, but also more important when considering what he may be able to do at the professional level.
Where Shulga struggles the most as an interior scorer is when he has to finish through contact. More so than that, he struggles to fight through contact on his way to the basket. That said, I noticed that he has gotten better in this department throughout the season. He does a few things that somewhat make up for his lack of strong through-contact finishing, such as offensive rebounding, opportunistic steals, and foul drawing. He’s a really strong rebounder for a guard, regularly coming up with offensive boards against a weakened defense, giving him opportunities for second-chance points. He’s also fantastic at getting defenders off their feet and drawing fouls (we’ll cover this in more detail later), using contact to his advantage and putting defenders in a worse position to actually contest his shots.
As I’m sure you’ve figured out already, anytime that the defense is in a state of disarray, Shulga is great at taking advantage with his rim pressure. That’s why he’s such an effective transition scorer (and passer). He gives the defense no time to recover on transition and fast break opportunities, immediately pressing the issue and finding a ton of easy offense in the process. While his process doesn’t necessarily change in these situations, I believe that his willingness to push the pace in transition perfectly illustrates his high feel for the game and understanding of how to win basketball games.
Mid-Range Scoring:
No matter how well he scores at the rim, it’s easy to tell that Shulga is a shooter at heart. He’s a smooth operator in the mid-range, creating good looks from this part of the floor in a myriad of ways and converting on them at an efficient rate. He utilizes his mid-range game as if he were already a pro, perfectly wedging it into his three-point and at-the-rim reliant shot diet. His ability to stop his drives on a dime and pull up from this range keeps him unpredictable and difficult to guard. When a defender does stick with him, he’s able to put his back to the basket and knock down turnaround jumpers. All in all, his in-between game perfectly supports his overall scoring arsenal and will be incredibly important for him as he transitions to higher levels of the sport.
Just as he loves the baseline drive, he’s partial to the short-range baseline jumper as well. This is where he takes the majority of his pullup mid-range jumpers, stopping in an instant to leave defenders coasting away from him to create open looks. Even when defenders aren’t totally lost on the drive, he’s proficient at elevating over outstretched arms and knocking these shots down despite contests. Contact doesn’t seem to bother him on these attempts, as he often initiates the contact himself to create just a few extra inches of space. This is probably where he’s at his best as a mid-range shooter, but I would like to see him diversify his pullup volume to include other spots around the court.
This is about as close as Shulga gets to taking a non-baseline pullup mid-range jump shot. He’ll occasionally roll into the paint for these shots, typically when he finds himself matched up against a stronger yet slower defender. They are generated via back to the basket possessions, not drives, but still resemble a traditional pullup jump shot in most cases. Going forward, if he’s more comfortable taking these than traditional pullup attempts, he should increase his volume on these shots.
His versatility from this scoring level is most apparent on his turnaround jumpers. He takes these shots from just about everywhere on the court and is able to roll over both shoulders when doing so. He’s able to create a ton of artificial space on these attempts, often throwing his back and shoulder into the chest of his defender before rolling off for his shot. He utilizes these attempts as his preferred method of pullup jumper on direct drives from everywhere besides the baseline, driving downhill at full speed before spinning back for open looks. I’m a big fan of his outlook as a turnaround jump shooter at the next level, and even if his volume decreases as a pro, I expect his efficiency to remain constant.
Something I would like to see him add to his game is a consistent and effective floater. He has such fantastic feel on the offensive end, there’s no real reason why he shouldn’t have a really good floater. He’ll occasionally come down and put up a floater, but it’s not something he does regularly. Strengthening his floater game would solve a ton of his issues concerning his inability to consistently get to the rim as a less athletic guard, something that has been proven true by countless elite guards at the next level.
Outside Scoring:
Like I said, Shulga is a shooter at heart, and this is most apparent beyond the arc. He’s shooting over 40% from deep on nearly five attempts per game so far this season, which would mark back-to-back seasons of that being the case. Last season he shot 5.6 threes per game at 41.5% on the year, numbers that are slightly down this year only because he has increased his shot volume from other areas. If he gets drafted at the end of this season, or even if he gets picked up as an undrafted free agent, it’s going to be because he’s expected to immediately contribute as an outside shooter.
Shulga is at his best operating away from the ball in search of catch-and-shoot and movement shooting opportunities. He’s great at knocking down standstill catch-and-shoot looks, but where he really shines is as a movement shooter. He’s one of the best movement shooters in all of college basketball, a skill that will directly translate to higher stress scenarios at the professional level. He’s also a fantastic deep range shooter, regularly knocking down shots from well beyond the arc. Despite him currently facing an outside shooting slump, I’m very confident that he will be able to make a positive impact with his three-point shot as a professional.
He has shown flashes as a legitimate on-ball outside shot creator, but he’s not particularly consistent acting as one. So, while I do think he can occasionally create his own shot from this range or knock down a big time shot at the horn, I don’t put a ton of weight on this part of his game from a professional standpoint. That being said, I highly doubt he will ever be asked to consistently create his own outside shots at the next level anyway. It’s far more important that he excels as an off-ball shooter than an on-ball one, which is exactly what he has done throughout his career thus far.
Foul Drawing:
This is not a section I typically include in these scouting deepdives, which should tell you just how good of a contact magnet Shulga is. His ability to manipulate the defense and end up on the charity stripe is perhaps his most pro-ready trait (I feel like I’ve said this three times already). It’s difficult to overstate how important this skill is when considering the modern basketball ecosystem, and it’s a skill that Shulga has nearly mastered.
Most college stars who are really good at drawing fouls do so via an incredibly convincing pump fake and Shulga is no different. Not only does he possess a fantastic pump fake that almost always gets defenders off their feet, but he knows exactly when to use it and when not to. I don’t know if he just loves studying film or if his feel is just that great, but he knows which defenders are most likely to fall for his pump fake every time he steps on the court. Go watch a few of VCU’s games, track his pump fakes closely, and pay attention to what defender is guarding him. It’s almost always a select group of guys on each team that he knows will fall for his pump fake. It’s rather impressive.
Where he truly separates himself as a pro-ready contact creator is with his rip-throughs and, to be frank, his flopping. He seems to have a sixth sense for when to go up for a shot, seemingly predicting when a defender will lay even a pinky on him. Not only that, but he has perfected the flail, a requirement if you want to master fooling referees. He shoots nearly six free-throws per game despite not taking a ton of shots overall, a number that I’m positive would increase if he were forced to shoulder more of the scoring load. I doubt this is something that will get him drafted, but I could see a smart NBA front office having this skill circled on the white board when discussing Shulga’s long-term outlook.
Passing & Playmaking:
Passing and playmaking is where Shulga cements himself as a true combo guard. All other elements of his game scream shooting guard to me, but man-o-man can this guy pass the ball and set up his teammates. His 4.1 assists per game is great, but that number still doesn’t tell the whole story. He’s an incredibly intelligent and composed passer who creates easy offense for those around him both near the basket and around the perimeter. Do I think he has what it takes to be a full-time point guard at the NBA level? No. But I do think he can play minutes at the one or even make a difference setting the table for the bench unit. His passing skills look pro-ready to me, which is incredibly intriguing considering he’ll likely spend most of his time playing the two.
Shulga possesses two vital traits that allow him to hit teammates around the rim in a way that leaves the paint clear and the rim unprotected. The first is his gravity. When he finds teammates near the basket it often comes after his drive collapses the defense. He’s great at feeding his teammates once opponents send too much help, rarely throwing the pass too early or waiting until it’s too late. His second pivotal trait is his timing. He’s great at delivering a pass at the precise moment when the defense falters. This, combined with that gravity, makes for a very effective passing package.
His ability to hit open shooters around the perimeter may be even more important from a professional perspective than his interior passing. Most of these assists are generated by his driving prowess as he gets to the basket, collapses the defense, and kicks the ball out to an open shooter. That said, we’ve already covered that he occasionally struggles to get to the rim, so it’s paramount that he’s also able to find open shooters when he’s operating along the perimeter. He doesn’t do this a ton but has shown flashes throwing quick-trigger crosscourt passes for good looks from deep. I think if he actively looked for opportunities to throw those passes more often, we’d probably be more confident in his outlook in these situations.
Not only is Shulga an effective transition passer, but he’s also an entertaining one. He’s able to throw full court passes to streaking teammates while falling to the ground, not looking down the floor, and when leaping off the court. I decided to include these clips mostly because they’re fun, but don’t get it twisted, he’s a very real transition and fast break passer. His ability to find teammates for good looks in these scenarios perfectly rounds out his strong transition game that we spoke about earlier in the interior scoring section. All in all, he’s an incredibly dangerous weapon in the open court.
Defense:
I found it incredibly difficult to pinpoint how Shulga impacts the game on the defensive end when studying his tape. On one hand, he averages over two steals per game, suggesting he makes a positive impact turning opponents over at the very least. On the other hand, I found his motor to be somewhat inconsistent and his lateral movement and ability to stay in front of opponents questionable to say the least. I think the truth concerning his defensive impact lies somewhere in between these two conclusions, which I’m still not exactly sure is a good thing.
I feel comfortable declaring him a pesky defender. He has long arms, good hands, good timing, and a strong feel for the game. When a player possesses all of these attributes, they’re going to be an annoying defender in most cases. That said, a lot of his steals come in situations where the opposing team is already being forced to make on-the-fly decisions, such as in the fast break and after a play has dissolved. Very rarely does he actually make plays that interrupt an opponent’s offensive flow. So, while I am a fan of his ability to turn opponents over in fast paced situations, I’m still not sold on his overall outlook as a perimeter defender.
While I do think there’s a world where Shulga becomes a solid perimeter defender, I can’t say the same about his interior defense. He’s not a real vertical athlete, isn’t very strong, and doesn’t look incredibly willing to defend near the basket. He will occasionally stick with his man on a drive long enough to contest his shot, but rarely comes up with a block and often gives up the bucket. Obviously, this is far less important for him than his growth as a perimeter defender, but if he were slightly better in this department it would make his defensive outlook a little safer. All in all, I’m of the opinion that he still has a lot of work to do on this end of the floor but recognize that any player with Shulga’s feel for the game has a potentially positive defensive ceiling.
Summary:
Before I summarize Shulga’s game in its entirety, I want to list out any and all of his weaknesses. No player is perfect, with even the best players to ever play the game having long lists of weaknesses and flaws. As long as a player looks at their flaws as areas in need of improvement, their list will get shorter and shorter as they progress through their career. Let’s break down everything that Shulga should be looking to work on going forward:
Shulga has very little vertical pop, handicapping his game in multiple ways. It lowers his finishing ceiling, makes him more susceptible to getting blocked on jumpers, and limits his ability to make a legitimate impact on the defensive end.
He’s not great at finishing through contact, and he’s especially weak at fighting through traffic to get to the rim.
He needs to get better on his traditional pullup mid-range jump shots. At the moment he prefers turnaround jumpers from everywhere other than the baseline. That’s a far more difficult shot to consistently knock down at the next level.
His ability to knock down off-the-dribble attempts from beyond the arc could use a ton of work. His lack of consistency in this department limits how much time he can have the ball in his hands, which lowers his passing and playmaking ceiling tremendously.
He has really struggled at the free-throw line this season, knocking down only 71.7% of his attempts at the charity stripe. He hasn’t had this issue in the past so hopefully he’s facing a temporary slump, but if this persists throughout the season that would be very concerning.
His handle is super inconsistent. Sometimes it looks so sharp you’d think he’s ready to have the ball in his hands at the next level, and sometimes he dribbles straight into defenders several times in the same game. He desperately needs to polish this aspect of his game.
He’s a poor lateral mover who opposing teams target on half court possessions. I watched him get blown by several times against low major teams early in the season. That won’t fly at higher levels of the sport.
I question his motor on the defensive end. For a guy who already isn’t a spectacular defender it’s unacceptable to have lapses in effort and attention.
As much as I like his ability to play both guard positions, there are a few things (handle, finishing, on-ball shooting) that raise questions about his ability to consistently play both positions at the professional level. He may need to cement his position down the road.
I am of the opinion that Max Shulga is one of the most offensively polished and developed guards in all of college basketball. He does everything on the offensive end well and is even excellent in a few select areas. His ability to accelerate and decelerate on this way to the rim is elite, and he uses these pro-ready skills to strengthen his scoring at all three levels. When he dismantles a defense using his quick first-step he often finds easy scoring opportunities around the rim. This interior threat has led to him excelling on mid-range attempts. Both his finishing abilities and mid-range acumen force defenses to give him just enough space beyond the arc to shoot over 40% from deep. On top of all of that, he’s liable to finish with double-digit assists when defenders are tasked with hounding him. All in all, he’s a weapon in almost every facet of the offensive game, something that I believe will translate to at least some extent at the professional level.
Shulga falls short of being a bonafide draft pick when you consider his flaws. In my opinion, he’s not an NBA-level defender, so his offensive output must carry enough weight to outweigh the negative impact he could potentially have on this end. He’s a below average athlete, which raises questions about that offensive weight, and these questions seriously hurt his draft stock. Questions regarding his streaky shooting, his poor free-throw shooting, his inconsistent handle, and his two-way motor are commonplace when discussing his game. On top of all of that, he’s a fifth-year player who will be entering the league as he nears the end of his development. If organizations feel like he’s too old to grow in these areas, I could see him struggle to find a spot in the league.
With all of that being said, I firmly belong in the camp that believes Shulga is an NBA-caliber talent. He should, at the very least, be given a chance to prove himself in that league. I see no reason why he wouldn’t be able to hold his own as a scorer and passer; he’s simply too skilled to completely fall off a cliff in those areas. I also lean towards believing that his off-ball shooting, something that he already excels in, will look even better once he’s surrounded by professional talent. If a team’s culture and coaching can get the best out of him from a motor perspective, I think he could be decent enough on the defensive end based on his pesky tendencies and feel for the game to not be a complete liability. All in all, I see a very real path for Shulga to carve out an NBA career, which tends to be enough to get an older player drafted at some point in the second round.