Usman Garuba

[UcanUwill]

Blocked Derrick Williams twice on same possession. Man this kid is gonna be good, teams are thinking of trading down from this draft, just trade this years pick for future picks and hope this guy drops to you by next year.

Is that really that impressive? Derrick Williams might be the softest big man in EuroLeague.

Anyway, Garuba is a nice defensive big man and a very good rebounder. But he doesn't offer much of anything in terms of skill or offense, other than dunks and put backs.

He is 18, very fast, can handle the ball a bit and has potential as a shooter, all that as an athletic PF. Guy is legit.

[Roddy B for 3]

I live this guy. I think he'll be a thicker Jonathan Issac and be able to play 3-5.

[UcanUwill]

I live this guy. I think he'll be a thicker Jonathan Issac and be able to play 3-5.

I think he is closer to Bam Adebayo. Does not have skills to play the 3 but could run fastbreak after getting a rebound, Bam, Giannis style.

[No-Man]

Not as athletic as Bam, he is more like Draymond if he develops correctly

[MemphisX]

Not my cup of tea. Maybe I am missing what makes this dude a top 5ish pick. Limited offensively. Not overly athletic. Limited ball skills. Not a shooter. Just don't see what all the fuss is about but welcome someone taking him in the top 10 so someone else can fall to Memphis.

[UcanUwill]

Not my cup of tea. Maybe I am missing what makes this dude a top 5ish pick. Limited offensively. Not overly athletic. Limited ball skills. Not a shooter. Just don't see what all the fuss is about but welcome someone taking him in the top 10 so someone else can fall to Memphis.

He is 18 starting for Real Madrid, his basketball IQ is insane for a guy his age, most NBA rookies have no clue how to play defense, this guy looks like DPOY candidate already.

Not as athletic as Bam, he is more like Draymond if he develops correctly

Might not as athletic as Bam, but more athletic than Draymond.

[Mirotic12]

Not as athletic as Bam, he is more like Draymond if he develops correctly

He's not remotely close to being as skilled as Green is. And Green is a 4, while Garuba is clearly a 5. Even if Real plays him at 4 sometimes, it's just because of injuries. He's very clearly a 5.

Garuba is a defensive 5, with little offensive skills. He's nothing like Draymond Green.

[Saberestar]

Read on Twitter

[winston2chainz]

I live this guy. I think he'll be a thicker Jonathan Issac and be able to play 3-5.

I think he is closer to Bam Adebayo. Does not have skills to play the 3 but could run fastbreak after getting a rebound, Bam, Giannis style.

Hell no. Everyone ready to compare undersized centres to Bam Adebayo.

Only thing he has in common is his height, build, and ability to play centre.

No where near the same level of athlete. Not sure about how good he is defending on the perimeter but I would assume not near as good.

Importantly, he doesn't have the ball-handling court vision and playmaking skills that Bam showed.

Garuba is just someone who physically developed early so he put up great numbers in the Spanish League for his age, but he doesn't have the same skill level as Bam did or the same talent.

I think he goes 15-30 if he declares for the 2021 draft. I'm sure some team out there will be enamoured by his gaudy stats relative to his age but I think a lot of it is more a by-product of physically developing more quickly rather than skill.

[UcanUwill]

I live this guy. I think he'll be a thicker Jonathan Issac and be able to play 3-5.

I think he is closer to Bam Adebayo. Does not have skills to play the 3 but could run fastbreak after getting a rebound, Bam, Giannis style.

Hell no. Everyone ready to compare undersized centres to Bam Adebayo.

Only thing he has in common is his height, build, and ability to play centre.

No where near the same level of athlete. Not sure about how good he is defending on the perimeter but I would assume not near as good.

Importantly, he doesn't have the ball-handling court vision and playmaking skills that Bam showed.

Garuba is just someone who physically developed early so he put up great numbers in the Spanish League for his age, but he doesn't have the same skill level as Bam did or the same talent.

I think he goes 15-30 if he declares for the 2021 draft. I'm sure some team out there will be enamoured by his gaudy stats relative to his age but I think a lot of it is more a by-product of physically developing more quickly rather than skill.

For an 18 year old big, he can pass, dribble and defend as well as you could ever hope from a prospect. I dont get this notion that he is not very athletic, he looks athletic to me.

[Mirotic12]

Hell no. Everyone ready to compare undersized centres to Bam Adebayo.

Only thing he has in common is his height, build, and ability to play centre.

No where near the same level of athlete. Not sure about how good he is defending on the perimeter but I would assume not near as good.

Importantly, he doesn't have the ball-handling court vision and playmaking skills that Bam showed.

Garuba is just someone who physically developed early so he put up great numbers in the Spanish League for his age, but he doesn't have the same skill level as Bam did or the same talent.

I think he goes 15-30 if he declares for the 2021 draft. I'm sure some team out there will be enamoured by his gaudy stats relative to his age but I think a lot of it is more a by-product of physically developing more quickly rather than skill.

Actually, considering how he plays at age 18, I am pretty sure that Garuba is a better defender than Adebayo, maybe even already. Probably also a better rebounder. But yeah, overall he's not as good of a player as Adebayo at all. Not close to the same level of player on offense.

For an 18 year old big, he can pass, dribble and defend as well as you could ever hope from a prospect. I dont get this notion that he is not very athletic, he looks athletic to me.

He's not really that athletic. For the EuroLeague, he's a little below average athletically for a center. I think you are switching athleticism with physicality and strength. Garuba's physicality and strength are off the charts level. But he's certainly not what you would call an athletic center in EuroLeague. Just look at EuroLeague rosters, most teams definitely have at least one center with more athleticism than Garuba.

[UcanUwill]

He's not really that athletic. For the EuroLeague, he's a little below average athletically for a center. I think you are switching athleticism with physicality and strength. Garuba's physicality and strength are off the charts level. But he's certainly not what you would call an athletic center in EuroLeague. Just look at EuroLeague rosters, most teams definitely have at least one center with more athleticism than Garuba.

I have very high hopes for him, hes been a little bit disappointing in the last few weeks, but very few players in Europe can explode and block shots from the weak side like Garuba can. We have athletic centers in EUroleague like I dont know, Hunter, Davies, but overall, I think Garuba is definitely above average athlete.

[SeattleJazzFan]

do we know for sure he's 17? if so, and he's producing at that level at that age, he has to be a top 5 pick.

[UcanUwill]

do we know for sure he's 17? if so, and he's producing at that level at that age, he has to be a top 5 pick.

He is 18, and born in Madrid, so not a lot of substance to believe his papers could be fake.

[The-Power]

Importantly, he doesn't have the ball-handling court vision and playmaking skills that Bam showed.

Bam in the NCAA looked very different from Bam in the NBA in this regard.

[UcanUwill]

Importantly, he doesn't have the ball-handling court vision and playmaking skills that Bam showed.

Bam in the NCAA looked very different from Bam in the NBA in this regard.

Its really a false thinking, but at same age, Garubas passsing and ball handling does look better. WHen he has a chance he can dribble and push a transition, we saw this, but do you guys really think 18 year old PF/C will have a shot at creating offense on Real Madrid, I mean be real here.

[3toheadmelo]

Importantly, he doesn't have the ball-handling court vision and playmaking skills that Bam showed.

Bam in the NCAA looked very different from Bam in the NBA in this regard.

Bam in high school showed the same guard skills he has now. In college his role was just to be a rim runner.

[yosemiteben]

Potential lotto pick with only a 2 page thread where the last post was last November?

Anyone think he can go top 10?

[UcanUwill]

Potential lotto pick with only a 2 page thread where the last post was last November?

Anyone think he can go top 10?

Its very weird to see high profile Euro not being talked about here at all, even guys like Dragan Bender had a longest thread imaginable, but unlike Bender, Garuba is not buried on the bench and is less of the mystery, therefor he is less intriguing. WIth Garuba we know he cant score and his offensive game is very limited, we know that and thats disappointing. Garuba is just not very skilled, he can go top 10, but I dont think he will, I think his feel for the game is underrated however for sure, most players his age have no clue how to play defense, while this guy already plays d like experienced veteran, but upside is limited.

[Charm]

Potential lotto pick with only a 2 page thread where the last post was last November?

Anyone think he can go top 10?

Its very weird to see high profile Euro not being talked about here at all, even guys like Dragan Bender had a longest thread imaginable, but unlike Bender, Garuba is not buried on the bench and is less of the mystery, therefor he is less intriguing. WIth Garuba we know he cant score and his offensive game is very limited, we know that and thats disappointing. Garuba is just not very skilled, he can go top 10, but I dont think he will, I think his feel for the game is underrated however for sure, most players his age have no clue how to play defense, while this guy already plays d like experienced veteran, but upside is limited.

Would you say a better-shooting worse-passing version of Draymond is a realistic outcome for him?

Ibaka is another tempting comparison point, as he also played in the ACB League pre-draft. Garuba seems to be comfortably ahead of Ibaka at the same age, and Ibaka ended up being a really solid NBA player.