European Prospects

The BEKO BBL season starts this Saturday with the Champions Cup while the regular season really kicks off on the 2nd October. It’s time to check who are the players to follow this season in one of the upcoming leagues in Europe.

Philipp Neumann – 2m10 – C/PF – 1992 – Brose Baskets

This season should be the one of the confirmation for the German big guy who showed in 2012/13 what kind of prospect he is. Still looking a bit mechanical in most of his moves, Neumann is a relentless worker in the paint who is getting more and more confident to play from outside as well. In youth categories, you could see him often play even from the three-point which is certainly a part of his game that he is still working on and ready to use on the court in the future. In the season of his automatic inclusion the NBA Draft, Neumann will see the scouts come to Bamberg on a regular basis even if he might not be the prototype of the NBA prospect. However, his attitude on the court and his interesting potential make him a good choice in the second round at least.

Paul Zipser – 2m01 – SF/SG – 1994 – Bayern München

After having gone through an injury plagued season, Paul Zipser is now ready to show his skills on the highest level as he will compete with Bayern not only in the Bundesliga but also the Euroleague. The pre-season went well for the German guard/forward who really wants to crack the rotation of coach Svetislav Pesic’ squad. With his versatility and athletic abilities, Zipser should not have too many problems to see minutes but the loaded roster of the Bavarians might hinder him to play long stretches. Nevertheless, he is certainly one of the most promising talents in Germany if not in Europe so that he will see his minutes in any way.

Bar Timor – 1m90 – SG – 1992 – ALBA Berlin

One of the more interesting prospects to follow is the Israeli-German guard Bar Timor who made the move from Hapoel Tel-Aviv to ALBA Berlin. Timor should see some back-up minutes for the German powerhouse and with his energy and aggressive play, he will most likely become a key factor in the game plans of coach Obradovic. He has the athletic abilities to play in the Bundesliga and he showed in Israel already that he can be a major factor for a good team. But ALBA seems to be one level higher again for the automatically eligible NBA Draft prospect.

Johannes Voigtmann – 2m11 – C – 1992 – Fraport Skyliners

The big German is probably in front of his real break out season. Under the new head coach Gordon Herbert, it looks like Voigtmann will earn the starting job for the Fraport Skyliners and he should be able to play a lot of interesting minutes. Still very young to basketball, the former handball player impresses with nice passing skills and a massive body to play hard in the paint. Voigtmann still needs to work on his athletic abilities and his foot speed but it would not be a surprise if he will be the target of higher ranked teams next season.

Daniel Theis – 2m03 – PF – 1992 – ratiopharm Ulm

Daniel Theis had a great start into last season and he wants to confirm his status as PF of the future this year. His athletic abilities should make him a top-level prospect and his improving shooting skills will help him to develop a stretch four game in the future. He needs to work on his ball handling to be more effective when putting the ball on the floor too. In the paint, Theis is an aggressive finisher who likes to dunk the ball and reject shots. He might get some looks by the NBA Scouts despite going undrafted last spring where he entered the Draft as an early entrant and his game should transfer well to the American league. But beforehand, he needs to find his rhythm back after the injuries of the summer in order to become a regular contributor again for his team in the Bundesliga.

Our wildcard pick will be Bogdan Radosavljevic of the Walter Tigers Tübingen. Announced as the next big thing for years and moving around in Germany playing for different clubs, Radosavljevic should now see his first regular Bundesliga minutes with the Tigers. Mentored by Aleksandar Nadjfeji, Radosaljevic needs to be in good physical shape to be able to showcase all his interesting skillset. But he still remains some kind of mystery on the highest level for now.

A special mention has to go the Maximilian Kleber who once again got injured in the pre-season. We are all still waiting for him to be able to play one full season as his individual talent and potential is great.