Danilo Gallinari (10th)

The consensus is that Gallinari will fall at the 10th place to the New Jersey Nets. But the rumors of him being drafted by the Knicks are still there and he may move up when you check out the teams he was working out for. But he is definitely the European player that will get drafted first.

Nicolas Batum (21st)

Another little slide for Batum who did good workouts but got diagnosed with some minor heart problems these days. This may hurt his stock in the next days but the overall impression he gave for the team he worked out for were good to very good.

Alexis Ajinca (24th)

The runner of the last weeks is Alexis Ajinca who rocketed up the boards. His intriguing skills may have been one of the reasons and so he showed all his potential in the workouts. The teams have to considered still that he is not a huge contributor in the French league right now but he may have nice potential. Be prepared to not see him getting big minutes in the NBA next season.

Serge Ibaka (26th)

Ibaka also arrived now in a consensus 1st round area, which is probably the result of his showing at the Reebok Eurocamp. Even more raw than Ajinca, but also a year younger, Ibaka is another long-term potential who may end up as a good player or as a total bust.

Ante Tomic (41st)

Tomic is the only European early-entrant that stayed in the Draft and has no 1st round position among the Mock Drafts. He may be happy with a 2nd round spot as he is probably way more interested in a career in Europe than in the NBA. Being drafted in the 2nd round is better for him too as he may sign a big-money deal in Europe before moving to the NBA in a couple of years.

Omer Asik (42nd)

Asik had a nice workout in Treviso but is that enough to qualify for a 1st round pick. I don’t think so and him being around the 40th pick is probably the best for him and for the drafting team. Asik has more time to develop in the Euroleague and can decide if he moves to NBA in a couple of years. The 2nd round spot gives him also better salary conditions than being in the late 1st.

Nikola Pekovic (46th)

Pekovic, who is officially now a Panathinaikos Athens player remains exactly where I had him on my last Mock Review. Not a lot has changed for him in between as he is not doing any work outs either and does not display big interest in the NBA in general.

Goran Dragic (47th)

Dragic also took some advantage from his showing in Treviso and moved up in some of the Mocks. Some NBA scouts consider him as one of best prospects of the 1986 generation in the Draft internationally. So far, I did not hear anything about NBA workouts for him either. But we may see him end up somewhere in the 2nd round and developing a few more years within TAU Ceramica.

Semih Erden (50th)

For the moment, you don’t hear a lot about him. Still he moved up in some Mock Drafts as he was 54th in the last Review.

Anton Ponkrashov (59th)

Not a lot of change for Ponkrashov either who could not boost his stock in Treviso with up-and-down play and a lot of individual choices. Still, he remains a good player who can do some good plays but his NBA chances seem very slim these days.

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Danilo Gallinari (9th)

Gallinari is still at the top of the European ranking. After having announced officially that he will enter the Draft, the spot of the highest European pick seems now clearly decided. Still, the different mocks are not quite sure about his exact position. While he is seen as high as 6th by Draftexpress and NBAdraft.net, ESPN only sees him as the 15th best pick.

Nicolas Batum (18th)

Batum is continuing his slide in the different mocks. The French forward’s ups and downs are maybe one of the reasons for this drop in the rankings. Still, he showcases an amazing combination of physical tools and basketball skills which is probably not topped by any European prospects right now.

Serge Ibaka (37th)

Serge Ibaka is now considered as a first round pick by nearly any of the mocks. While his performance during the Nike Hoop Summit game was not the most remarkable, his physical tools amazed some of the scouts in attendance of the practice sessions. The question remains if Ibaka will enter this year’s draft or not.

Omer Asik (48th)

Another slider of the last weeks is Omer Asik. After a thunderous beginning of the season, the Turkish power forward/center is not seeing as many minutes as he plays with a much stronger team. So his numbers went down as well as the consideration for him by the mock draft writers.

Nikola Pekovic (49th)

Pekovic announced that he is not very interested by the NBA. Maybe this is the reason for his drop to the 49th position this time. As he is automatically eligible, there will probably one or another team that will however try to grab him somewhere in the second round. On the other hand, his agent told the Greek TV that Pekovic is not sure yet about what he does next season and that he is getting a lot of attention by the NBA teams at the moment.

Ante Tomic (51st)

His position has still a lot of upside potential as he is not considered by every mock so far. He has announced that he will be in this year, but was that not the case already some years before. Also, more and more top names in Europe want to sign the tall Croatian for next season. He can move up a lot in the Mocks but also totally fall out when he is not even in the early entrants at the end.

Alexis Ajinca (52nd)

Ajinça did everything right with a second appearance in the Nike Hoops Summit. His stock has moved up and his position in the different mocks ameliorated. However, the only Mock that had him in before the Summit has him now in its 2009 Mock. So there is still a lot of potential when it comes to his final position.

Goran Dragic (57th)

A big drop from the 47th to the 57th for the speedy Slovenian guard. He suffers probably a lot under the announcements of some college underclassmen to enter the Draft which were not in the lists before. Dragic’s future is also not clear for the moment as his “transfer” to TAU a few year’s ago is still in the courts now to be validated.

Semih Erden (58th)

The biggest slide came for Semih Erden, the athletic Turkish Center. For him may count the same story than for Dragic, suffering from the US early entrants. Erden is automatically eligible and should however find some interested team in the late second round.

Anton Ponkrashov (59th)

Ponkrashov is still there but is he a legit NBA prospect? He played a good season so far for Khimky Moscow but it may be possible to see him back with CSKA next year and not in the NBA.

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Danilo Gallinari (8th)

The Italian forward is improving his Draft stock with the different mocks and moved several places higher in the Ranking. He is definitely the Number 1 pick from Europe right now according to the different sites in our review. NBAdraft.net is still having him behind Batum but “il Gallo” is the man right now.

Nicolas Batum (11th)

Not a lot of changing for Batum who remains with a predicted averaged 11th place but sled behind Danilo Gallinari. The last four games in the French league were impressive for the 1988 born forward as he averaged 14ppg 6.3rpg and 4.5apg to lead Le Mans to a 10-1 streak over the last weeks. Since the end of the Euroleague, his mediatic presence may have decreased but he is now preparing to lead Le Mans to the French title.

Omer Asik (37th)

A big gap between the two top prospects and the rest and we have a new third highest ranked player with Omer Asik. Pretty unknown before this season, Asik is constantly moving up the different Mocks and is now even a first round pick for some of them. His still improving performances in the Euroleague are certainly not passing the eyes of the NBA scouts and he might end up around a 30th place in June.

Nikola Pekovic (40th)

The weeks follow and the performances of Pekovic maintain as well. Also in our review, he improved just one spot from 41 to 40 and he is considered throughout the panel as a legit early second rounder. He has one of his most important games ahead this week in the Euroleague as he can help Partizan to qualify for the Top8 playoffs which would be a big surprise.

Serge Ibaka (41st)

Still not considered as a Draft pick this year for Draftexpress and Basketdraft, Ibaka remains a consensus second rounder for 2008 even if those that have him in their Mocks see him at the end of the first round. Far away from dominating in the 2nd Spanish league, the Congolese born forward is still all about potential right now. The next season may be determinant for his future if he moves up to a higher ranked team in European hierarchy eventually.

Semih Erden (45th)

Yet another member of the impressive Fenerbahce Ülker frontcourt and also a nice progression over the season for him. Moving up from 51 to 45 is nearly the top performance of this month in the different Draft boards. Erden, who is back from his little injuries is still contending for a Euroleague Top8 spot and his athletic play should help his team to move to the next round.

Goran Dragic (47th)

Despite still lots of ups and downs, Dragic has maintained an interesting scoring level over the last few weeks in the Adriatic league. Still not a major assist deliverer, his athletic capabilities are interesting on the European level but average for a NBA point guard. It is Draft year for him, so he will probably be present at some workouts but they will coincide with the preparation of the Slovenian NT for the Olympic qualifier in Athens.

Rodrigue Beaubois (48th)

Another upmover in the person of Rodrigue Beaubois who is coming seriously back from his injury at the beginning of the season. Heavily athletic,he averaged more than 20 minutes per game over the last weeks with Cholet and he is now a regular contributor for the surprising French team. Still not being considered by half of the Mocks, he will probably enter the race when the Draft is approaching.

Anton Ponkrashov (52nd)

Another nice move up for the Russian guard who is playing a great season away from his hometeam CSKA Moscow in Khimky. While Draftexpress and NBADraft.net are particularly high on him, some other Mocks do not have him at all in their Top 60 predictions. As he is automatically eligible this season, Ponkrashov comes up with his best basketball in the right moment.

Ante Tomic (53rd)

The talented big guy from Croatia is still not being considered as one of the top prospects in Europe despite a perfect set of basketball skills. He is playing in the somehow anonymity of KK Zagreb and so his individual performances are not at the top of the radar of the media coverage. However, he came up as DX’s European Prospect of the week but still he is not on the board for a lot of people as the consensus goes for a 2009 Draft for him.

Alexis Ajinca (58th)

Still only one Mock that has him in for 2008, and that even in the First Round. NBA Draft.net is particularly high on him and his limited performances since the Semaine de As did not hit his stock as one could expect. He has of course still high extremely intriguing athletic potential, now he has to become a regular contributor on the French national level.

Mantas Kalnietis (59th)

Kalnietis’ numbers are improving the last weeks and so does his Draft stock. Undrafted in our latest consensus, he has now entered the board. Also a 1986 born player, he has to come up big in the next weeks if he wants to remain in the race for the Draft spots.

Undrafted: Peja Samardziski, Rudy Mbemba

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I have selected 7 Mock Drafts websites and checked their respective latest versions of their Mock. The 7 selected sites are the following: Draftexpress, NBADraft.net, Real GM, Draft Review, BasketDraft, Hoopsvibe and NBA Draft Guru. And here are the results.

Nicolas Batum (projected Draft position: 11th)

It is not a big surprise to see him at the top of the list. Batum is clearly the most NBA type of player actually on the radar of NBA scouts. What is interesting that 4 out of 7 mocks see him as top European pick with Basketdraft going highest with the 7th overall. The lowest prediction for him is a 15th place according to the NBA Draft guru.

Danilo Gallinari (13th)

The question remains if Gallinari is the better prospect or Batum. For 3 of the 7 websites, he is. And the difference is particularly speaking for Draftexpress that sets him as high as 5th place. For the moment, the performances of Gallinari in the Euroleague are clearly above those of Batum. But still, a lot of people see more upside with the French guy. But of course, both have to enter the Draft first in order to get drafted as they are both born in 1988.

Serge Ibaka (39th)

He is probably still the biggest mystery in the Draft. While two mocks (DX, Basketdraft) don’t have him at all in their listings presuming that he won’t enter this year, the other see him drafted between 19th and 28th spot. As Basketdraft and DX have probably more reliable sources in Spain due to their writers, it is strongly possible that we won’t see the Congolese this year. At least, the two non-selections hurt his position in the EP.com Mock draft Review a lot.

Nikola Pekovic (41st)

Probably the most imposing force at the present, but also being born in 1986 and hurting in that way his potential upside which is still a huge factor in NBA Drafts. Pekovic is a fundamentally sound big man who could contribute immediately as his learning process is already well developed. Imposing force in the Euroleague, he may have some trouble in playing against NBA centers which are way more physical; if he is interested in moving over.

Omer Asik (43rd)

The late bloomer from Turkey that moved to Fenerbahce Ülker during the season and is getting serious Euroleague minutes in a prospect loaded team on the inside positions. He only entered the draft boards recently as the two elder mocks don’t even mention him. What is also interesting is that DX and DraftReview see him above Pekovic.

Semih Erden (51st)

Another Fenerbahce front line member is Semih Erden. He is sidelined with an injury at the moment but a good start in the Euroleague season earned him a spot in the second round for most of the Mocks. Again like for Asik, the elder mocks don’t have him at all in their rankings so he must get a little boost in our next edition when those have updated their predictions (hopefully).

Goran Dragic (53rd)

The Slovenian PG rocketed his stock during the Eurobasket 2007 but after some up and down games in the Euroleague, his is now somewhere in the middle of Round 2 for most of the mocks. However, while DX is quite high on Dragic having him at 37, NBA Draft.net only sees him at 53 which is quite a big difference.

Rodrigue Beaubois (55th)

The French PG just comes back from a minor injury and he should move up the different mocks in the coming weeks. Having created a huge buzz around him last year by announcing his name to enter the Draft, Beaubois has lived up the expectations by cracking the rotation at Cholet. Being from the 1988 generation, he still has a lot of upside and should improve with increasing playing time until the end of the season.

Ante Tomic (56th)

The Croatian Center is still a mystery if he ever can come over to the NBA. According to the different mocks, his actual place is between 31 and undrafted. Tomic is still putting up interesting numbers in the Adriatic League but his non-presence in the Euroleague seems to hurt his stock with some mock draft writers. His talent is undeniable, but he has to produce on the next European level in order to get the necessary recognition. He has still one year left before being automatically eligible.

Anton Ponkrashov (57th)

The Russian guard is playing an outstanding season with Khimki where he has recently won the Russian cup, is second in the Russian Superleague and also able to go far in the ULEB Cup. However, his interesting numbers don’t seem to give him enough credit to be worth more than the end of the second round. He showed however with CSKA last year in the NBA Europe Live Tour what his potential level is.

Alexis Ajinca (59th)

Probably the most interesting case in this edition. Being of the board for all the mocks, Ajinca has reentered the NBA Draft.net mock again and is actually listed as a potential first round pick at the 28th spot. His very improved performances during the last weeks and especially his shot blocking effort in the Semaine des As seem to have motivated the NBA Draft team to bring him back to the first round. The presence of a scout of them in Toulon is certainly also one of the reasons for this change.

undrafted: Peja Samardziski, Mantas Kalnietis

Present in some mock drafts, but the overall ranking does not give them actually a spot in the Top60 of the EuropeanProspects.com Mock Draft Review.

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