Borderline Draft Prospects

[wardjdim]

It can go separately for every country. They are usually fine or even very good players for Euro ball, but who could hardly cope with the U.S. game. Or are players with lots of talent and potential, but are not trustworthy and lack experience. In other words, not exactly prospects, but for several reasons, or due to extreme team needs (or just investment needs..) they will end up being selected probably late in the 2nd round. Why not include them on our lists?
For example, in my country (Greece), we have Kostas Vassiliadis (profile written and already edited last year), Loukas Mavrokefalidis (he is no prospect by any means, but due to his great season, I am writin the profile this week) and Giorgos Printezis (I need 1-2 more weeks to decide whether he is a true prospect or a borderline one).
Feel free to open threads for every major country and then u can rename this one to "borderline prospects from greece" (I ll be the only one to post here anyway, so I dont really mind the title :) )

[greenmountain]

Does Giannis Bourousis of AEK have any shot at being drafted. If not why?

[wardjdim]

Does Giannis Bourousis of AEK have any shot at being drafted. If not why?
Because he isnt Draft eligible anymore.
He was born in 1983 and is an International prospect, so no.
He can only be signed as a free agent by any NBA team ATM...

[KristianH]

I highly doubt Bouroussis will even get a NBA contract...he is average athlete and is not skilled as your typical European bigmen. He is will have a decent career in Europe.

Regarding Greece players, Sofoklis Shortsianitis will play in the NBA soon. He is monster on the low block, if he could diverse his skills a bit and stay out of foul trouble he would dominate Euroleague.

Vassilis Spanoulis is also interesting player, a nice backup for Houston some day.

Another prospect without much NBA potential is Dragan Labovic from S&M. He is very skilled and strong, but lacks great lenght and athleticism. He could very well be bigger version of Dejan Milojevic.

Paulius Jankunas is doing great for Zalgiris this season, he can play well in both low post or high post, he doesn`t have physical tools to play in the NBA, but will be Euroleague star for years to come.

[Jonathan]

annoying problem of empty threads has been officialy fixed for now. bumping all old threads to the top now.

[Genjuro]

Renaldas Seibutis is another guy who probably doesn't enjoy the kind of potential that you need to get into the NBA, but who should become an excellent SG for the European competition (he's already a nice back-up player in Olympiacos).

[OK_corral]

I think Davide Bruttini in Italy will be this kind of player...he has the shooting and slashing skills but isn't very athletic or fast and is a bit of a tweener.
But it's hard to say,he is an 87 guy.

[ip84]

You told the same things about Sharunas Jusekevicuos- he is not athletic, not quick enouth, his can not guard NBAs gaurds. This is his strengh: http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/plus_minus_0506.html

Hypothetically, I think that if you would see Stive Nash playing at Europe, before going to the NBA, and you would analize him you would say the same things (about size, deffence, athletisem). You would conclude that he is good for Europe but not for the NBA.

[Jonathan]

we are all huge fans of Saras here (we wrote about him SO SO many times before he sigend with Indiana), but I think there is a reason why he wasn't even considered a draft prospect coming out of Maryland. He just wasn't that good back then.

Steve Nash has good size at 6-3 and IMO is very quick. If a guy like him comes out of Europe with his incredible court vision and ability to make everyone better, PLUS is a phenomenal 3 point shooter, I think he will get plenty of looks from NBA teams.

[Genjuro]

You told the same things about Sharunas Jusekevicuos- he is not athletic, not quick enouth, his can not guard NBAs gaurds. This is his strengh: http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/plus_minus_0506.html

Hypothetically, I think that if you would see Stive Nash playing at Europe, before going to the NBA, and you would analize him you would say the same things (about size, deffence, athletisem). You would conclude that he is good for Europe but not for the NBA.
First, Nash is really quick (think about how a Raül López was a draft prospect back in 2001, somehow a player in a similar mold, and the Canadian was far better). Second, both guys are ultra-talented. Indeed, you will find very few NBA players sharing that kind of talent, and they still play in the NBA, mostly because of their athletic gifts (not forgetting a minimum-required set of basketball skills, of course). I would say that Saras is the only international player who doesn't enjoy any significant physical or athletic characteristic.

Of course, all those borderline players we're talking about, if they reached the incredible performance level of a Jasikevicius, they would be well enough suited for the NBA (a basketball competition after all). Sadly, it likely won't be the case for most of them, so they will have to settle for European competition.

A good example of extremely talented player might be Dimitris Diamantidis. He wasn't drafted for a reason. But he's becoming such a great player, he takes so amazingly advantage of his abilities and characteristics, that he might be a good enough player for the NBA even if his athleticism is rather poor for a NBA guard. But he's just a rare exception. You can't expect these players to become a Diamantidis. Ok, sometimes you might have the feeling of guys extremely skilled and poised playing the game (I'm thinking about a Danilo Gallinari, for example, and you won't see him mentioned in this thread) but it's not usual.

Finally, I can't really tell, because I first saw Jasikevicius in 2000. But I would love to know the influence of his college career in his evolution as a player, if it helped him or just postponed his development as an elite point guard.

[wardjdim]

Well, the main reason about Diamantidis not playing in the NBA (indeed, I hardly see him ever coming) is not his lack of athleticism, but his limited shooting abilities. Even though he is, as Luis said, an excellent player, he is hardly any good in creating shots for himself and his touch is barely average. He has all the other skills needed, plus he is a fantastic defensive player, but I am not even sure that his defense will have any appeal in the NBA game.
I think that this is the main reason that he isnt an NBA player...

[Toxicity]

I think Davide Bruttini in Italy will be this kind of player...he has the shooting and slashing skills but isn't very athletic or fast and is a bit of a tweener.
But it's hard to say,he is an 87 guy.

Bruttini is an inconsistent shooter so far... he's a 3/4 in Europe but, given his size, he'd be a 3 in NBA with not too much athletic abilities to compete... i think he's better suited for Europe where can become a nice player.

Another borderline prospect here in Italy could be Andrea Crosariol, a 7-foot who is playing for Farleigh Dickinson in NCAA... has got size and some skills but sometimes seems to lack intensity and desire... anyway i hope he can become the new starter center for Italy NT in few years.

[Genjuro]

Well, the main reason about Diamantidis not playing in the NBA (indeed, I hardly see him ever coming) is not his lack of athleticism, but his limited shooting abilities. Even though he is, as Luis said, an excellent player, he is hardly any good in creating shots for himself and his touch is barely average. He has all the other skills needed, plus he is a fantastic defensive player, but I am not even sure that his defense will have any appeal in the NBA game.
I think that this is the main reason that he isnt an NBA player...
Yep, you're right. The fact is that Diamantidis wouldn't be able to play a clear role as Jasikevicius does with his shooting. That makes him significantly riskier in the eyes of the NBA teams, and considering his huge stock in Europe, I think it is a very long shot to see him crossing the Atlantic.

Of course, that wouldn't be a problem if he were more athletic, which takes us back to the previous point of discussion.