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Sergio De Larrea boarded a flight to the United States for the first time in his life in late June.
The week before, the Dallas Mavericks traded up in the first round of the NBA Draft to acquire his rights.
A native of Valladolid, Spain, De Larrea had previously rebuffed opportunities to come to the U.S.
and play in college.
But after spending five years with the Spanish club Valencia Basket, De Larrea felt that the time was right to make the trek across the Atlantic Ocean.
Advertisement All my life, I think I choose the best option, De Larrea said.
Valencia was my option five years ago.
More or less, we felt that this year was the time to (take) the next step.
For that reason, I took this year as my year for going to the NBA.
While De Larrea is 20 years old and has lived stateside for only a few weeks, he performed well enough in four games at Las Vegas Summer League to raise the question of whether he can be a day-one contributor in Dallas.
De Larrea is unquestionably a gifted passer.
In the Mavericks July 13 summer-league game against the Memphis Grizzlies, De Larrea handed out 12 assists.
Three nights later, in Dallas win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, De Larrea dished 14 dimes, which was tied for the third-most by a player in a summer-league game ever.
Hes come in from day one with a great understanding of who he is, said Joe Boylan, the coach of the Mavericks summer-league team.
The lob passing.
The creative passing.
Going behind the back, through the legs.
I think thats kind of who he is.
The guy has played professional basketball at a high level already.
I think hes going to bring that to any game he plays.
If he was at Lifetime Fitness, I think hed be throwing those passes.
De Larrea loves throwing lob passes in particular.
On Thursday, he connected with bouncy big man Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu three times on alley-oops and found springy wing Tobi Lawal twice on lob-and-finish conversions.
De Larrea clearly has a sophisticated understanding of how to make plays out of the pick-and-roll, a skill one of his idols, Luka Doncic, also possesses.
De Larreas vision could get him onto the court this fall.
How he responds to NBA athleticism and physicality will determine if he can stay there.
The promising rookie will need to continue to develop his ballhandling ability and strength so he can get the Mavericks into their offense against some of the elite perimeter defenders in their division, such as the San Antonio Spurs Stephon Castle or the Thunders Cason Wallace.
De Larrea is listed at 202 pounds but looks like hes still filling out physically.
Here, the boys are stronger, De Larrea said.
I think thats the difference.
Advertisement De Larrea will also need to prove he can score enough to keep defenses honest.
He averaged eight points per game on 27.3 percent shooting from the field in Las Vegas.
At minimum, he will need to be able to knock down catch-and-shoot 3s.
He converted 40.7 percent of his 3-point looks last season at Valencia but went 4 of 20 from behind the arc in the desert.
He knows some of the things he has to work on, Boylan said.
Dealing with the physicality.
Shooting the ball from deep range.
Those will be points of emphasis we continue to work on in the summertime.
One of the positives about De Larrea, besides his feel for the game, is, at 6-foot-6, hes tall enough to play multiple positions.
The Mavericks want to roll out big, versatile lineups around star forward Cooper Flagg.
De Larrea fits into that plan.
De Larrea was the 25th selection in last months NBA Draft.
Its rare for a late first-round pick to be a part of an NBA teams rotation as a rookie, but De Larrea might have a chance to do that in Dallas.
The Mavericks were so starved for ballhandling last season, Flagg played heavy minutes at point guard.
Kyrie Irvings return to the floor this season will undoubtedly help a team that finished 27th in points scored per 100 possessions last year.
But the Mavericks will also need to be mindful of the mileage they put on Irvings body.
The nine-time All-Star turns 35 years old in March and is coming off major knee surgery.
Depending on how quickly De Larrea can adapt, the Mavericks could ask him to relieve Irving or even play alongside the star guard in an effort to keep the offense flowing.
Morez Johnson Jr: High-floor player The No.
9 pick in Junes NBA Draft, Johnson played in two games for the Mavericks in Las Vegas before he was shut down with a left calf injury.
Overall, Johnson performed well.
He showed why the Mavericks new front office valued him so much in his debut in Las Vegas, scoring 27 points to go along with eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
If theres one thing to know about Johnsons game, its that he has a serious motor.
Johnson projects as a player whos going to set bone-crunching screens, compete for every rebound and run the floor like a deer.
Advertisement I think Morez just brings such a consistency to the team, Boylan said.
There is just that high floor.
The Mavericks chose Johnson with what could be their last lottery pick for several years, even though they already had a surplus of power forwards and centers on their roster.
Notably, Dallas picked Johnson one spot ahead of Brayden Burries, the one-and-done guard from Arizona whom the Milwaukee Bucks selected at No.
10.
That decision was a declaration that, under president Masai Ujiri, the Mavericks will take the best player available as opposed to a player who fills a positional need.
Dallas front office believed in Johnsons potential to be a defensive game-wrecker who can guard one through five and protect the basket.
The selection was also about Johnsons mindset.
Its not always about position, Mavericks general manager Mike Schmitz said on draft night.
A lot of it is about mentality and what are you bringing from an intangibles standpoint and a competitiveness standpoint.
Hes a home run in all those areas.
Schmitzs history with Kao In 2021, Schmitz took a trip to Arlington, Texas.
He was there to watch Akobundu-Ehiogu, a 6-foot-10 big man who was one of the most explosive leapers in all of college basketball.
Long and rangy athlete with elite bounce, Schmitz, who then was an analyst with the scouting service DraftExpress, wrote on social media.
Vertical spacer with Sun Belt DPOY potential.
Incredible trajectory as a former walk-on.
Akobundu-Ehiogu averaged 2.4 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game in college.
He went undrafted in 2023 and has spent the last three years playing professionally in Italy and Spain.
A native Nigerian who spent part of high school in Mesquite, Texas, Akobundu-Ehiogu remains a serious leaper.
On Thursday, he threw down alley-oop dunks on three consecutive possessions.
His best moment was a one-handed flush of Vsevolod Ishchenkos 50-foot lob pass.
The long distance lob.
The extension to catch it.
The one-handed finish https://t.co/RHoFB7gegh pic.twitter.com/jVloNAJ6ps NBA (@NBA) July 16, 2026 Akobundu-Ehiogu is so bouncy, he can literally touch the top of the backboard.
Its unclear if the Mavericks will try to hang onto him as a two-way player this upcoming season.
If nothing else, he was a fun addition to the teams summer-league roster.