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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 12: Nick Martinelli #2 of the Northwestern Wildcats celebrates in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers during the third round of the 2026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 12, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Nick Martinelli may look like an NBA prospect, but he doesn’t play like one.
Standing at 6-foot-7 and 223 pounds with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, the physical profile of the 22-year-old supersedes what NBA teams look for. But how Martinelli operates on the floor — with a heavy reliance on floaters, unorthodox mechanics and a scoring ability built around touch and his physical characteristics as opposed to athleticism — has alarmed made many talent evaluators.
Now at the end of his collegiate career, the questions still remain even as the production continued to grow.
The Player
After four years at Northwestern, the Glenbrook, Ill. native leaves Evanston as one of the most decorated players in program history. A two-time All-Big Ten selection, Martinelli logged 23.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 51.0/41.7/80.9 shooting splits in his senior season, winning the Big Ten scoring title for the second straight season while leading the conference in field goals made and attempts. He also finished fifth in the conference in player efficiency rating (PER) at a 25.5 while jumping from a .540 true shooting percentage in his junior year to a .602 as a senior.
Strengths
When arriving at campus in 2023, Martinelli was just a 200-pound freshman, only seeing playing time as an injury reserve. Four years later, he weighed in at 223 pounds at the combine and has taken full advantage of that strength every time he touches the ball in the paint. Watching him in person, his relentlessness around the basket stands out the most in a way the box score can’t quite capture. He doesn’t try to blow past or rise above defenders. Instead, he wears them down.
Take this possession from the NBA Draft Combine, for example. After swinging from the block to the left wing, Martinelli takes a pass and drives into his recovering defender’s chest, getting back to the block with ease before fighting through contact from help-side defense to convert on the layup and pick up a foul in the process. He offers the same energy when the ball is out of his hands too, racking up a 7.8 offensive rebound percentage this past season — a testament to his unrelenting competitiveness.
That physicality feeds directly into what may be his most transferable NBA quality: getting to the free throw line. His .418 free throw rate was the highest of his career while while he converted a career-high 80.9% clip, a significant jump from 72.8% as a junior.
In a league where getting to the line and making foul shots is as invaluable as ever, Martinelli’s free throw ability is automatic value for an NBA team, regardless of the role he’s in.
His three-point shooting numbers also deserve some recognition, even if they might cause some skepticism from scouts. After shooting an average of 32.2% from deep in his first three seasons with the ‘Cats, that number jumped up to 41.7% on 108 attempts in the 2025-26 season, both career highs.
Watching him live, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t surprised by this. His shooting form doesn’t exactly spark confidence. As a left-handed shooter, he brings the ball up on the right side of his body as his arms flail around during his release. But a lot of those shots did fall, forcing defenses to start accounting for him.
Martinelli connected on 39.7% of guarded catch-and-shoot shots. The shooting drills at the combine went well for Martinelli, as he shot 21-of-30 off the dribble — sixth amongst forwards, behind A.J. Dybantsa, Keyshawn Hall, Milan Momcilovic, Dailyn Swain and Nate Ament — and a solid 15-of-25 on spot-up threes, a surprising number given that the majority of his shots from deep were actually spot-up shots.
In the combine scrimmage, Martinelli scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 21 minutes, adding five rebounds to his statline. Despite a loss, his efficiency against high-level prospects who are projected ahead of him is worth something.
Weaknesses
As much as I’ve hyped up Martinelli’s three-point shooting, it is by far the most complicated aspect of his game to evaluate. Last season’s numbers were strong, but in all honesty, I’m more skeptical than I am optimistic on its ability to translate to the next level.
Projecting a shooter’s efficiency in an NBA setting that has a shorter shot clock, better athletes and tighter windows is always a hurdle for younger players adjusting to a more talented league. But with Martinelli, that risk is amplified by the fact that one strong season is doing a lot of work to make up for the previous three years of the opposite.
Production will naturally decline as he takes on a complementary role, which is to be expected with the vast majority of any draft class. The real question is if Martinelli will be able to adjust while operating with less. Martinelli led the Big Ten in usage rate at 31%, but there’s good reason to believe that he can handle the shift. His size and physicality to get to the basket doesn’t need big volume and a green light for him to be effective. Drawing fouls, cleaning up the offensive boards and throwing up his signature floater is useful within any role.
Defense is where he may struggle. The size is there, but the combined athletic testing suggests that there’s more to be desired in that aspect. His three-quarter sprint of 3.48 seconds and a standing vertical of 26.5 inches fell near the floor amongst combine participants, while his lane agility time of 11.01 seconds was in the middle of the pack. This brings some positional fit questions into focus. He doesn’t fit great as a four, and his speed could create problems as a three.
These are things that his physicality and competitiveness can’t solve alone.
Draft Outlook
The most realistic spot for Martinelli is late in the second round, with a ceiling of a mid-selection for a team wanting to buy on experience out of the gate with a two-way contract likely to follow. For a team that does take a swing at the Wildcat legend, they’d be banking on his foul-drawing ability and interior physicality, using his numbers from last season as proof that his shooting can hold at an efficient rate while banking on the belief that his defensive limitations can be managed in the right system.
That’s pretty good value for a late pick.
Martinelli has spent the last four years in one spot — a rarity in college sports today — doing things in his own unconventional way with some of the top production in one of college basketball’s best conferences.
The numbers show that Martinelli has the ability to grow as a player. Whether that can translate in a smaller role with world-class athletes is the biggest question for his draft projection.
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