European Prospects

The number of Europeans that stay in the NBA Draft 2010 as Early-Entry players has dropped to only 5. A multitude of big talents have opted out or did not even declare this spring so that the 2011 edition looks to be highly promising for European players. I will talk about that in a later article. But let’s take a quick look first at who remains in and why.

Ryan Richards from Great Britain is probably one of the more surprising choices if you only consider his past years in Europe. But the Brit has one clear goal in his mind which is the NBA despite all odds. Even going through the D-League process is an option for him so he stays in the Draft despite having not the best cards according to the different Mock Drafts. Richards has done a multitude of workouts over the last weeks and nearly every NBA Team should have seen him at least once. The potential is of course there, the doubts remain about his career choices so far and the fact of staying in the Draft and taking the risk of going undrafted or through the D-League is yet another one. The examples of some French players that took this way like Ajinca or Mahinmi and still struggle to get serious minutes on the NBA level are not hindering Richards to work his way through this direction.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Tibor Pleiss from Germany is currently still competing to win the Bundesliga title with Brose Baskets Bamberg (5.8ppg 8.0rpg 1.3bpg over the 4 Finals so far, the last game being played today). The rumors in Germany say that he has a promise by the Oklahoma Thunder at #26 but everybody knows that this may change with the NBA Draft coming closer. The German Center has also declared on multiple occasions that he will not play in the NBA next season preferring to stay in Europe to earn some Euroleague experience before moving over. This is certainly the better way as game experience on the highest possible level for the player’s abilities is an asset that nobody can take you away afterwards. Pleiss is on the right track and if the NBA does not work out for him, he will most likely be a long-lasting Euroleague-level center for the next decade.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Kevin Seraphin from France is the only candidate that is getting some consideration at the moment from all the different Mock Drafts despite being injured and not available for workouts. The Draft masters of Comsport (his agents) are certainly knowing exactly what they do by letting Seraphin in the pool for the 2010 edition. The teams that seriously consider the French Center have seen him in action during the season and additional workouts could even hurt his stock if he can not compete at full force. Seraphin’s team Cholet won the French championship and qualified for the Euroleague so that if Seraphin stays another year in Europe, he is sure to play at the highest level outside the United States and an additional year of experience will help him to be more NBA-ready, something that he is not at the moment.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: #22 by Portland, NBADraft.net: #32 by Oklahoma

Thomas Heurtel staying in the Draft is one of the big surprises of the announcement of the 14th June. The French PG played an interesting camp in Treviso and he probably impressed enough NBA Teams so that he chose to remain eligible for the Madison Square Garden ceremony. He is currently in the United States to work out for a couple of selected NBA Teams but it will still be somehow of a surprise if he gets selected on the 24th June. Heurtel’s game may be closer to the NBA standard than to the Euroleague but his physical limits may be a problem for him. He is still under contract with ASVEL Villeurbanne for three more seasons which is a point that NBA Teams consider. But getting a hand on him now is an option that some franchises probably consider for the future.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: #52 by Boston, NBADraft.net: undrafted

Dusan Korac stays in the Draft but remains a total unknown to me as to probably all of the NBA Teams.

Current Mock Situation (15th June 2010): Draftexpress: undrafted, NBADraft.net: undrafted