The NBA league has become a global league, not just by the worldwide outreach to the fans, but also by scouting and employing the top basketball prospects from all the hidden corners of our globe. Most of the barriers have been torn down, so we had players from Argentina, Cameroon, Iran, China or Switzerland. If a young player has physical attributes and talent to compete with the best, the teams will probably find him and bring him over to the States. Picking a young player in the NBA draft always carries the obvious risks. Apart from a couple of the NBA ready players each year, the rest of the prospects need further development and it sometimes doesn’t work out very well. Then there are injuries of course, different cap and roster situations and various other factors that can decide whether a player reach his projected potential.
With international players, there are more obstacles to overcome, both for the player and the team. Scouts have to cope with limited roles in professional leagues of different strengths to evaluate players, and the statistics that are not comparable to college draft candidates. Players would have to get used to a new country, language (well except for the Aussies) and lifestyle. Some have no problem with it, but others struggle with adapting, especially if pressured by the big market media to contribute immediately.
NBA teams also use international picks to delay guaranteed salary or as a future asset, claiming the rights but leaving the players to continue their development and careers in Europe, sometimes forever. Still, there’s little doubt that there are stars to picked there.
Nowitzki, Gasol brothers, Antetokounmpo and Porzingis are just a few of many who had great impact or are believe to be faces of their franchises in the near future. The Toronto Raptors, the San Antonio Spurs or the Dallas Mavericks have had many recent seasons with a about a half of their rosters filled from abroad. Their success sparked lead wide interest for stars, especially among the teams with later NBA draft picks, as the risk is lower after the lottery.
American fans will usually flinch on the mention of picking foreign prospects in the NBA draft, mostly due to lack of familiarity (remember how Knicks’ fans booed drafting Porzingis two years ago?), and with this year’s NBA draft being advertised as one of the best in recent memory, the teams will be even more tentative to take high picks outside the comfort of NCAA. Good thing for them is that there seems to be very few international applicants that look like a good investment.
NBA Draft first round prospects
In fact, only two players have the NBA draft first round potential. More could be picked due to some teams having abundance of picks that will need to stretch out, but in terms of sheer basketball talent and physical capabilities, NBA teams should only look at long French guard Ntilikina and the German big Hartenstein in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. That’s it. Let’s take a quick look at the pair.
Frank Ntilikina, 18-years old 6’5’’ French guard
Ntilikina has excellent physical attributes with good stature for both guard positions and is very young. Unusually for his age, he played a significant role with his team in the French league and EuroLeague and has been coveted as one of the best prospects in his generation, dominating his classmen since the age of 16.
This is a big plus for the teams, as the extended look at his current capabilities lowers the risk of misjudging his maximum potential, which is the main reason he ranks higher than any other international prospects in the 2017 NBA draft on just about every team’s drafting board.
He is raw, but is a devoted and talented defender already, so the teams could find a role for him during his development – meaning that he’s more than just a stash. The problem is, he is very immature and will always choose to defer to the more experienced teammates. Such a character usually turns out to be a solid supporting player, not a star, and combined with his current offensive limitations, Ntilikina should probably be worth taking with a number 15-20 pick, not before. He probably has the upside to be a good starter in the league, the only international prospect about we could say that.
Isaiah Hartenstein, 19-years old 7’1’’ German power forward/center
Despite his Oregon origins, Hartenstein is a typical European big man. He has spent his entire youth in Germany where he played for some lower tier clubs, but managed to appear on the scouts radar as his father was a standout at Oregon. He has excellent size and above average skill for a seven footer, as many European big man do.
However, he is not very athletic and has not played any competitive season so far. He does play for a great development team of Zalgiris and has shown progress in the last season, but has played sporadically in the mop up duty. The reason he ranks this high in the NBA Draft charts are his performances at the Nike Hoop Summit and adidas Next Generation Tournament, where he managed to dominate his age peers.
Still, drafting him likely means either taking a huge gamble, or stashing him in Europe for at least 2 more years, so you’ll probably see his name somewhere in the 25-35 range. Big man aren’t sought after all that much, and there are a plenty of good US based centers, so early second round in the 2017 NBA Draft seems a bit more realistic.
Second round prospects
There are more names that project to be talented enough to get picked in the second round of the 2017 NBA Draft, and it is a traditionally more frequent time to pick international players. Second rounders rarely come over to USA to play when picked and some of them never appear in the NBA, but here are short reviews for each prospect.
Anzejs Pasecniks, 22-year old 7’1’’ Latvian center
Teams tend to copy success and Porzingis’ good showing in New York has put some spotlight on his Latvian national team mate Pasecniks, who is playing in Spain. He is more of a strength than finesse guy but can run the floor and has good hands. Still, he is below the curve playing back to the basket and protecting the rim, so he projects as a backup center at best. Given the limited number of teams who need backup bigs, he’ll probably look at mid second round selection.
Matthias Lessort, 21-year old French 6’9’’ forward/center
Top ten overall in PER in the French league, Lessort had much bigger role than the rest of the guys on this list. He has impressive physical attributes, works hard and has played his best basketball in the second part of the last season, indicating a rapid progress.
However, he played an undersized center at Nanterre and doesn’t have any of the needed skills to play power forward at NBA level, so a team that would pick him would have to count on his will to learn a new repertoire of moves and a new position. He might get picked, but probably late in the NBA draft.
Jonathan Jeanne, 20-years old French 7’1’’ center
Jeanne is another French center that plays for a good team, Nancy, albeit with a smaller role. He has great length, but is also very skinny, so any shift to the NBA would have to come in at least couple of years when he grows into a mature body. He’s a stash candidate for interested teams, but high stock isn’t or shouldn’t be very high as he has very little to offer besides his size.
Jonah Bolden, 21-year old Australian 6’10’’ forward
As Hartenstein, Bolden is also a son of a former American basketball player who made his career and family in Australia. He bounced around the globe, with stints at UCLA and Adriatic League, but failed to impress anywhere. A non-factor in Exum-led U18 Australian national team, Bolden is unlikely to get drafted.
Alberto Abalde, 21-year old Spanish 6’7’’ forward
I really like Abalde’s versatile game, but his lack of elite athleticism and size at the position mean that he’ll probably struggle playing small forward in the NBA. Playing ACB League since 2014, Abalde has carved a nice role for himself last year in Joventud, putting himself on the prospects map.
He might be a sleeper in the later portion of the draft, so I fully expect him to get drafted. Whether he’ll make the jump from building a nice career in his home land will probably depend on the situation he gets drafted to, but don’t expect to see him next year.
Aleksandar Vezenkov, 21-year old Bulgarian 6’9’’ forward
Vezenkov is one of the best scorers in Europe and the most accomplished player of any player in the 2017 NBA Draft, international or college. A son of a former Bulgarian national team player and coach, Vezenkov has had an excellent first couple of seasons of his professional career playing for Aris in Greece, and lately for Spanish basketball powerhouse Barcelona.
He already withdrew from the 2015 NBA Draft despite being a potential first rounder, so his election to go for it again does imply that he’d like to make a jump one day. He projects as a solid pick and pop forward due to good outside shooting and high basketball IQ, but has ways to go in terms of athleticism, which is the main thing that plummets his draft position. He’s a safe selection anywhere in the second round.
George De Paula, 21-year old Brazilian 6’6’’ point guard
This is probably a stretch, but De Paula has an intriguing size for his position. He also withdrew from 2015 NBA Draft after being unable to secure any guarantees, but have failed to take much advantage of larger role in Brazilian league until this year’s playoffs, when he led a young underdog team to the finals.
This time he elected to leave his name in the NBA draft, possibly with promises to be considered in late second round despite not making the cut on most mock drafts. He isn’t too skilled nor athletic but can knock down threes, so he probably projects as a much-slower version of Leandrinho Barbosa. If he could learn some D, he could possibly have a place in the NBA.
Stay tuned with Get More Sports for more interesting news on the 2017 NBA Draft!!!
