Milos Uzan Plans To Return To Houston If He Doesn’t Get Guaranteed NBA Money — a PaperCity Exclusive

This is a big week for Milos Uzan, a life changing one. One way or the other. Milos and his dad Mike Uzan are in Chicago for the NBA Draft Combine, seven days of drills, skill tests, scrimmages, measurements and interviews with teams that started on Sunday. Many have assumed that Milos Uzan isn’t coming back to play point guard at the University of Houston, that he’s committed to chasing his NBA dream this upcoming season almost no matter what.

Mike Uzan emphatically tells PaperCity that’s not the case.

“We’re only leaving for guaranteed money,” Mike Uzan says. “There’s no wish upon a star and hope we get there type of thing, No. It’s got to be guaranteed. It’s a good situation at Houston. We like Houston. We like Coach (Kelvin) Sampson and the whole family. Los loves Coach Sampson. Treasures him dearly.

“It’s not that we’re trying to get out of there. He’s just trying to fulfill his dream. And if it ain’t guaranteed, theres’s no point in doing it.”

While NBA teams are only required to give guaranteed contracts to first round picks, second round picks getting guaranteed money is becoming more and more common as the league embraces young “cheaper” labor in a supersized salary era. The top 40 picks in last year’s NBA Draft all received at least two years of guaranteed money. But only six of the 18 picks between 41 and 58 to complete the second round got guaranteed contracts. Three of those six — former UH point guard Jamal Shead (pick No. 45 to the Toronto Raptors), University of Minnesota guard Cam Christie (pick No. 46 to the Los Angeles Clippers) and Bronny James (pick No. 55 to the Los Angeles Lakers) received two seasons of guaranteed money in their first deals as second round picks.

Mike Uzan says his son will withdraw his name from the NBA Draft by the NCCA’s May 28th deadline to do so and return to play next season for UH if the Uzans aren’t given assurances that the 6-foot-4 point guard will get a guaranteed contract if he stays in the draft.

“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Mike Uzan tells PaperCity when asked if returning to play at UH remains a real possibility. “For sure. Sampson knows that. Everybody there knows that. That’s not a secret. That’s not a secret at all. And those guys have been outstanding with the support as far as that’s concerned.

“They made it clear that our dream is their dream. They want to help as much as possible in the process. They’ve been helping. And so absolutely. Houston’s home.”

Mike Uzan believes that should be driven home by Milos Uzan’s decision to only enter the NBA Draft, rather than the draft and the NCAA transfer portal as a number of college basketball stars have done.

“We didn’t even consider getting in the portal,” he says. “That wasn’t even a thought. And I’m sure that there was a lot of money out there for him. You know how much college basketball has changed now.

“There’s a lot of money out there for him. But that’s not the case for us.”

Mike Uzan coached his son coming up in Las Vegas and at Dessert Pines High School where Milos Uzan led his team to the state championship game. This is a father who knows the game and has trained a number of high-level players.

The Milos Uzan Houston Transformation

Milos Uzan is in position to reach his NBA dream and get a guaranteed rookie contract because of his one year at Houston last season, when he went from an unproven talent to the point guard of a team that came within a basket of winning the national championship. A strong showing in this week’s NBA Draft Combine could solidify Uzan as a Top 40 pick and give UH another player in the league with Uzan joining Shead, Marcus Sasser, Quentin Grimes and Jarace Walker in the growing Houston NBA fraternity.

Uzan getting drafted after one transformative season at Houston could be the greatest advertisement yet for Kelvin Sampson’s next level player development program.

The Sampsons know that putting players in the NBA is a significant sign of an elite program. The dream for basketball players, almost across the board, is not to star in college basketball. It’s to make it in the NBA. This UH program is committed to that too. No one in Houston’s program tried to discourage Milos Uzan from going through the NBA Draft process.

“There’s just got to be a time in your year when guys are allowed to be selfish,” UH assistant coach Kellen Sampson tells PaperCity. “We ask these guys to be so selfless from June to April. April and May, they’ve got to be selfish. That’s got to be OK.

“While it leaves you a little bit in limbo, he earned the right to go see. We owe it to him to be unbelievably supportive and be unbelievably resourceful for him. Help him seek the answers he needs.”

“We’re only leaving for guaranteed money. There’s no wish upon a star and hope we get there type of thing. No. It’s got to be guaranteed. It’s a good situation at Houston. We like Houston. We like Coach (Kelvin) Sampson and the whole family. Los loves Coach Sampson. Treasures him dearly.” — Mike Uzan on his son Milos Uzan’s NBA Draft decision

The early answers for Milos Uzan have been NBA encouraging. Uzan is ranked No. 43 in ESPN’s latest NBA Draft rankings. More significantly, only 75 players receive NBA Draft Combine invites and Uzan snagged one.

“They like him, they like him a lot,” Mike Uzan says of the feedback his son has been receiving from NBA teams. “. . . He’s been getting some good feedback. And his game is more suited for an NBA style game because of the more space.”

The NBA Draft Workout Plan

Before getting to Chicago, Milos Uzan already worked out for the San Antonio Spurs, the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets. He’s been training and working on his game in Sacramento with trainers from his agency. Uzan shot a career-high 42.8 percent from 3-point range in his one season at Houston, but his team believes he still can become a better shooter, which will open more room for his floaters in the lane.

Milos Uzan remembers a practice early in his run at Houston when Kelvin Sampson stopped things and declared, “Milos is a 45 percent shooter from three.”

“That meant a lot coming from him,” Milos Uzan tells PaperCity. “Because I hadn’t shot like that my second season at Oklahoma. But he was showing he had confidence in the shooter I was. He talked about how I shot when I wasn’t rushed or in an end of clock situation.

“He builds up your confidence too.”

One thing is certain as far as Mike Uzan is concerned. A team that drafts his son will be getting a fierce competitor who’s driven to keep improving.

“He’s always been a competitor,” Mike Uzan says. “That’s never been a question. He’s always been a dog. He’s always played hard. He’s the youngest of a basketball family that’s all won state championships and had high success in basketball.

“If he’s not a competitor, I don’t know what the hell is.”

When Milos Uzan completes this NBA Combine Week, he and his dad plan to consult Kelvin Sampson again before making any final decision on staying or withdrawing from the draft. They will lean on Sampson’s deep NBA connections and the plethora of decision makers in the league who will tell UH’s basketball lifer of a coach the real truth.

“He’s made it clear that he’ll make sure that whatever they tell us is fact and not false,” Mike Uzan tells PaperCity. “So he’s been great to us, man. His experience, his knowledge, his connections have all been great for us.”

This is a monumental week for Milos Uzan. Two potential paths, nothing but good choices.

“The truth of it is if we’re fortunate enough to get him back, I want him to have zero regrets,” Kellen Sampson says.

Milos Uzan’s future path seems clear. But it’s still open to change.