With the NBA Draft 2010 being held this week, it is about time to check the current situation of the automatically eligible Europeans.

Miroslav Raduljica would probably be a mid to end-of-first round option if the Serbian Center would not have declared and shown that he has no real interest to play in the NBA. Raduljica did not attend the Adidas Eurocamp and cancelled a workout specifically setup for him. He did not work out either for any NBA Team so far and will probably move to a top-level Euroleague team next season. However, there are certainly NBA Franchises that will take a closer look at him when he is still available during the Draft ceremony because the number of skilled and physical seven-footers is always limited. Raduljica averaged 13.7ppg at 57.6% in the Adriatic League where he added 6.4rpg in 26 minutes. The absence of NBA caliber athletic abilities and poor shot blocking presence combined with his “no-NBA-attitude” are probably the reasons why in the end, he may not get drafted at all.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: #45 by Minnesota, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Alexey Shved has been a mystery on the Senior level for a lot of years as his talent level was uncontested but as he has been stashed on the CSKA Moscow bench over the last seasons, it was difficult to see what his real potential is especially as he lost several years of experience but not playing. But his move to Dynamo Moscow in December 2009 helped him to immediately get minutes on the highest level (Russian League and Eurocup) and show that he can play basketball against professionals. Shved should be able to play the PG spot in the NBA with his excellent size (1m96) and fundamentals and he has also the athletic abilities to compete. He finished his season in Russia with 10.3ppg at 55.7% 2FG together with 2.7rpg, 3.7apg and 0.8spg in 22 minutes on the court. He is probably the European played with the most potential upside of the 1988 born automatically eligible players.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: #49 by San Antonio, NBADraft.net: #58 by Los Angeles Lakers

Nemanja Bjelica is probably one of the most interesting players in this draft as the 2m09 tall Serbian forward is really a versatile player that probably impressed several teams during his workouts with his skills. He has been reported to not be the most regular player in terms of production which is underlined by his stats of the past season. However, the Crvena Zvezda player is a talent on its own and can be used in different positions on the court and could be a match-up creator with his great size when used on SF for example. Together with Shved, he is the only 88 born player currently considered by the two main Mock Draft websites, both having him in the second round where he probably will end up. The question remains if he would try to gain a roster spot this summer or stay in Europe. His presence in the United States for workouts shows however that the NBA is in his mind and a goal for him.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: #50 by Dallas, NBADraft.net: #40 by Indiana

Vladimir Dasic is another player that may have 1st round potential but the Montenegrin has shown serious mental problems over the last years that generate a lot of doubts about his professional career. After having signed a 3 year deal with Real Madrid last summer, Dasic could never fulfill the hopes that Madrid had in him and he moved away to Gran Canaria during to get ejected as well. He played only the first day of the Adidas Eurocamp because he was apparently injured and he did not appear in any NBA workouts over the last days. From the talent level alone, Dasic can be described as a physically strong wing who can score both from inside and outside. But the current situation implicates that the main topic for Dasic is to find a team whatsoever for next season.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Ludovic Vaty has done a multitude of workouts for NBA Teams in preparation for the NBA Draft and he was also present at the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso. The French big guy did not impress though with any particular skills and remained in his rebounder role. He can score close to the basket but has no really go-to-move when playing in the low post. Vaty will probably remain undrafted as neither the talent level nor the athletic abilities are good enough to have a role in the NBA.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Paulao Prestes played his first full ACB season in 2009-2010 with CB Murcia and is a player that has not really drawn a lot of interest by NBA teams or international media. Draftexpress had a long article on him a few weeks ago and we have never covered him so far which may be also due to his Brazilian nationality. His ankle injury from end of April put him out of the Adidas Eurocamp as well as unable to do some workouts with NBA teams previous to the Draft. If there are NBA franchises that have done their homework, they have scouted him in the ACB over the season and are aware of his potential. Draftexpress sees him in the second round.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: #44 by  Portland, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Stefan Markovic is a Serbian PG that is rumored to have signed already a two-years deal with Benetton Treviso this spring and not really considering the NBA as an option. He has not participated to the Adidas Eurocamp nor to any NBA workouts so far but several teams have certainly seen him play with Hemofarm this season and may consider him. However, Markovic is not really the prototype of the NBA Pointguard and it would be a major surprise if he gets selected on the 24th June.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Boban Marjanovic is probably an option that some NBA teams are thinking about as the 2m22 tall Serbian Center has played a fairly correct season with Hemofarm. However, Marjanovic’s name has not been mentioned in any NBA Workouts so far. Marjanovic brings fantastic size with him and is quite a nice basketball player, even if he is a bit stiff and slow, even for his size. But there may be some teams that take some bet on him and draft the Serbian giant. Remember Slavko Vranes who has been drafted also? This player is certainly a bigger talent on the offensive end.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Marko Keselj is yet another Serbian player that is automatically eligible in this year’s draft. Considered as a top-talent a few years ago, Keselj had made some choices in his early career that probably stopped his development when he saw no serious minutes with Girona. After a year in Germany, Keselj plays now an important role for Crvena Zvezda in Serbia where he averaged 9.1ppg in the Eurocup. The 2m09 tall wing was present in the United States for some workouts but we did not hear anything particular out of it and which teams may be interested in him. Keselj himself would like to play for the Los Angeles Lakers according to the presentation on his agent’s website.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Artem Zabelin played at the Reebok Eurocamp in 2009 and is currently in the United States to do some workouts with NBA Teams. The 2m15 tall Russian has however never really seen important minutes on the Senior level with CSKA Moscow so that it is hard to judge his real value. From a strict talent level, he has everything you need as the 7 footer is mobile, can shoot the ball, run the floor but remains however a really thin player who prefers to play on the wing than battling in the post. Maybe some franchise likes his potential and will spend a second round pick on him.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Tim Ohlbrecht has preferred to do his Draft preparations exclusively in the United States and did not participate to the Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso. We did not hear anything particular on how this choice has impacted his Draft potential. Ohlbrecht comes of a good season after a disaster in the last year he was in Bamberg. He can have a role a shooting and shot-blocking big man on NBA level as he has the necessary athletic abilities to compete. However, Ohlbrecht has not really developed a serious back to the basket game yet but his progress curve has again turned upwards over the last months.

Current Mock Situation (20th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

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The Eurobasket 2009 is history now and I take a look at the players that can be considered as the most interesting prospects of the tournament. The players featured in the article are those that are still potentially NBA Draft candidates, so all the players born in 1988 or earlier but not drafted yet.

Automatically eligible in 2010

Tim Ohlbrecht (2m10 – Center – 1988 – Germany – Telekom Baskets Bonn)

The German PF/C Tim Ohlbrecht is currently in a situation where he gets more playing time on Eurobasket level than with his former club team of Brose Baskets Bamberg. This situation should change next season as his new coach (former EL winner Mike Koch) and team (Telekom Baskets Bonn) foresees him as a Starter on the PF position for a EuroCup team.

Ohlbrecht needs absolutely to develop either a back to the basket game to play C or to improve his ball handling in order to be able to attack his defender from outside with the drive, something he should be able to go for with his speed. Basically, he scores right now out of dishes from his team mates, which he does pretty well and what he will improve next season with a pass-first PG (Jarred Jordan) and on offensive put backs. His athletic abilities help him a lot in this domain. Defensively, he needs to get better in terms of avoiding foul trouble. As he is an above average shot blocker, he tries sometime to go too much for the rejection and gets called a lot on cheap fouls in these situations. Right now, it was not a big problem as he did not play major minutes (or did he not play major minutes because of foul trouble) but for the next season, which will be determining for him as he is automatically eligible for the NBA Draft (NBAdraft.net foresees him right now at the end of the 2nd round), he needs to work on this point in order to go for more than being just a rotation guy.

Stats: 5.0ppg (9/17 2FG 9/13FT) 2.2rpg 0.4bpg

Nemanja Bjelica (2m09 – Forward – 1988 – Serbia – Crvena Zvezda Belgrade)

Nemanja Bjelica is one of the most interesting prospects who played at the Eurobasket 2009. Being 2m09 tall, Bjelica can play the SF position and even if he never found his shooting rhythm during the tournament, he showed that he has all the tools to become a great player in the next years. Athletically, Bjelica has quite nice leaping ability, has good speed with the ball and also laterally on defense and he displays a nice wingspan. Everything is there to become a high class defender on the wing, the role that he saw the most minutes in with Serbia during the Eurobasket.

Due to his athletic skills, he is an above average shot blocker for his SF position and he is not afraid to go reject the big guys from the help side. He is highly active in the defensive rebound (he was the best Serbian rebounder of the tournament despite playing only 17 minutes per game and grabbing only 2 in the last two games combined). Offensively, it was not the best days for Bjelica as his shot was not falling at all, but he never lost his confidence and took the open looks that he got. One play that I remember particularly well was an offensive situation where Bjelica missed a dunk on the drive, sprinted back on defense and on the next offensive situation immediately got the ball back in the corner to hit the big three pointer from there.

Bjelica is certainly a player that some NBA team will take a closer look at as he is one of these rare combinations of height, athleticism, shooting and overall basketball skills with a defensive presence. With Crvena Zvezda in Serbia, he will certainly get a lot of minutes this season in the Adriatic League as well as in the EuroCup and he should be able to get a look at in the 2nd round in 2010.

Stats: 2.6ppg (4/13 2FG 3/12 3FG) 5.1rpg 1.0spg 0.4bpg

Stefan Markovic (1m91 – Guard – 1988 – Serbia – Hemofarm Vrsac)

The Serbian PG had a tough role behind the scoring leader Milos Teodosic. But Markovic earned his minutes through big time defense and unlimited fighting spirit. He was very active on the court, finishing the tournament with a nice stat line except for his shooting percentages. I don’t know what happened to his long distance shot, even if he has never been a tremendous three point shooter, but in Poland, he was simply ice-cold. So with the time, he started to recognize that and you could see him follow his own misses pretty well to get offensive boards. With his club team, he will go back into a more offensively minded role as scoring PG and we will see how he develops over the upcoming season.

Stats: 1.8ppg (4/10 2FG 0/16 3FG) 3.0rpg 1.8apg 0.7spg

Miroslav Raduljica (2m13 – Center – 1988 – Serbia – FMP Zeleznik)

Miroslav Raduljica had only a limited role with the Serbian team despite being a Starter at times. With Nenad Krstic as clear inside leader and the improvements of Kosta Perovic during the tournament, the minutes for the young big remained limited and he could not show that much. With the two aforementioned and the unlimited number of new quality bigs coming out, Raduljica will be in a constant battle in order to secure his spot in the National Team for the upcoming years.

Stats: 3.3ppg (8/14 2FG) 0.9rpg

Baris Hersek (2m07 – Forward – 1988 – Turkey – Banvit)

The Turkish Power Forward got some minutes during this tournament when there was either no danger of losing the game (against Bulgaria) or after the injury of Ersan Ilyasova during the 5-8th place games. Hersek is a very active guy on the court with a lot of energy. When he gets the ball, he goes mostly in a head-down style of play where he tries to score with his physical presence. After a full season in the Turkish first league, he needs to confirm with Banvit in order to show if he is ready for the next step. Right now, he does not look like being a candidate, even for the 2nd round of the upcoming NBA Draft.

Stats: 2.7ppg 2.7rpg 0.8spg

Future potential NBA Draft picks

Robin Benzing (2m08 – Forward – 1989 – Germany – ratiopharm Ulm)

Coming out of the second division in Germany (ProA with TV Langen) to play the Eurobasket is not the easiest thing. But Robin Benzing showed that he is already now a serious rotation player on the European level and probably one of the most interesting SF prospects. Playing against Euroleague and NBA level players have certainly helped the young kid to develop and he should be able to play a major role in the Bundesliga next season.

Benzing is a 2m08 tall forward with a nice out side shot and an interesting drive. His three point shot is falling at a correct 35% right now (he scored 2 out 6 in Poland with a game winning three against Russia and went for 52/166 over the full last season) and he shots most of it in catch-and-shot fashion. The release is not the quickest one but this may be the result of his height. His drives look very energetic, especially of the left hand where he manages despite being not that physical to reach the rim most of the times and where he can finish it with both hands under pressure. His footwork on the drives gives him the possibility to go for very nice spin moves to pass his defenders as he did for example very nicely against Antonis Fotsis of Greece. Additionally, his drives give him a lot of foul calls and he connects it very well from the free throw line.

Because of his size, he can offer his team lots of mismatch situations as he is able to post up smaller guys and to finish with some basic back to the basket moves. Defensively, Benzing struggles of course against smaller and faster wings, but he did for example a nice job to guard Zoran Planinic against Croatia during the few moments he defended against the long guard. Benzing, who has signed a deal until 2011 with the German Bundesliga Team ratiopharm Ulm, needs now to confirm his status on a regular basis (he went for ups and downs in Poland: 0pts against France, game winner against Russia, 2pts against Latvia, 16pts against Greece). His first season on the highest German level will show where he might go in the next years.

Stats: 5.5ppg (8/15 2FG 2/6 3FG 11/12FT) 1.6rpg

Lucca Staiger (1m94 – Guard – 1988 – Germany – Iowa State)

The Iowa State player came up here in this Eurobasket with his first games on the European senior level and he showed quite some interesting moments on the court. After a more or less slow start, Staiger improved his game in the 2nd round of the tournament and having a great shooting night against FYROM where he made 14pts at 4/6 3 point shots, the two misses coming in the final minutes where he took difficult shots to come back in the game.

Staiger excels when coming of the screen for the catch and shoot three point shot. He does not look particularly quick when running but his shooting mechanics allow him to fire the ball up immediately after catching it, even out of a direction change or spin. But he can also hit the ball out of the dribble as he showed once or twice, especially with a nice fake, dribble step back three against Croatia. He nailed some clutch free throws in the final seconds against Russia in order to secure the only German win in the tournament. With his massive physical presence and good athletic abilities, Staiger is also able to become a high level defender in the next years. After yet another season with Iowa State, Staiger should be ready to take over the Starting SG job in the German National Team.

Stats: 5.0ppg (2/2 2FG 8/14 3FG) 1.2rpg

Elias Harris (2m01 – Forward – 1989 – Germany – Gonzaga)

Elias Harris was a major factor in the preparation games for the Eurobasket as well as during the 1st round. But since the game against Greece, his playing time was reduced (his PT went up steadily through the first 4 games from 11 to 23 minutes but then fall to 6 and then 4 minutes in the last two games). This was probably the result of the emergence of Lucca Staiger late in the Eurobasket as Coach Bauermann used Harris mainly as back-up on the SG position, the same spot that occupied Staiger.

The usage as SG backup was one of the big surprises that Bauermann created with this young German team as Harris was so far considered as a PF who may play SF one day if he improves his shot. The problem was that with his size (2m01), he is a bit short to guard European PF so that the German coaches decided to play him as defensive stopper against the opposing guards, something he did very well through his excellent physical and athletic abilities. Offensively though, he was not a real option with the team this year, maybe because he had to play a position that was unusual for him. When joining Gonzaga this fall, it will be interesting to see how the College coaches will use him and what will be the future position of Harris.

Stats: 2.2ppg 2.3rpg

Tibor Pleiss (2m15 – Center – 1989 – Germany – Brose Baskets Bamberg)

This Eurobasket was more of a learning process than a playing time outburst for the tall German C prospect. With limited minutes, Pleiss could not show his nice shooting touch and suffered from his physical deficits. With Brose Baskets, he will need to get stronger physically as he will arrive there as a successor of Tim Ohlbrecht in a role as back-up Center and will also face the more physical but younger Philipp Neumann to grab the minutes behind the Starter Elton Brown.

Stats: 1.3ppg 1.0rpg

Milan Macvan (2m03 – Forward – 1989 – Serbia – Hemofarm Vrsac)

After a strong start into the tournament, the impact of the youngest Serbian player of the tournament decreased in order to be a minor role player at the end. Macvan still displays a limited athletic ability combined with  nice basketball IQ, good positioning and an improving shooting. His three point percentages are improving over the years but his limited speed hurt him when attacking the basket. He can however overcome this weakness with his understanding of the game.

Stats: 2.8ppg (3/12 2FG 4/10 3FG) 1.9rpg 0.9apg

Antoine Diot (1m90 – Guard – 1989 – France – Le Mans)

The French Guard finished a dream-like summer on a very strong note. After a Silver Medal with the French U20 team, Diot got a call-up to play with the French senior team this summer, earned his rotation spot during the Additional Qualification Round and became a member of the 12-men roster for the Eurobasket 2009 where he finished strong on two great games with either 13 and 18pts. Antoine Diot is now a full member of the French Senior National Team.

Diot is currently playing a role as combo-guard with a tendency for being the backup of Tony Parker as the PG of the French National Team. His great improvements in terms of long-distance shooting helped him to be an asset that the French team is looking for, a reliable exterior threat. It was him who initiated the turn-around in the game for the fifth place by netting 4 FTs in a row after having opened the comeback run with a three point shot. His long-distance shots are especially effective when he can take them from the corner in catch-and-shoot fashion after receiving the pass out of drives from his team mates.

When positioned to play the PG, he likes the Pick-and-Roll situations where he has improved over the last season. He can drive to the basket and can also finish close to the rim as he is a correct athlete and pretty strong physically. On the defensive end, he can hold his own against big European guards and be very aggressive to harass the opposing PG bringing up the ball.

Stats: 5.1ppg (5/13 2FG 9/21 3FG) 1.9rpg 1.0apg

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Milan Macvan (2m05 – Power Forward – 1989 – Serbia)

Milan Macvan was a legit MVP candidate and should have been voted into the All-Tournament team at least. The Serbian Power Forward, despite being one year younger than most of the players in Riga was probably the most impressive player when it comes to his talent. Macvan, who is now even larger than one year ago, has an incredible all-around basketball talent, but unfortunately limits its own potential by his physical shape and athleticism.

When it comes to scoring, Macvan can do it all. Playing in the post, he can conclude with a perfect fade away jump shot which he nets with great accuracy. He can also muscle down against weaker opponents, something that won’t work anymore on the senior level. His shooting range however goes out until the three point line from where he can drop three pointers without problems. Playing outside, he can also use his great passing precision and court vision to play the high-low plays with his center. The downside is of course his relative unathletic appearance. He struggles to defend faster forwards as his lateral speed is average and he can not go for block shots either. With his physical presence, he is however a strong rebounder where he shows his above average basketball IQ in placements and timing.

Miroslav Raduljica (2m10 – Center – 1988 – Serbia)

The MVP of the competition has improved dramatically since his mediocre showing in last year’s U19 World Championship. Being physically extremely dominant on this level, Raduljica impresses also with great precision in his moves and good positioning. His presence in the paint was unmatched and with an improving technique, he should make a big move on the Senior level next season.

Still, Raduljica mostly scored out of physical dominance than going for some quality back to the basket moves. He scored several times on jump hooks but lived a lot from crashing the offensive glass and good dishes by his team mates. He showed also correct explosivity and goes for dunks when there is the possibility. Going to the FT line is not a problem for him as he nets more than 70% of his close to 7 attempts per game. His presence in rebound is impressive though as he knows how to protect the ball well and with his correct athleticism, not a lot of contestation is there. A domain to improve though is his shot blocking where he is not particularly present.

Donatas Motiejunas (2m14 – Power Forward – 1990 – Lithuania)

The youngest player of the competition was probably also the most talented. The Lithuanian forward, that already competed in the U18 competition before joining his team in Riga showed once again why he is considered as the biggest talent of the European 1990 generation behind Ricky Rubio. Motiejunas combination of size and skills is unmatched in Europe at the moment and the big minutes he is promised to get next season in Lithuania on the Senior level should help him to develop into a fantastic prospect.

The problem with Donatas, I speak of up-and-down performances and frustration, could not be seen in Riga during the games I attended. Both times, he led the team with his versatile scoring possibilities by either beating his opponents of the dribble or by posting them up and finishing on his nice jump hooks. He mixes his offense with some three point shots which he could not connect though. Still, Motiejunas has to work on his rebounding and to get tougher in his mind in order to make the maximum out of his current talent. Seeing a 7 footer run and play like him is not that common.

You can not talk about the big guys of this competition without mentioning Boban Marjanovic. Being listed at a surprising 2m11 by FIBA Europe, Big Bobby is closer to the 2m22 announced by his team of Vrsac. Marjanovic may still have some trouble to run the court at high speed, when he is placed close to the paint and getting the ball from dishes, nobody can stop him. With his huge hands, he dunks the ball over every opposition and he is not afraid to to so. With his terrific size, Marjanovic is very present in shot blocking and with his surprising quick arms, he can come up with some surprising moves.

There were some other big men that should have been part of this coverage but because of the limited number of games I could attend, I won’t come up here with a report about them.

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