European Prospects

With 30 days left until the 2008 NBA Draft, the sprint around the Globe for GM’s, scouts and other executives has begun. And europeanprospects.com comes up with its latest Mock Draft Review to check what are the trends in the most popular Mocks on the Web.

Danilo Gallinari (8th)

The uncontested  European No1 remains Danilo Gallinari. After having finished his season with AJ Milano with a 0-3 loss in the playoffs against Montepaschi Siena, the Italian forward can now concentrate fully to the upcoming Draft process which consists of camps, workouts and interviews. Despite the rumors that Gallinari may stay another season in Italy, he is a clear-cut lottery pick that even could go to the Top5 according to some NBA scouts. And the link with the Knicks at the 6th spot may be more than just a journalist’s story. But remains the question, if “il Gallo” is still available when the Knicks have their choice.

Nicolas Batum (20th)

The stock of the French forward is still falling and he reached the 20th spot in the Review this time. The recent comments by Pacers Larry Bird, who draft at 11, may boost him back into the lottery for some Mockers, but it would be more interesting to watch his current performances during the French playoffs. A nearly triple double (11pts 7rebs 9asts) in the match-up with Cholet qualified his team Le Mans for the semi-finals where they will play against the French champion Roanne.

Serge Ibaka (40th)

The Congolese PF is still the total mystery man in the Draft. While two of the most up-to-date Mock Drafts (DX and NBAdraft.net) don’t have him in at all, the other Mockers see him in the first round. So his stock could rocket up when he decides to remain in the process. He will be one of the most followed guys in Treviso in 10 days for sure and this camp may decide a lot on his future this year. He finished his regular season with L’Hospitalet in the second Spanish division with 10.7ppg and 8.0rpg while blocking 3.1 shots in just 25 minutes per game.

Alexis Ajinca (41st)

The long not that skinny anymore French Center is still moving up the boards as he is now considered as a Draft candidate for this season by nearly all of the Mocks. And those, that consider him see him at the end of the 1st round mostly. Ajinca, who is surprisingly not on the list of the Treviso invitees finished his season with Hyères-Toulon in a nice fashion and despite a limited playing time came up with some nice performances during the year. The next season should be his real break-through year if his learning curve remains as steep as it was this year. A little bit more regularity and we have a excellent prospect for the future.

Omer Asik (43rd)

Up and down may be story for Omer Asik from Turkey. Draftexpress had recently a long report on him after they had the possibility to analyse his game for the first time. And the least one could say is that they were delighted and immediately put him higher in their Mock. this has affected Asik’s position in the Review as well and so he is slowly moving up again in the second half of the 2nd round.

Nikola Pekovic (46th)

Still quite a deep position comparing to his current playing level, the Montenegrin Center from Partizan Belgrade remains some kind of doubtful in terms of NBA material. If the Draft would be for European teams only, he would be a Top 3 pick for sure. But we are talking about NBA here and so his “normal” athletic skills don’t give him the necessary credit among the Mock Draft writers.

Ante Tomic (50th)

Tomic is still hurt by some Mocks that don’t consider him at all. But Chad Ford for ESPN even sees him in the first round going to the Spurs. Well if that happens, in a few year’s time, everybody will say what a steal that was. Or not… Not a lot of news about him during the past few days though.

Semih Erden (54th)

The Turkish Center is still predicted somewhere in the late second round by most of the Mocks, so here we did not see a lot of change for him only moving from 58th to 54th spot.

Goran Dragic (55th)

Another candidate who has been in our reviews for the last months and always being picked around that 50th place. The athletic guard currently playing for Olimpija Ljubljana in the Slovenian playoffs could be an interesting pick in this region of the Draft as he has the necessary athletic skills to play in the NBA. but if that is enough?

Omri Casspi (56th)

A new entry in our review is the Israeli forward from Maccabi Tel Aviv. After an up-and-down performance during the Euroleague Final Four in Madrid, his name is now entering the boards throughout the net and he could end up somewhere in the second round if he stays in the Draft. Nothing is more unsure than that however.

Anton Ponkrashov (59th)

Having led Khimky to the Russian Finals, Anton Ponkrashov’s season is now ever and he can concentrate on a possible NBA Draft career. He should be one of the top performers in Treviso of the 1986 class if he attends and is motivated as his talent level is without any doubt. What his future looks like is not so sure for the moment as he is just on loan with Khimky and it is probably not in his hands if he stays or will go back to CSKA Moscow for next season.