Are there any young bigtime euro prospects out there?

[Golabki]

Saric - Offensively minded combo forward with some point guard skills. Reminds me a bit of Chandler Parsens. One of the best players on a decent Adriatic league team at 19 (just turned 20). The big knock on him is going to be shooting (never posted greater 3pt numbers) and defensive.

Nurkic - Center size, but slow and with only decent length. Has some inside game, but it's hard to know if it will translate. Some evidence he can develop a 3 pt shot, but he doesn't have one yet (still 19). He's racked stats in limited time on a another decent Adriatic league team. Could be a Pekovic his post game matures, or Hawes if he builds 3pt range.

Capela - Long athletic PF. No jump shot to speak of yet... which could be an issue, but he's been a good role player in France at 19. Defensively, you can imagine him being a menace. Offensively he's a work in progress. Could be an AK47 type in theory, but I don't know if he has the motor for that.

All these guys should get lottery consideration.

Nurkic is defenetly not slow.

p.s. his club paid Dino Radja to work on his post move this summer

Well... he's not explosive. He's not quick enough to flex down to PF and he's not the type of guy the makes you salivate throwing down ally oops.

I don't think this foot speed is a prohibitive issue, but it will limit him to "true center" type roles.

[ManualRam]

On Sabonis... he played minutes in the ACB (top league) and in the Euro tourney... at 17. Unless you're an international scout you probably don't have an educated opinion on him because he hasn't gotten much exposure yet, but the fact that he's getting burn at 17 is a good sign.

i don't need to be an int'l scout to note what i observe. i've seen him play in ACB action as a few of his team's games as i do watch some ACB action (mostly to track mirotic, but also others like tavares, tomic, hezonja, pleiss, etc). i also saw him play last summer during the euro u18s.

what i saw was a kid who obviously knows how to play, but lacks physical talent. he has a thin frame, short arms, lacking strength and explosiveness. maybe his skill will be enough for him to overcome his physical and athletic shortcomings kinda like d.saric, but the tools do not look like that of a lotto pick.

I just meant that he's still so early that a year from now the take on him could be totally different. Not a claim about you... just a claim about the nature of 17 year olds that have played just a handful of meaningful minutes.

which is why i mentioned his physical tools. his frame is what it is. he'll still lack length and he'll likely still lack explosiveness. he could be super productive for a teenager and those question marks surrounding his physical profile would still remain.

[pohani komarac]

is d.sabonis really that promising? i wasn't too impressed by what i've seen. he could be a nice player as he does have a solid fundamental base, but he doesn't look exceptionally talented. i don't see lotto in his future.


i like georgios papagiannis and think he has lotto potential. he's 7'1 with a strong base, great hands, soft touch, improving range and is a good passer.

papagianis does not have much development left. tough playing in usa can help him boos his stock, but overall he is just avrage prospect who at moment is man amog boys

center that could develope into lotto pick is ivica zubac. but it's long shoot

i'm not sure what you mean he doesn't have much development left. he's 16. all 16 y/o's have plenty of room for development. if you're talking about his physical development, he might be big, but he has no definition in his upper body. some good ol' fashioned american strength and conditioning would do wonders for his strength up top. he already has the strong base with his big legs. he could use some plyometrics work too.

he has a lot going for him as a prospect. already 250+ lbs with an underdeveloped upper body. he could easily play at 270-275 lbs in his prime without losing any mobility. skill-wise he has an educated jump hook. he has the basics of post footwork like drop steps and step throughs. he has soft touch around the rim. he has good hands, a basic understanding of post passing and PnR play already. he has good form on his jumper, with soft touch and expanding range. that is way more than a typical 16 y/o C. while other C prospects are learning, he'll be refining. he still has plenty to learn skill-wise though. starting with positioning, early offense and creating space (added strength would help in these areas) as well as right shoulder counters to complement his jump hook on the block.

he didn't show much impruvment from 2012 to 2013 u-16 championship in body-skill set. He remids me on Dejan Musli who was suposed to be great but turnd out to be man among boys. His competition at U-16 were 6'8. 6'9 skiny boys and he was just averge there.

[ManualRam]

papagianis does not have much development left. tough playing in usa can help him boos his stock, but overall he is just avrage prospect who at moment is man amog boys

center that could develope into lotto pick is ivica zubac. but it's long shoot

i'm not sure what you mean he doesn't have much development left. he's 16. all 16 y/o's have plenty of room for development. if you're talking about his physical development, he might be big, but he has no definition in his upper body. some good ol' fashioned american strength and conditioning would do wonders for his strength up top. he already has the strong base with his big legs. he could use some plyometrics work too.

he has a lot going for him as a prospect. already 250+ lbs with an underdeveloped upper body. he could easily play at 270-275 lbs in his prime without losing any mobility. skill-wise he has an educated jump hook. he has the basics of post footwork like drop steps and step throughs. he has soft touch around the rim. he has good hands, a basic understanding of post passing and PnR play already. he has good form on his jumper, with soft touch and expanding range. that is way more than a typical 16 y/o C. while other C prospects are learning, he'll be refining. he still has plenty to learn skill-wise though. starting with positioning, early offense and creating space (added strength would help in these areas) as well as right shoulder counters to complement his jump hook on the block.

he didn't show much impruvment from 2012 to 2013 u-16 championship in body-skill set. He remids me on Dejan Musli who was suposed to be great but turnd out to be man among boys. His competition at U-16 were 6'8. 6'9 skiny boys and he was just averge there.

??
he went from putting up 5 and 5 in 2012 to leading his team in scoring, averaging 14 and 10.5, while also leading the tourney in blocks.
of course he's a man among boys. he'd be a man among boys at any level below pro ball. he's huge... and skilled too.

[Apollo64]

Papagiannis' impact at the next level will be at the defensive end. Think Hibbert/Marc Gasol if he pans out. His team at the U16 tournament held the opponents at something ridiculous like 51pts per game and he was a big part of it. Also, it appears that he has grown to 2.17 cm, that puts him at 7'2'', will have to get this confirmed when he plays at the U17 Worlds this summer. The truth is that he hasn't been challenged much and will probably have to wait for college to play against some physical competition at least.

[SlowPaced]

From 96 class, Turkey's Okben Ulubay is a great talent. He has mental issues, though.

[sisibilio]

Sabonis has already told Unicaja (his current club) that he'll play in the NCAA next season, everything points to Gonzaga but i guess it's not official yet.

[campybatman]

Does anyone have an idea where Artem Klimenko could go in this year's draft?

[Marcus]

Does anyone have an idea where Artem Klimenko could go in this year's draft?

undrafted most likely. maybe 2nd round

[ManualRam]

Does anyone have an idea where Artem Klimenko could go in this year's draft?

undrafted most likely. maybe 2nd round

im sure givony will watch him soon in some weak ass junior tourney and then move him into his lotto... before moving him back to the mid 2nd round before the draft. givony sure does love overreacting to euro players that he "discovers."

[Marcus]

Does anyone have an idea where Artem Klimenko could go in this year's draft?

undrafted most likely. maybe 2nd round

im sure givony will watch him soon in some weak ass junior tourney and then move him into his lotto... before moving him back to the mid 2nd round before the draft. givony sure does love overreacting to euro players that he "discovers."

he already threw his scouting report up on his site. I didn't see anything to praise worthy.