Lazaros Papadopoulos-Should the NBA be calling?
By Jonathan Givony

Written by our scout in Greece, Dimitris Ritsonis

In the NBA Draft of 2001, Antonis Fotsis was getting ready to become the second Greek player ever selected in the NBA Draft, after the Grizzlies had decided to give him a chance in the 2nd round.

On the other hand, another young Greek prospect of the time, Lazaros Papadopoulos, a skilled 6-11 player, was not selected at all. Then a 21-year old big man, Papadopoulos was coming off an exciting season in Iraklis, averaging 13.7 ppg on 55% shooting and 9.0 rpg in the Suproleague.

After the surprising decision of every NBA team to pass on him in the 2001 Draft, he made his debut with the Greek National Team in the Eurobasket tournament of 2001 in Turkey and got a highly publicized trade to Panathinaikos. His two years for the Greens were miserable, except for his 13 points in the Euroleague Final of 2002. After that he left the team in the summer of 2003, returning to Iraklis. He had a very good season (15.0 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.2 apg), helping Iraklis to finish 3rd in A1, and was selected to the 1st All-A1 team and also returned to the Greek National Team, where he enjoyed a very successful Olympic tournament (12.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 24 mpg) and was a load for Tim Duncan with 14 points and 7 rebounds, as Greece came shy of beating the USA.

He was signed by Dynamo Moscow, one of Europe's most complete teams, which includes starting "big men" from very strong basketball countries, like Crystoff Lavrinovic of Lithuania for example, the two-time Euroleague MVP, Mirsad Turkcan, the leading rebounder of Turkey, Igor Likholitov, the starting center of Russia's National Team and Russian veteran Andrei Fetissov. Despite the stars mentioned above, Papadopoulos leads the team in points (19.0 ppg), FG% (73%), blocks (2.0 bpg) and steals (2.5 spg) and also grabs 7.5 rpg in the ULEB Cup games, while he averages around 13.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg for the Russian League. On Sunday, he scored 29 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.

His game is pretty tough to beat, as he is constantly using an unorthodox, impossible to block sky hook. He remains a raw player, but is very skilled and has developed into a force, once he takes the ball and makes things happen. He can move pretty smoothly with it, either shooting it with his unorthodox style, or using his above average passing skills to find the open man. Coaches more often use double teams in order to stop him and his production this year has gotten much better, even after the consistency he showed last season. He seems to be pretty comfortable at the moment, as he has been given more chances in comparison to the past. On defense, he has got better and can now control his body, while, despite not being a spectacular shot blocker; his defensive timing has definitely improved. He seems ready to play in the NBA, as most of the centers in the world cannot be as productive as he is offensively on a constant basis. But, will he be given a chance?