2026 NBA Draft: Milan Momcilovic Scouting Notes
Thoughts on the Iowa State three-point shooter.
HEIGHT: 6-foot-8
WINGSPAN: N/A
WEIGHT: 225 pounds
BIRTHDAY: September 22, 2004
TEAM: Iowa State
After an unprecedented 16–0 start to the season, the Iowa State Cyclones hit a rough patch with back-to-back losses. However, they quickly found their rhythm and now sit at 20–2, ranked No. 8 in the nation.
Through this run of games, Joshua Jefferson generated some well-deserved buzz as Iowa State’s best player - but another overlooked pillar of this team is Milan Momcilovic.
Momcilovic provides reliable offensive firepower almost every night as the Cyclones’ leading scorer and the best three-point shooter in Division I basketball.
He is in the middle of an all-time great shooting season, knocking down four threes per game at an otherworldly 54% clip.
In just 28.9 minutes per game through the first 22 games, Milan Momcilovic is averaging 18.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.3 blocks on 55/54/88 shooting splits. That comes on less than 1 turnover a night.
To begin with, Momcilovic is an unbelievable shooter. The Iowa State prospect’s shooting numbers are incredible, as he has converted 53.3 3P% (90/169) while taking 14.4 threes per 100 possessions.
From 2021-2026, the only shooter to have made 60 ore more threes in one season that comes close is Reed Sheppard (2024), when he shot 52.1 3P%.
There’s just nothing to nitpick about Momcilovic’s jumper. The release looks very fluid and repeatable. His feet tend to be pointing a little left to the basket so that the shooting shoulder is squared to the rim while the body is not, making sure that he’s not shooting across his body.
Momcilovic primarily uses the 1-2 step before he catches, which helps him keep the dribble alive when an aggressive closeout comes. He also excels at sidesteps to encourage fly-bys.
Momcilovic is at his best spotting up, though he’s also very capable at movement shots. Maybe this is influenced by the sets they run in Iowa State, but it feels to me that guys like Isaiah Evans or Solo Ball are more dynamic shooters who can fire off crazy off-ball motion. Momcilovic is used more in situations that require smaller and subtler movements.
This doesn’t really matter because of how tall he is (6-foot-8) and his high release point. Smaller shooters might need a lot of movement to separate and create some space, but Momcilovic can just shoot over the top of defenders.
We’ve seen Iowa State run some actions to utilize this, and he can definitely bring some scoring versatility from the three-point line for an NBA team.
One special thing about Momcilovic is that he does not drive much to the rim when attacking closeouts like most shooters do. Because of his limited burst, strength and handle, he likes to turn drives into post-ups and attacks with his back to the basket instead.
The 21-year-old can get into a hook if he gets into the paint, or use a Dirk-ish one-legged fadeaway to shoot a midrange over the top of the defender. Momcilovic’s touch is very natural and he tends to convert those shots at a decent rate (47.5% on 29/61). I don’t think he’ll back down players as easily in the NBA unless he improves his strength, though.
At this point of his development, Momcilovic remains a very one-dimensional player. That’s probably the reason why he doesn’t get more draft buzz. Scouts and teams will wonder what else he can do besides shooting.
I have serious defensive concerns, especially regarding his on-ball defense. At 6-8, he has much less defensive versatility than most NBA players his size. He doesn’t move his feet well and can’t really contain smaller guards or wings. Momcilovic also isn’t strong enough to defend bigger and slower wings.
To hide his footspeed issues, Iowa State usually puts him on off-ball shooters, but I don’t think Momcilovic is very good at navigating screens either. Due to his lack of physical tools, the margin for error is very small. He can’t really recover or alter shots, which includes after closeouts.
Otherwise, Momcilovic is not a terrible on-ball defender in terms of effort. But he will need the right matchup to stay on the court because of his physical and athletic limitations.
I think he could potentially figure things out down the line. At least, the Cyclones shooter has decent size. That really showed up in the help defense clips, where I think he’s not at all a liability in the system. He generally knows where to be, especially as a low man, and he can wall up drives with verticality while challenging shots.
Going forward, the swing skill for Momcilovic to succeed in the NBA is his defense. One possible path for him is to become stronger to increase his matchup versatility and guard up some 3/4s. Iowa State is only putting him on skinnier wing players, rather than wings/forwards.
If he can hold up defensively, there’s a legit path for Momcilovic to be a bench floor spacer.
— This post was written by Harry Zhang.
Xiaohan Zhang, Harry, is a basketball lover who studied anthropology in Hong Kong. He is dreaming of becoming a scout.
Article edited by Wilko Martínez-Cachero.
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one of those guys that’s so good at what he does he can break the mold if he just becomes passable. It obviously helps he’s 6’8. As for alijah arenas, I’ll post my comment on him tommorrow. Just really flexible, ridiculous length at 7’0.