As one lottery pick after another decides to return to college in anticipation of an NBA lockout, the door has swung wide open for a bevy of international players to swoop in and claim the spotlight in the 2011 NBA Draft.
It’s the perfect storm for overseas players who might have been poised for NBA success anyway.
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DraftExpress.com has five European-based players in the first round of its mock draft, all in lottery territory, and all more than just assets to be stashed away.
“[Jonas] Valanciunas was the number one per-minute rebounder in the EuroLeague,” DraftExpress president Jonathan Givony said. “[Donatas] Motiejunas is in the Eurocup final four, and he’s pretty much [Benetton Bwin’s] go-to guy. [Jan] Vesely made the final four last year and was the best player on the court in the event. [Nikola] Mirotic has made huge shots for Real Madrid the entire season. I think that these are guys that NBA teams can be pretty sure are ready to compete in the near future.”
There’s no turning back from the draft for Congolese forward Bismack Biyombo, who plays for Spanish club Fuenlabrada, after he registered the first triple-double (12 points, 11 rebounds, 10 blocks) in the history of the Nike Hoop Summit last weekend in Portland, but both Motiejunas and Vesely showed no hurry to come to the NBA, withdrawing from the draft last season.
That there’s no urgency this summer — and maybe no season at all — won’t hurt them either.
“What makes the European players a little more interesting for the NBA teams this year is the fact that, for the most part, they are already in a very good situations overseas,” Givony said. “They’ll be practicing twice a day, and when the lockout is over — maybe the following year — guys will be able to come in and be better players than when they were drafted.”
The same can’t be said for the one other European in DraftExpress’ mock first round: Turkish center Enes Kanter, who’s done nothing this season but practice with Kentucky.
“I have huge concerns about Kanter because he hasn’t really done anything in two years, and those are the two most important years of his development, from age 17 to 19,” Givony said. “If there’s a lockout, and he sits for a third year in a row, this is really going be a disaster for him.”
