Xu Xin Scouting Report

May 10, 2026

Chinese center Xu Xin could be one of the next international giants to arrive in the NCAA.

Parents are both basketball players.
Was a standout performer in Beijing’s “Chuying jihua” at the age of 13. Had the opportunity to study and play basketball in the US with club funded money.
He eventually turned down the offer and decided to join Guangdong’s youth academy.
- Fanbo Zeng, former G League Ignite and one-time Gonzaga commit, G-league ignite) was also in that year’s list of standout performers and decided to go.
First played professional basketball in 2021-2022.
Didn’t get a ton of opportunities through his first four seasons with Guangdong (~1000 mins through the four seasons).
Guangzhou acquired him on loan this season and he’s broken out, averaging 11 PTS, 8.3 REB (2.3o/6.0d), 0.7 AST on 1.2 TOV, 0.2 STL and 1.8 BLK in 24.7 minutes through 40 games.
Went undrafted in 2025.

The playoff games scouted were a three-game series between Guangzhou (his current team) and Guangdong (his previous team).

Guangzhou, the 12th seed, lost 1-2 to Guangdong, the 5th seed, with Guangdong advancing to top 8.

Rim protection:
- Portable across any team.
- Massive size and length are going to be a factor every single time when he’s in the paint.

Guarding in space:
- Can’t expect much from him in terms of mobility.
- Most likely, exclusively a drop big. Really on display in this series.
  - In G2, I think Xu tried to stepped out a little bit in ball screens and there were even possessions where they switched the ball screen. That didn’t end up well.
  - One of the first changes that Guangzhou’s coach, Nathaniel Mitchell, made in G3 was to play Xu in deep deep drop every single time, letting their guard fight through screens and leaving those midrange pullups open.
  - I think this is the right way to use him and it is probably going to be one of the limitations moving forward.
- He reminds me of Purdue’s Daniel Jacobsen, but I think he’s not as mobile as the USA big.
- He generally has a high center of gravity, being unable to really change pace or direction all that quickly and explosively.

Hip fluidity:
- Also not great, which is especially evident in pick-and-rolls where he needs to play the cat-and-mouse game.
- Very jumpy. Tends to over-commit. Can get manipulated a little too easily.
- When both of his feet are on the ground, as we can see in the last clip, I think he can flip his hips pretty impressively.

Guards with his hands down:
- Likes to put his hands down instead of using his size advantage. Must improve.
- Hilarious clip of him trying to reach for the ball back in transition and getting called for a foul. Then, both of their imports on the court instructed him to put his hands up.
- Worrying recurring issue for him, and it’s going to take some time for him to erase this bad habit.

Play finishing:
- Primarily a catch-and-finish big who can also feast off of offensive rebound putbacks.
- In those three playoff games, whenever his guards managed to feed him the ball down low, it was either a foul or two points.
  - Opposing team just did not have have the personnel and size to deal with him, which could be similar if he plays in NCAA.
- Not a a great finisher with excellent touch, but if he manages to establish position in the paint and you can throw it up to him, it should be an easy two for him to convert.

Offensive rebounds:
- Generate advantages on the offensive glass.
- Unique size is the major factor here.
- Way counter him here is by pushing him out of the paint because he’s not very strong at the moment.
- If he can bulk up a little bit, he will be more effective as a rebounder.

Free throws:
- Free throws look relatively promising.
- 72.6 FT% (98/135) this season and career 71.3 FT% (176/247) shooter, via RealGM. Very good for a player his size.
- Has not taken many floaters or short midranges, but the touch and release seems workable for that to eventually develop.
  - 1/10 3P this season after 0/1 in the four previous seasons combined

Short roll passing:
- Despite having a negative assist-to-turnover rate, I do think there may be something down the road as a short roll playmaker who can make very simple reads.

Playmaking reads:
- Passes are simple and predetermined.
- Too easily predictable and he doesn’t have any pass fakes.
- Can’t take an extra dribble to create passing angles either.
- Long way to go for his passing to be truly reliable.