Among Real Madrid’s summer moves, which have seen the club lose major names such as Mario Hezonja and Trey Lyles ahead of next season, one addition stands out in particular because of how little known he is to European basketball fans. Enter Maksym Shulga, the 1.94-meter, 24-year-old Ukrainian combo guard who is one of six signings confirmed so far by the team that will be coached by Pedro Martínez next season.
Yet as surprising as his name may be, there is one important reason why Shulga has arrived at a club of Real Madrid’s stature: he is a homegrown player in Spain.
Under Liga Endesa regulations, every team must have at least four “Locally Developed Players” on its roster for each game. They do not necessarily have to be Spanish. Instead, the designation applies to players who developed their basketball skills in Spain. Specifically, those who, between their second year of the U14 age group (13-14) and their second year of senior (19-20), were registered with a club affiliated with the Spanish Basketball Federation for at least three seasons, whether consecutive or not.
That is a requirement Max —as he is better known— Shulga comfortably meets, having spent as many as six seasons playing in Spain.
At just 11 years old, the Ukrainian packed his bags to pursue his basketball dream abroad. His father, FIBA referee Boris Shulga, had a close relationship with another Spanish international referee, Vicente Bultó, and that connection led him to an unusual destination for a young Ukrainian prospect: León. Shulga moved to the city and enrolled at Colegio Leonés, a prestigious school with a long tradition of developing basketball talent.
“He was very short and very slight. And he was a little lost during his first year because he didn’t speak any Spanish at all. He said he understood what you told him, but that wasn’t really true…” jokes Luis Castillo, the current head coach of Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, the city’s main sports club, and a key figure during Shulga’s years at Colegio Leonés, where he coached him for several seasons.
The Ukrainian would be four years in León before moving to Madrid, where he spent two more seasons with Torrelodones. From there, he headed to the NCAA. “He was already called up by Castilla y León for the Spanish Championship at U14, although he wasn’t selected at U15 because he didn’t have a particularly good season,” Castillo recalls. “He had a major problem defensively. It was difficult for him because, even though he wanted to defend, physically he just couldn’t. He was very small,” he adds.
“However, in the summer of 2017, just before his U16 season, he underwent a major physical transformation,” the coach explains. “Especially in terms of maturity. When he came back, you could already see that he was a different player. In fact, I remember calling the Castilla y León federation several times to tell them they needed to come and watch him because he was a completely different player,” he continues.
That was when Shulga, still a youth player, truly exploded. He became a dominant force for Colegio Leonés, leading the team to the regional championship and earning a place at the national tournament.
“He had an outstanding Castilla y León championship, including an incredible semifinal against Tizona Burgos. We were down eight with a minute left, and I think it’s the only time in my life I’ve told a player: ‘Take the ball and win it yourself.’ He hit three three-pointers in the final minute and we won. Then he had another great game in the final against Valladolid and we became champions. So we went to the Spanish Championship, where we lost in the round of 16 to Estudiantes, but, for example, he scored 42 points against Cáceres in the group stage,” Castillo recalls.
Shulga’s outstanding performance at the national tournament opened the door to the next step in his development, as he moved to Torrelodones to complete his formative years.
“He used to tell me that he was really excited about playing against Real Madrid or Estudiantes,” Castillo recalls. The coach does believe, however, that “when he left, he lost a little bit of focus academically. Here, we kept a very close eye on his studies.”
After two years at Torrelodones, Shulga headed to the NCAA, where he spent three seasons at Utah State and two more at Virginia Commonwealth. He was selected 57th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic before being traded to the Boston Celtics, paving the way for his eventual move to Real Madrid.
But, given that journey, he remains something of an unknown quantity in Europe. He has yet to make his senior debut for Ukraine, although he did represent his country at U18 and U20 level.
Castillo, however, knows exactly what the Ukrainian guard is capable of.
“He’s a talent, and he has a great imagination when he plays, especially in the pick-and-roll. He’s not a conventional shooter. He’s not Jaycee Carroll, who I’ve seen him compared to, but he’s much more of a ball-handler. He can pass really well and put the ball wherever he wants. He was already doing that very naturally at that age. And if you go under screens against him, he’ll knock down the shot. Another one of his strengths is that his percentages are good because he doesn’t force shots. And then he has a layup that is very similar to Ricky Rubio’s, with that extension,” his former coach explains.
Castillo also points out that Shulga “has improved a lot defensively in the NCAA, which is an area where Pedro Martínez will certainly demand a lot from him.”
Indeed, Shulga’s defense was a source of frustration for his former coach on more than one occasion. But the young guard’s determination eventually produced an anecdote that Castillo now recalls with a smile.
“His first cadet year, U15, was when we had the most arguments, but they were all about defense. And he would always tell me, ‘Luis, don’t worry, I will play in the NBA.’ I’d tell him to get to work, and the truth is that whenever he wasn’t practicing, he was always out in the school residence courtyard shooting baskets. He knew exactly what he wanted to become. And although he was a late bloomer physically, he always had the skill, the desire and the talent to play and create,” Castillo remembers.
That skinny kid did indeed make it to the NBA, appearing in five games for the Boston Celtics last April and becoming the first player in Colegio Leonés history to do so.
Now, his move to Real Madrid will add another chapter to the prestigious school’s history. At the Spanish giants, however, he will have to adapt immediately to the demands of EuroLeague basketball.
“He can comfortably play either the one or the two, but at Madrid he’ll probably be more of a two alongside Campazzo, Feliz or Maledon. But he’s a player who needs the ball. He’s not just a finisher; he needs to have the ball in his hands to create because he’s a very unselfish player,” Castillo explains. The coach also describes him as someone “capable of doing almost everything on the court, because he also rebounds very well for a player his size.”
More than a decade has passed since Max Shulga arrived in León chasing a dream that, given his slight frame, was not an easy one to believe in. Through hard work and determination, he made it happen.
Now, the next challenge of his career is hardly less daunting than making it to the NBA. Carving out a role in Real Madrid’s deep backcourt rotation will be anything but easy.
But the Ukrainian will surely approach it with the same conviction he showed all those years ago when Luis Castillo was getting on his case about his defense.
“Don’t worry. I can do it.”
