The Great UCLA Basketball Roster Shuffle 2023 Recap

We finally seemingly have an idea of what UCLA's roster will look like next year.

Mick Cronin will be without Jaime Jaquez for the first time in his UCLA tenure, as the Bruin great is off to the NBA. (Photo credit: @UCLAMBB)

---

I have been writing this article on and off for the last few months, because every time it feels like I have a handle on what is going on with UCLA basketball, a new curveball gets thrown. So now that we’re in the middle of July and things finally look like they’re slowing down, let’s take a look at who’s gone, who’s returning, and who all the new faces will be next year for UCLA.

Gone Pro

• Jaime Jaquez (1st round draft pick - Miami Heat)

• Amari Bailey (2nd round draft pick - Charlotte Hornets)

• Jaylen Clark (2nd round draft pick - Minnesota Timberwolves)

• David Singleton (UDFA deal with Atlanta Hawks)

• Tyger Campbell (Summer League contract with Orlando Magic)

Well, that’s a lot of talent gone.

There were a lot of questions about which of these players would be gone all in the lead-up to the NBA draft cutoff date. For the most part, it was assumed that Jaime Jaquez and David Singleton were done at UCLA, with Jaquez looking the part of a borderline 1st round pick while Singleton had just reached a natural endpoint for his college career, where he could go off and be a pro for a few years before eventually becoming a coach as everyone assumes. That has mostly stayed true to form - Jaquez worked his way up to be the #18 pick in the NBA Draft, while Singleton signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Atlanta Hawks (this essentially gives the Hawks the first right to add Singleton to a G League or two-way contract before the season).

Amari Bailey and Jaylen Clark were two of the three big question marks following the season, and both of them ultimately decided to stay in the draft and end their UCLA careers. It’s an understandable decision for both players. For Clark, he now gets to rehab from a torn Achilles in a professional environment with a team that can seemingly afford to give him the proper amount of time to do so properly. For Bailey, considering what UCLA is bringing in I think this ultimately was the best choice for his pro prospects; he would have undoubtedly been the top dog next year, but I don’t know really know if the Bruins will have the personnel that would have truly unlocked his playmaking ability, especially with the amount of large bodies in the middle the Bruins will be trotting out this coming year. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Bailey looked his best once Clark went down with his injury, as it led to more minutes for Singleton and Darren Andrews as outside threats while Bailey was able to slash to his heart’s content. He ends up on a young team in Charlotte where he should have a good shot at making it on the roster and developing alongside the other young pieces.

The last piece here that is interesting to discuss is Tyger Campbell. The prevailing thought throughout the year was that this would be Campbell’s last year in college and that he would try his hand as a professional after this season, but rumors started to swirl following the end of the UCLA season that Campbell could look to play one more college season, either at UCLA or somewhere else willing to pay some NIL money. The rumor made some sense, as it feels more likely that Campbell would make more money on a NIL deal than what he could potentially make in Europe or in the G League, but ultimately the original plan played out. Campbell is now signed to a summer league contract with the Orlando Magic, and perhaps with a good performance he could land a G League contract out of it.

Transferred Out

• Abramo Canka (to Wake Forest)

• Mac Etienne (in the transfer portal)

Both of these transfers seem to be as much about roster crunch as anything else. Both Canka and Etienne were getting minimal minutes already, and UCLA is bringing in multiple players at their positions, meaning the fight for minutes was going to be tougher.

Of the two, Canka seems like it could be the bigger long-term loss. He showed a solid shooting stroke and good size that allowed him to be a solid defender, but it was very clear from the outset that he was behind the eight-ball as far as learning the system as he got to UCLA much later than everyone else. He never really got a consistent run while at UCLA, so we’ll see how it goes for him in the ACC.

With Etienne, he just never got things going in his three years at UCLA. Injuries played a part of that, as he lost a year to a knee injury and was still working his way back from that injury last year. It also did not help his case that he was clearly getting outplayed by Kenneth Nwuba, who is not exactly a world-beater at center. Etienne showed flashes of solid play but they were few and far between, and by the end of his UCLA tenure he was mostly in the game just to give five fouls. He has yet to land at a new program, though I would expect him to end up back on the east coast.

Look Who’s Back (Back Again)

• Adem Bona

• Dylan Andrews

• Kenneth Nwuba

• Will McClendon

That’s not a lot of returning bodies! Only one starter, one real rotation piece, and two guys who struggled for minutes as coach Mick Cronin routinely went to a short bench.

This is not to say these guys are bums. Far from it. Bona is going to return as one of the bigger names in college basketball next year, a guy who won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and looked like a defensive force throughout the season. I think he will initially start out as the starting big in the middle, but with the talent UCLA is bringing in it would not shock me to see Cronin take advantage of Bona’s athleticism and put him out at the four. I think he’ll be in the running for conference Player of the Year honors, and at the very least will look to compete for DPoY after making the all-conference defensive team this past year.

Andrews is in line for the biggest jump in production. With Campbell gone, this will very clearly be his team to run from the point guard position, and for as great a Bruin as Campbell has been over his UCLA career, I think Andrews has a higher upside, with a ton of athleticism and length enabling him to be a great defender with twitchy handles. I think there will be a bit of a learning curve as far as controlling the pace to Cronin’s liking, but he’ll have plenty of runway to learn the ropes.

For Nwuba and McClendon, things will be interesting. I think Nwuba will likely see fewer minutes just due to the new depth that UCLA has at the center position, but he’ll be an invaluable piece during practices and integrating a lot of new pieces into Cronin’s program. McClendon, meanwhile, will have something of a “prove-it” season; this will be his first full offseason healthy after an ACL injury robbed him of his first year and two months last season, and he clearly has the trust of the coaching staff, but it became pretty evident that he was not ready for that level of minutes last year, with a shot that never showed up in games and being a step slow on defense. UCLA will have more options on the wing, so McClendon will have to prove he can perform during games to justify getting minutes.

Transfers In

• Lazar Stefanovic (junior from Utah)

Of all the new players coming to UCLA this year, Stefanovic is the most interesting one to me. He’s the only transfer brought in by Cronin this year (though not for lack of trying), and based on the current roster construction it looks like he’ll be set to be the starting small forward to begin the season. He’s an interesting player, with solid size and shooting stroke that UCLA could desperately use this coming year. Stefanovic averaged 10.2 PPG last year at Utah, including shooting 36% from three (on 4.8 attempts per game). More importantly, he’ll bring a veteran presence that the team is sorely lacking, with him having the most collegiate minutes played of anyone on the team by a wide margin.

But on the flip side, Stefanovic definitely feels like the potential weak link of the Bruins’ theoretical starting lineup. It’s hard to get a gauge on how talented he is because he spent two years in Utah, but I don’t remember being overly impressed with him whenever UCLA played the Utes, and a perusal of this past season shows a player who had great performances against the elite teams in the conference. Perhaps he’ll look better on a team with much more talent than he played with in Utah, but there is a bit of a worry about whether he can produce to the level the Bruins may require.

Officially New Freshmen

• Sebastian Mack

• Devin Williams

• Brandon Williams

• Ilane Fibleuil

• Jan Vide

Let’s knock two of these out of the way quickly. I can’t see either Williams cracking the rotation this year, and that’s fine. Devin Williams will have three guys ahead of him at the center spot, none of whom are likely to be here after this season, so this will be a good development year for him. Same with Brandon Williams, who will get to sit behind a couple of players at the 3/4 spot before likely jumping into those spots the following year.

Sebastian Mack has the best shot of the three incoming high school players of making the rotation simply because he is a walking bucket that defends at a solid level for his position. The biggest thing going against him is the simple fact that he’ll be a true freshman, and Mick Cronin seems to have a short leash for the freshmen in his program. There was a bit of concern around the program as to whether Mack was going to make it to campus near the end, but he’s currently on campus and practicing with the team, so those fears appear to be overblown.

That said, Mack is going to be in a fight for minutes thanks to the last two names on this list. With domestic recruiting struggling and a host of scholarships opening up, coach Cronin and his staff turned to the international scene to fill out the roster, and have seemingly come up with a host of talented players to bolster the lineup. Two of them have officially signed their letters of intent, with Ilane Fibleuil and Jan Vide officially joining the program, and Fibleuil already on campus practicing.

Fibleuil looks poised to take the shooting guard spot opposite Dylan Andrews and for good reason. The French guard was one of the leaders of France’s U-17 team that placed 3rd at the FIBA U-17 World Cup, which is where he showed off his athleticism and shooting ability to the world. Initially, he was profiled as more of a slashing guard, utilizing a quick first step and solid ballhandling to get to the rim, but he has shown major improvement in his shooting, to the point where he could easily be described as a three-level scorer. He also shows as an excellent defender on tape, showcasing a Clark-level of off-ball instincts while utilizing his size and speed to harass on-ball. There is a decent chance he ends up as a one-and-done when this is all over, but at the very least he should be a major contributor on both ends this season.

Jan Vide is the other international recruit who has officially joined UCLA at this point, and he similarly should be a solid contributor right out of the gate for the Bruins. Vide is not on campus yet because he was busy playing in the FIBA U-19 tournament for Slovenia where he took on lead guard duty, similar to what he had been doing for Real Madrid this past year. Vide is a crafty scorer with good size and sneaky quickness that allows him to get downhill in a hurry, and he excels at running the pick-and-roll, which is a staple of the current game. While Andrews has the starting job locked down, I think Vide is in line to take over the backup PG minutes, and could also see some minutes at the two (one of the ideal outcomes may be Vide taking over as the two and Fibleuil sliding down to the three).

Strongly Rumored Additions

• Aday Mara

• Berke Buyuktuncel

And now for the last two, which I am putting in this spot because neither has officially signed with UCLA for different reasons.

Let’s start with Mara, the Spanish 7-3 center who has been playing for Casademont Zaragoza. Reports are that he has essentially given his commitment to UCLA, but nothing has been made official yet as Mara is stuck in a legal battle with his former club in Zaragoza about terminating his contract. That said, it is expected that situation will be resolved in the next month and Mara will join the team by August.

This is going to sound wild at first, but Mara’s best pro comp at the moment might be Nikola Jokic. Don’t laugh, come back and I’ll explain. Defensively, Mara is not the best, as he’s still a bit slow and lumbering in his movements. His size means he’s never going to be a negative on that end, but he’s definitely not someone you’d love to get involved in pick-and-roll actions on the outside. Offensively, however, Mara shines. He’s an elite finisher at the rim and has shown a developing shot that is fairly good from the midrange and is improving from distance. But his big skill is his passing; much like Jokic, Mara is able to warp opposing defenses simply due to his passing ability, as teams cannot simply collapse on him out of fear that he’ll make the correct read, which he nearly always does. It’s this passing ability in a 7-3 frame that will likely have Mara as a potential lottery pick as teams continue to look for their own version of Jokic that can become matchup nightmares. While I imagine UCLA will start by using Bona and Mara in a rotation, the thought of them on the floor at the same time is tantalizing, as Bona is the kind of hyper-athletic defensive center that can cover for Mara’s shortcomings on that end, while Mara is an offensive force that can easily set Bona up for easy buckets.

But that is compounded a bit by the final name on this list, as UCLA had long been rumored to be in discussions with one last international prospect, and then word finally broke last week that the prospect in question was Buyuktuncel, a 6-9 power forward from Turkey. Buyuktuncel just had an outstanding showing at the FIBA U-19 tournament, where he led Turkey to a third-place finish, defeating the USA in that third-place game in part due to a 19-point, four-rebound, and five-assist performance from the Turkish forward. He’s as close to a Jaime Jaquez replacement as you’re going to find, having a crafty offensive game with a knack for scoring in a variety of ways, while showing a high defensive intensity (in that game against the USA, he also had two steals and two blocks). He likely slots into the starting lineup almost immediately and gives Cronin plenty of options as to how he approaches his lineup construction.

One Last Departure

• Ivo Simovic (hired as an assistant coach for Toronto Raptors)

The huge shift towards international recruiting, and the tremendous success the program saw on that front, can be laid at the feet of coach Simovic, who was brought in to accomplish this goal and was wildly successful in that regard. It’s why it came as such a big blow that Simovic was hired away to the NBA last month, as international recruiting is starting to look like the major zag that coach Mick Cronin is employing in this new NIL era, and Simovic was the major force behind that push. His departure obviously leaves UCLA with a hole on the coaching staff that they need to fill, but given how important Simovic has been in this last recruiting cycle the choice of his replacement feels even more critical than normal.

Go Bruins!

---

Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.