EvanZ wrote:Not trying to be political, but this is like when Ron DeSantis was saying "We hardly have any coronavirus here." Just wait.
I mean yeah he's "raw". Because he's 18. Not only is he 18, but if he was literally born 6 days later, he wouldn't even be eligible for this Draft. Sometimes you have to see the writing on the wall.
It's true there is only one Giannis, but the fact is there is a Giannis. There is precedent for picking out a guy at a lower level. Poku developed kind of late, so it's not really that suprising where he is. If he is left in Europe for a year or two, you don't think he'll be at a higher level? Of course he will be.
This guy is extremely skilled and talented for a player at his size, and he is also very mobile. He has amazing potential. But........
He's probably like 4-5 years away from being able to properly handle the physicality in EuroLeague. He's a long-term project for Olympiacos, if he stays there. If he's playing regular minutes at any high level league next year, it is if he's on a tanking NBA team - a team that is trying to lose on purpose.
Poku in a year =
playing on an NBA team that is losing games on purpose
or
in the G-League
or
with Olympiacos' development team in Greek 2nd division / on the main team's practice squad. He would get thrown around like a rag doll in the EuroLeague. Of course, a player of his age, talent and potential can improve a lot in a year or two, but he's like at least 35 pounds underweight for the EuroLeague level.
Even the NBA "special diet" (let's just say it would get a player banned in Europe), is going to take a long time to fix that.