European Prospects

A little bit later than usual, but here it is again: the European Prospects Mock Draft Review. After adapting the formula to calculate a bit in order to take into account the update dates of the different mocks, here we are with the results as of today.

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.