DraftExpress Overseas Free Agent Rankings: Players 25-50

After a ho-hum rookie season in the ACB, former Nebraska product Aleks Maric has absolutely exploded this season for Partizan Belgrade, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Euroleague and ranking amongst the top players in European basketball in virtually every statistical category. His below average athleticism and defensive potential limits his NBA upside to a certain extent, but considering his production, he will surely be getting extensive looks from teams this summer.

One of the early surprises of the ACB season, Gerald Fitch and his Fuenlabrada team have crashed back to earth completely over the past month or so, firing their coach after finding themselves dangerously close to the relegation zone. Fitch signed in Spain this summer after abusing flimsy defenses in Turkey to the tune of 28.2 points per game last season, and has not had much difficulties replicating his form this year. He leads the ACB in scoring at 20 points per game, but is also leading the league in field goal attempts and possessions used, which is an accurate reflection of his style of play. Considering the skill-level he shows creating his own shot, getting to the free throw line and hitting jumpers from the perimeter, as well as the way he’s producing in the very tough ACB, he may be a guy teams want to take another look at, as he’s still only 27 years old.

Ford is a free agent now after a very brief experience in Russia with Spartak St. Petersburg, and has to be considered one of the better big men on the market. He dominated the Italian league from a rebounding and shot-blocking perspective the last two seasons with Virtus Bologna, and seemed to have improved his scoring touch somewhat as well, being a fairly efficient player. His lack of size and strength is a bit of a hindrance, but at the very least he deserves another look.

Many eyebrows were raised when Partizan decided to peg an unknown American point guard out of the Turkish league to run their rebuilding team in the Euroleague. So far the results have been mixed, but there is a lot to be encouraged by from what the former New Orleans product has shown. A super quick but undersized combo with a scorer’s mentality, McCalebb gets to the rack like a pro but is still improving his perimeter shooting and decision making skills. He’s having a nice year at the highest level of European basketball, and is only 24 years old, so he’s definitely a name to keep in mind for the future.

We discussed Maciulis’ NBA prospects back in 2007 when he was draft eligible, and the only thing that seems to have changed since then (beyond the uniform he wears) is his perimeter shooting, which appears to be much more consistent these days. He’s still the same strong, physical and fairly athletic small forward, not terribly skilled, but productive regardless thanks to this toughness and fundamentals. The fact that he is now a legitimate threat to make shots from beyond the arc with his feet set makes him a bit more interesting.

Jones took a temporary break from his apparent goal of attempting to play for all 30 teams in the NBA in favor of trying the European adventure instead, and he seems to be faring quite well so far despite being a rookie at this level. Jones has physical attributes for the wing position and is finally beginning to show more potential on the offensive end than he’s typically been known for. He’s averaging 13 points per game in 26 minutes on excellent efficiency numbers (64% 2P, 44% 3P) and is still the same terrific defender he’s been throughout his career. If the improvement he’s made as a perimeter shooter is indeed “for real,” then it’s certainly not out of the question that he could be a solid rotation player in the NBA.

One of the bigger surprises of draft night last June, at least from our perspective, was seeing every NBA team decide to pass on Josh Heytvelt in both rounds. After all, 6-11 guys with skills don’t grow on trees, even if there were a number of red flags to be concerned about. He didn’t get much more interest in the summer apparently, as he decided to accept a lucrative contract offer in Turkey and has been posting strong numbers in that fairly weak league ever since, to the tune of 17 points and 9 rebounds in 24 minutes per game. Heytvelt is a guy that will surely get his fair share of looks in summer league and mini-camps, and it wouldn’t surprise us in the least bit to see him latch onto an NBA roster eventually.

After a strong four year career at Virginia—likely establishing himself as one of the best players in the history of the program—Singletary was drafted in the mid-2nd round by the Sacramento Kings. He was quickly traded to the Houston Rockets and then moved onto Phoenix before again being traded, this time to Charlotte, where he saw limited playing time as the team’s third point guard. Needless to say, his initial NBA experience didn’t work out all that great.

Therefore it wasn’t a surprise to see Singletary jump on the opportunity to sign with one of the top teams in European basketball, Caja Laboral Baskonia, formerly known as Tau Vitoria. He’s mostly been coming off the bench here too, seeing 16 minutes per game in the ACB and 18 minutes in the Euroleague. So far he’s struggled badly on the offensive end, putting up paltry scoring numbers on poor percentages and having all kinds of issues taking care of the ball. None of this is really a surprise considering the learning curve involved for an extremely young and very dominant ball-handling American point guard like Singletary.

Regardless, Singletary’s talent is not in question, and it’s safe to say that he’s learning quite a bit this season under one of the strictest coaches around in Serbian Dusko Ivanovic. That should make him a popular summer league target and potentially get him back in the NBA eventually if the cards fall the right way.