RealGM

Hi there,

Do you think that Batum is the btter bet than Thabo? I remember there being some people thinking the Bulls had a bit of a steal at 13 with Thabo. Now it doesn't look that way to me. I don't know much about Thabo just that he was outfought by Luol over Summer in the Britain v Switzerland series. However Luol would beat most international players in the world.

Batum was always in the lottery at the beginning of the year in Draftexpress. But now he's slipped all the way to 17 and maybe further. if it wasn't for the fact he could be 'stored' overseas it could be lower.

Does anyone have any opinoions if the softness and streakines are rue? Do you think they can be got rid of?

(As a Portland fan I think trading down and storing him overseas sounds interesting... )

he definitely has the potential. great wingspan and scary good athletism but there are questions regarding his shooting mechanics and competitiveness.

Batum is 4 years younger than Thabo so there's the obvious chance he becomes way better... right now i don't know, but the french guy has the highest upside.

Batum is not better than Thabo now, but he has a lot more upside.

Toxicity wrote:Batum is 4 years younger than Thabo so there's the obvious chance he becomes way better... right now i don't know, but the french guy has the highest upside.

Judging simply by their play in Europe, who would you say had the greater upside? (forgetting for a second Thabo's NBA stint) Also, who would you say had the better career overseas?

The latter I'm pretty sure was Thabo, but Batum's team has always been competitive; thereby, he has teammates to fall back on.

jman3134 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-


Judging simply by their play in Europe, who would you say had the greater upside? (forgetting for a second Thabo's NBA stint) Also, who would you say had the better career overseas?

The latter I'm pretty sure was Thabo, but Batum's team has always been competitive; thereby, he has teammates to fall back on.

The greater upside goes to Batum who has better physical tools (altough Thabo's ones are not bad) and shows less maturity in his body and game (there's more room to improve)... Sefolosha last year played almost like a finished product in Italy. A nice player but with a limited, not out of this world, upside...

The better career? Sefolosha played just a single very good season in Italy... also his team was not among the best so he had much PT. Batum played in a stronger team, even if the french league is weaker than the italian, and had less time to show his skills (being also younger)... and he also played in the tough Euroleague with some good games... i'd say Thabo had a slightly better draft year season (assuming this year is the Batum's draft year) but i'm not sure about their overall euro careers.

Thabo has been disappointing thus far in his career, I also think Batum will be a bust. But that's just my opinion.

Surprisingly, according to many mocks, Batum may actually go later in the draft than Thabo. Despite this, he is younger and has more experience on a winning team. Plus, I think his physical tools are a bit better; these could be harnessed to make him a lock down defender etc if he puts the work in.