Not all of the best NCAA or International players always make it to the NBA, and its not always the best players that see themselves being drafted. Sometimes certain prospects slip through the cracks (for various reasons, mostly justifiable ones) and it's only natural to continue to watch them carry on their careers in Europe and evaluate their progress to see if they have improved on the weaknesses that kept them out of the league in the first place. This helps estimate whether or not they are ready for a first or second shot. With the recent influx of high school players and extremely raw Europeans on to almost every NBA roster, more and more potential NBA players are being pushed aside right from the get go because of a relative lack of upside, and solid NBA veterans are losing their spot on NBA rosters to make way for potential laden players who are being stockpiled for the future. The new rules regarding the NBDL is only going to make things worse most likely. It isn't out of sight, out of mind for this group of outcasted players as far as NBA scouts are concerned, as there are too many good examples of players who were brought into the NBA after a year or a couple of years of seasoning in Europe to ignore them. Some great examples being: Brad Miller, PJ Brown, Stephen Jackson, Darrell Armstrong, Udonis Haslem, Carlos Arroyo, Bruce Bowen, Anthony Mason, Chris Anderson, Mike James and others.
This type of scouting is becoming more and more important then ever now. The following players have caught our eyes over the past year and could be considered NBA prospects this summer. None of them are going to be stars right off the bat, though. If they were, they most likely wouldn't be in Europe in the first place, so please take what is said here in relative terms and assume that unless noted these players would be brought in to serve as excellent role players off the bench.
Update from last year:
Last year we singled out 7 players to make up our list of the top overseas free agents on the market. Three of them, Andres Nocioni, Maurice Evans and David Bluthenthal, made the league. Nocioni is looked at as a steal for the Bulls and played a nice role in Chicago's return to the NBA playoffs. Evans came over on a non guaranteed contract and is now fielding multi-year guaranteed contract offers as a free agent. Bluthenthal (who we labeled as a very borderline candidate) got a partial guarantee from the Sacramento Kings before being cut at the December 15th deadline and returning to Europe. The only player we "missed" last year from this crop of free agents was Ibrahim Kutluay, as 6-5 sharpshooter that impressed the Sonics enough in the pre-Olympic matchups with Team USA to land a two year guaranteed contract. Kutluay was not an NBA prospect in our eyes and eventually got bought out of his contract after the Sonics caught on to that themselves. He only ended up playing 12 minutes all season, but was rewarded handsomely for his time in the States.
Out of the 4 remaining players we wrote about last year, all make a return to this year's top overseas free agent list. Sarunas Jasikevicius looks to be a lock to sign with one NBA team or another. Two others, Fabricio Oberto and Arvydas Macijuaskas are also considered excellent candidates and have been mentioned in free agent discussions in the States. The last one, Anthony Parker, might be the best NBA prospect of the bunch. Unfortunately for the NBA, though, teams whiffed badly on him and he decided to sign an extension with Maccabi Tel Aviv with no NBA buyout, which is strictly their loss.
The Candidates
Walter Herrmann
6-8, 225, Small Forward, Unicaja Mבlaga (Argentina), Age: 26
Written by Luis Fernandez
The story of this player is well known in international ball. When Walter Herrmann came from Argentina (after leading Atenas Cordoba to the domestic title) to Spain for the 2002/03 season to play for Fuenlabrada, he soon became the big sensation of the ACB League, averaging 22.3 points and 9.7 rebounds. In the summer of 2003, though, disaster struck for the Argentinean. A tragic car accident claimed the lives of his mother, sister and girlfriend. Signed by Unicaja for the next season, his play was disappointing. The psychological impact of the accident, playing for a new team with higher expectations and a more competitive roster were probably the reasons. In the summer of 2004, fate struck again when he lost his father, but he somehow managed to put that in the back of his mind for at least a little while to help out his national team in the preparations for the Olympics. He ended up playing a key role in a couple of games in Athens to help Argentina win the gold medal.
This season, suffering a few up and downs in his game that included an excellent performance in the Kings Cup won by Unicaja, he has fared a little better than last year, even if he saw his playing time reduced coming off the bench. He finished the season averaging 8.2 points and 2.8 rebounds. Truly non-impressive numbers. However, his 48% of three pointers in the regular season (second in the ACB League) is pretty remarkable for a streaky shooter like him. Anyway, out of all the guys in this article, he has been the worst performer last season.
Strengths:
Unlike most players featured in this article, theres no physical or athletic flaws in Walter Herrmann. At 6-8, he enjoys excellent size for a small forward, paired with a great wingspan and enormous hands that he uses to snatch the ball out of the air like a tennis ball. Besides, hes a strong player and rather explosive. All in all, his body is ready to step onto a NBA court.
Hermanns main strength rests in his slashing ability. He has a nice first step and some handles (not that good, especially with his off hand) to start moving, while his athleticism (he has won several dunk contests in his career) and big hands do the rest. He can take advantage of his size and strength in the lane. His shot has improved lately, becoming pretty reliable from the perimeter, although its usually a static jumper. Walter is a pretty intense player, like most Argentineans, showing character on court.
Weaknesses:
Hes not too fundamentally sound; a combo forward that has evolved into a small forward. His handles are certainly improvable, his shot still streaky, his left hand almost useless and his court vision rather poor. Hes not a finesse guy, but a wild player. Given that his basketball IQ is not off-the-charts, hes not as effective as you would like him to be. Defensively, he lacks some lateral quickness.
Particularly he has yet to prove that he can be a star in Europe. Hes already 26 years old and he still comes off the bench for his Euro team.
Why sign him?:
At the end of the day, to play in the NBA is a matter of talent, but also, and perhaps more important, about having the right tools. For Walter Herrmann, the transition between both competitions wouldnt be as tough as it is for other players with physical or athletic liabilities. Indeed his game might be more suited for the American competition. On the other hand, he has less skills and talent to translate, so its a matter of figuring out what would be the outcome.
Im not particularly confident about his chances of succeeding in the NBA. He would struggle with the NBA three-point line, and I dont think he would be able to provide a significant offensive or defensive production.
Herrmann has still one year left of his contract in Mבlaga, but according to media reports in Spain the team doesn't seem too interested in keeping him given his high salary (750,000 Euros) and disappointing seasons, and wouldn't put too much opposition to let him go. His buyout is 750,000 Euros, so its unclear if they would be willing to settle for less than that. NBA teams can contribute 500,000 dollars now under the new CBA. Apparently, one NBA team might be interested in signing him. It could be the Bobcats, as it was rumored a few months ago, and whose international scout Tim Shea has praised him in public. Other strong European teams will be interested too (Tau Vitoria among them).
This season, suffering a few up and downs in his game that included an excellent performance in the Kings Cup won by Unicaja, he has fared a little better than last year, even if he saw his playing time reduced coming off the bench. He finished the season averaging 8.2 points and 2.8 rebounds. Truly non-impressive numbers. However, his 48% of three pointers in the regular season (second in the ACB League) is pretty remarkable for a streaky shooter like him. Anyway, out of all the guys in this article, he has been the worst performer last season.
Strengths:
Unlike most players featured in this article, theres no physical or athletic flaws in Walter Herrmann. At 6-8, he enjoys excellent size for a small forward, paired with a great wingspan and enormous hands that he uses to snatch the ball out of the air like a tennis ball. Besides, hes a strong player and rather explosive. All in all, his body is ready to step onto a NBA court.
Hermanns main strength rests in his slashing ability. He has a nice first step and some handles (not that good, especially with his off hand) to start moving, while his athleticism (he has won several dunk contests in his career) and big hands do the rest. He can take advantage of his size and strength in the lane. His shot has improved lately, becoming pretty reliable from the perimeter, although its usually a static jumper. Walter is a pretty intense player, like most Argentineans, showing character on court.
Weaknesses:
Hes not too fundamentally sound; a combo forward that has evolved into a small forward. His handles are certainly improvable, his shot still streaky, his left hand almost useless and his court vision rather poor. Hes not a finesse guy, but a wild player. Given that his basketball IQ is not off-the-charts, hes not as effective as you would like him to be. Defensively, he lacks some lateral quickness.
Particularly he has yet to prove that he can be a star in Europe. Hes already 26 years old and he still comes off the bench for his Euro team.
Why sign him?:
At the end of the day, to play in the NBA is a matter of talent, but also, and perhaps more important, about having the right tools. For Walter Herrmann, the transition between both competitions wouldnt be as tough as it is for other players with physical or athletic liabilities. Indeed his game might be more suited for the American competition. On the other hand, he has less skills and talent to translate, so its a matter of figuring out what would be the outcome.
Im not particularly confident about his chances of succeeding in the NBA. He would struggle with the NBA three-point line, and I dont think he would be able to provide a significant offensive or defensive production.
Herrmann has still one year left of his contract in Mבlaga, but according to media reports in Spain the team doesn't seem too interested in keeping him given his high salary (750,000 Euros) and disappointing seasons, and wouldn't put too much opposition to let him go. His buyout is 750,000 Euros, so its unclear if they would be willing to settle for less than that. NBA teams can contribute 500,000 dollars now under the new CBA. Apparently, one NBA team might be interested in signing him. It could be the Bobcats, as it was rumored a few months ago, and whose international scout Tim Shea has praised him in public. Other strong European teams will be interested too (Tau Vitoria among them).