Juan Núñez, pearl of Real Madrid, goes to Germany

Life moves fast for

.

In just a few months, and with just coming of age, he has played the

final with

;

he has been

against rivals two years older;

and he has made his debut with the

.

But not even that speed is sometimes enough to save the precipice that separates the white subsidiary in

(Spanish fourth division), from the first team, which aspires to the top in Europe.

And without a clear future in Goya, Núñez has decided to take the door.

The point guard leaves for

.

Núñez

and it was seen at the crossroads that so many homegrown players found before.

He is one of the great promises of Spanish basketball, a point guard with a vision of the game and a suggestive style reminiscent of the first

.

But his undeniable talent doesn't assure him a spot in the rotation.

Not even in a course that the whites will start with

and perhaps

injured.

For all that promise of the future, the reality of Juan Núñez was the 180 minutes he played in 32 games.

.

Only in five did he reach ten.

18

he still needs to work on his defense and shooting.

And in the current context, where the big teams put together increasingly longer squads to face calendars of more than eighty games, it does not give them a stable niche.

That is the situation in which Juan Núñez ended his contract with Real Madrid this summer.

He prepared for much more than the EBA League subsidiary, but not to play regularly in an all-round contender in the

.

The man from Madrid had a renewal offer on the table, but in the background there was a buzz (in a recent interview with '

', he left his continuity up in the air) that now crystallizes with his departure to Ratiopharm Ulm.

Exodus in the white quarry

With the doors of the ACB 'closed' due to the right of first refusal, Núñez will take the next step in a trampoline team from Germany: in recent years

have passed through there on their way to the

.

It is a showcase where he will have what he needs at this point in his career, safe minutes in an intermediate step (

).

Núñez is the last pearl of the Real Madrid academy that will seek better fortune abroad.

In recent months, six players from the team that won the Junior EuroLeague in 2021 have left the club.

Before the man from Madrid,

(Cartagena),

(Partizan),

(UCAM Murcia), Baba Miller (Florida State University) and

(University of Arizona).

Debut with the national team

"I was at home and Carlos Jiménez called me", Juan Núñez recounted these days, he too surprised by his first call-up with the senior team.

Other factors besides talent have rowed in his favor.

It was a prize for his great

, but also an ideal moment to give him some rope.

Without

, Carlos Alocén (injured), or

(retired from the national team), the point guard position was limping.

Through the same hole that Lorenzo Brown entered, Juan Núñez entered.

Núñez made his debut last Thursday against

in what is still his home, the

.

Just over seven minutes in which he missed the two shots he attempted, he grabbed a rebound and dished out an assist.

It is taken for granted that his presence is provisional, that the two safe places in the point guard position are for Brown, nationalized on purpose for the Eurobasket, and

, world champion in 2019.

can lend a hand as a third option, and even

if he finally gets the ticket.

But meanwhile, Núñez has passed the first two cuts.

The player from Madrid is one of the

this weekend

for the first of the two matches that Spain will play against

.

The first will be tonight (7:30 p.m.) and the second will be on Thursday in

(6:30 p.m.).

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• eurobasketball