How about a Euroleague Draft ?

[By Julien Debove] - Every year European basketball in general and Euroleague basketball in particular are growing. Better-organized, more entertaining, more competitive. FIBA basketball seems to have found its very own identity next to NBA basketball. But sometimes, you're left wondering what the Euroleague would look like would it partially copy and paste the North-American model...

Sure a Euroleague draft ain't gonna happen overnight. On the European stage, youngsters do not learn the game in universities like in the States. They most of the time belong to professional teams starting from a very young age. And we just don't see teams like Joventut Badalona giving up on their poster boy Ricky Rubio for a Euroleague team just because a Euroleague draft has been launched. Creating a Euroleague draft would be a head-scratching project that would most definitely require some sort of financial compensation for the buy-out of the player's right for instance. But anyway I just don't see it coming and that make me feel sad. Because when you look at how the NBA draft itself almost keeps the momentum on the NBA in the middle of a half-year off-season, you're left wondering what kind of impact it could have on Euroleague basketball. The draft system is always a great opportunity for us fans to fantasize about basketball prospects and pretend we are General Managers of our favourite team. What would a Euroleague draft look like ?

The Rules :

• The 24 teams that started the Euroleague season comes back next year (that will not happen since for instance Virtus Bologna is struggling so bad in the Italian League) and are placed in reverse order of their rankings after the first round.
• Those 24 teams keep the young guns they already have in their roster meaning that some of the best European prospects are out of the picture meaning Batum, Gallinari, Dragic, Pekovic, Teodosic, Motiejunas, Prestes, Datome, Ibaka, Barac, Casspi, Ponkrashov or Shved.
• Only players from 19 to 22 years-old are eligible meaning no Ricky Rubio.
• For the occasion, I tried to be 24 different General Managers at the same time so I can pick the player who best addresses the issues of each and every team or the one who might wind up being the best long-term project.

So here it is...

With the number 1 pick of the 2008 Euroleague draft, Virtus Bologna selects…


1. VIRTUS BOLOGNA : Milan MACVAN (Ser)
1989 PF/C 2.06m Hemofarm Vrsac
The pro career of the MVP of the FIBA Under 19 World Championship hasn't really started. But we gotta say he's been able to rent Jenna Jameson movies since only 3 months. Maybe he's not the most ready and he's not extremely quick nor has he half the leaping abilities of Jamario Moon but I bet that a couple of years down the road all the Euroleague powerhouses will stand in line to recruit him. He's been compared to Savic, Milojevic or Smodis. I think he'll earn more distinctions in his career than those 3 together.

2. BAMBERG : Ante TOMIC (Cro)
1987 C 2.17m KK Zagreb
Already number 1 in Europe (FIBA Cup though...) at field goald percentage and defensive rebounds. A great super-skilled player with post-up and face-up moves. And well... 217 centimetres... A shaved version of Pau Gasol.

3. LE MANS : Peja SAMARDZISKI (Mac)
1986 C 2.11m FMP Zeleznik
 "You don't teach size" in Europe either. The Macedonian center is already one of the best centers in the ULEB Cup (2nd best European league). He stands in the Top 50 of the best efficiencies ahead of big names like Fotsis and Shammond Williams.

4. ARMANI MILAN : Petteri KOPONEN (Fin)
1988 PG 1.92m Honka Playboys
Maybe he's a bit high at the 4th spot but anyway, I'm a big fan of teams rebuilding with a nice promising point guard which Koponen truly is. This young man has made a long list of NBA scouts  horny after he threw what seemed a trillion alley-oop passes to Nicolas Batum at the 2007 Hoop Summit. He even convinced the Sixers to gambe a 1st round pick on him AND the Blazers to work on a trade to get his draft rights. For sure that all looks better on his curriculum than being the 5th best passer of the Finnish League...

5. PROKOM SOPOT : Giorgi SHERMADINI (Geo)
1989 C 2.11m Maccabi Tbilissi
Already named Georgian player of the year for 2007. Shermadini started basketball very late so his improving curl is something of a mystery. I give him 2 years before he makes us forget about Zaza Pachulia. Well only if he truly was born in 89 because sometimes you wonder how many years Georgian years actually last... Dikembe Mutombo could be half-Georgian, I wouldn't be surprised if you know what I mean.

6. ROANNE : Victor CLAVER (Esp)
1988 SF 2.08m Valencia
The Spanish forward has been struggling lately trying to cope with the 4 to 3 spot transition. But he already showed in the past - I think U19 World Championships and 2007 Spanish League playoffs - that he had the size, the fundamentals and the shot of an NBA small forward.

7. OLIMPIJA LJUBLJANA : Yaroslav KOROLEV (Rus)
1987 SF 2.06m Dynamo Moscou
12th of the 2005 NBA draft. A 4 pt scoring average 2 ½ years later... They said he'd be the next AK47. The Clippers gave up after 2 seasons. The guy's 20 and we're already talking like we're giving him a second chance... What kind of world is this ? The Russian forward has the body and the son of a coach-abilities to be a big time player here in Europe. We'll be watching.

8. CIBONA ZAGREB : Tadija DRAGICEVIC (Ser)
1986 PF 2.06m Etoile Rouge Belgrade
Not the most athletic player in the History of the game but this guy has a knack for finding a way to the bucket. He was in the Top 10 of the highest scorers in the ULEB Cup (18.6 ppg) and simpley the top scorer of the Adriatic League at close to 20 pts a game.

9. ULKER : Vladimir DASIC (Mng)
1988 SF/PF 2.06m Buducnost Podgorica
A killer in the youth competitions who's trying to move down to the small forward position. It might help his chances to go to the NBA one day but in Europe wherever he plays on the court, he'll excel.

10. ROMA : Dragan LABOVIC (Ser)
1987 PF 2.06m FMP Zeleznik
The MVP of the 2005 U18 European Championship nearly found a way to jam his trophy room after he won gold at the 2007 U20 European Championship. And this season his numbers are up in Adriatic League and in ULEB Cup (12 & 5). Like Dragicevic and Dasic, just another great power forward with an unlimited repertoire with the athletic abilities of Zydrunas Ilgauskas...

11. PARTIZAN : Nemanja ALEKSANDROV (Ser)
1987 PF 2.13m Etoile Rouge Belgrade
Once supposed to end up the top NBA pick, Aleksandrov has gone through multiple injuries. And it's still hard to predict whether he'll shine back or have a career à la Grant Hill. But we're sure he wasn't brought to the Serbian National Team last year for nothing and at 2.13m, he's worth a gamble at the 11th pick.

12. PARIS : Nando DE COLO (Fra)
1987 PG/SG 1.92m Cholet
The hype man. Superb last Summer at the U20 European Championship, 2nd best scorer of the FIBA Cup, back-to-back MVP honours at the French All-Star Game and the French Copa Del Rey. I have a feeling the Rigaudeau comparisions will fly here and there soon.

13. OLYMPIACOS : Alexis AJINCA (Fra)
1988 PF 2.15m Hyères-Toulon
A unique athlete here in Europe. Still young but improving as seen those last few weeks on the French territory. More and more polished offensively and a consistant impact.

14. ZALGIRIS : Vladimir GOLUBOVIC (Ser)
1986 C 2.10m Vojvodina
He leads the Adriatic League in rebounding, has size and a big frame. He's not the new Nikola Pekovic but he's a great potential. Last year he removed his name off the NBA draft. Expect David Stern to mispronounce his name somewhere in the 2nd round of the draft next June.

15. EFES : Nikita SHABALKIN (Rus)
1986 SF/PF 2.04m Khimky
He used to be one of the best rising stars of CSKA Moscow before joining Khimky. If David Blatt thought he was good enough to be a part of the Russian National Team that stroke gold at the 2k7 Eurobasket, he has to be something. We wish he could earn more than 10 minutes a game to see how he could fare as a starter. Surely a matter of months...

16. BARCELONA : Edwin JACKSON (Fra)
1989 SG 1.90m ASVEL
His professional debut has been somehow unimpressive. But it's the same man who did wonders with the Centre Fédéral last year and hit crazy shots at the youth competitions last summer. One of the best offensive weapons in Europe for the years to come.

17. TAU VITORIA : Stefan MARKOVIC (Ser)
1988 PG 1.95m Hemofarm Vrsac
A great young point guard who brings size and great instinct to the table. He also was a part of the Serbian National Team at the Spanish Eurobasket. The only thing he needs to move up this draft is an outside shot.

18. MALAGA : Mladen JEREMIC (Ser)
1988 SG 1.95m FMP Zeleznik
Yeah I know it's a lot of French and Serbians... But this one player is a gunner. Maybe the purest jump shooter of his generation. Plus he's clutch as we have seen during the U19 World Championship when he bombed Team USA from outside in the final game (24pts). With his FMP team, he has earned a spot in the starting lineup and his stats are skyrocketting.

19. SIENA : Dusan SAKOTA (Gre)
1986 SF/PF 2.11m Panionios
The son of Sir Dragan Sakota finally left Panathinaikos so he can play outside the garbage time. He nowadays wears the Panionios uniform where he keeps on shooting the lights out (41% from 3 point range in ULEB Cup). Like Tsartsaris, he's a player who can stay in the shadow for 39 minutes and then ice a game with an offensive rebound and a trey.

20. MACCABI : Yogev OHAYON (Isr)
1987 PG 1.89m Galil Elyon
Not flashy but a great floor general and an underrated slasher. He was something last year during the Israeli playoffs and he kept it up this year going for 10, 4 & 4 in ULEB Cup action.

21. REAL : Manuchar MARKOISHVILI (Geo)
1986 SG 1.98m BC Kiev
If he really is 22, Manuchar looks like an amazing prospect. He's a powerful 2 who can attack the rim and shoot with consistancy from long range. He learnt how to play the game in some of the best schools in Europe (Treviso, Ljubljana) and apparently it's working. 12 ppg in ULEB Cup with a 27 pt outburst againt Pau-Orthez this year. It didn't go unnoticed here in France.

22. RYTAS : Abdoulaye MBAYE (Fra)
1988 SG 1.87m Dijon
In the shadow of both Jackson and now De Colo, the French guard has played an important role in the French first division. 10 ppg this year actually. He's a very capable 3 pt shooter and a poison in defense. A bit short for the NBA but big enough to be a star here in Europe.

23. PANATHINAIKOS : Miroslav RADULJICA (Ser)
1988 C 2.11m FMP Zeleznik
A force in the post with already a nice array of moves with his back to the basket. He can already fill the stat sheet with a bunch of minutes (3 pts & 3 rbds in 10 little minutes in ULEB Cup action).

24. CSKA : Adrien MOERMAN (Fra)
1988 PF 2.03m Nanterre
Right it's easier to put up gaudy numbers in front of French Second Division big men instead of the big names from the ULEB Cup. Unlike most of the guys I've been talking about, this is someone who's been a first offensive option since he's 19. Not much size but a great mix of mobility, energy and basketball IQ.

Le 2ème Tour

25. VIRTUS BOLOGNA : Vyacheslav KRAVTSOV (Ukr)
1987 C 2.10m BC Kiev

26. BAMBERG : Carlos Suarez (Esp)
1986 SF 2.01m Estudiantes

27. LE MANS : Ludovic VATY (Fra)
1988 PF/C 2.06m Pau-Orthez

28. ARMANI MILAN : Joel Freeland (UK)
1987 PF 2.08m Gran Canaria

29. PROKOM SOPOT : Mickaël MOKONGO (Fra)
1986 PG 1.80m Gravelines

30. ROANNE : Boban MARJANOVIC (Ser)
1988 C 2.16m Hemofarm Vrsac

31. OLIMPIJA LJUBLJANA : Dimitris VERGINIS (Gre)
1987 SG 1.94m PAOK Salonique

32. CIBONA ZAGREB : George TSINTSADZE (Geo)
1986 PG 1.92m Tartu Rock (Est)

33. ULKER : Rodrigue BEAUBOIS (Fra)
1988 PG 1.86m Cholet
 
34. ROMA : Luca VITALI (Ita)
1986 PG/SF 2.01m Montegranaro
 
35. PARTIZAN : Dmitri KHVOSTOV (Rus)
1989 PG 1.91m Dynamo Moscou
 
36. ARIS : Daniel CLARK (UK)
1988 PF/C 2.10m Leche Rio
 
37. OLYMPIACOS : Marko KESELJ (Ser)
1988 SF/PF 2.08m Köln
 
38. ZALGIRIS : Caio TORRES (Bre)
1987 C 2.10m Estudiantes
 
39. EFES : KLOBUCAR (Slo)
1987 SG/SF 1.99m Slovan Ljubljana
 
40. BARCELONA : Jure LALIC ( Cro)
1986 C 2.10m Zadar
 
41. TAU VITORIA : Jonas JEREBKO (Sue)
1987 SF 12.04m Biella
 
42. MALAGA : Dairis BERTANS (Let)
1989 SG 1.92m ASK Riga
 
43. SIENA : Pau RIBAS (Esp)
1986 PG 1.82m Badalona
 
44. MACCABI : Carl ONA EMBO (Fra)
1989 PG 1.85m Biella
 
45. REAL : Can OZCAN (Tur)
1989 SF 2.00m Alpella
 
46. RYTAS : Kamil PIETRAS (Pol)
1988 PF/C 2.09m Varese/Lugano
 
47. PANATHINAIKOS : Romain DUPORT (Fra)
1986 C 2.15m Le Havre
 
48. CSKA : Nenad MIJATOVIC (Mng)
1987 PG/SG 1.94m Buducnost
 
Note : Even though I watched A LOT of European games those last few years, I find it more honest to say I have not seen each and every one of those players. For all those guys, I checked the numbers and the scouting reports of trustworthy websites like Draftexpress and European Prospects.

All the choices I made and the order of this draft are terribly subjective. Considering the number of French citizens here and there, I feel the need to say I didn't act out of chauvinism. First of all, the French basketball school is a good one. Besides, most of the best Russian, Serbian, Lithuanian or Italian prospects already play in the Euroleague and therefore were not eligible for this draft.

If you disagree with any of those choices, feel free to give your thoughts. It's a difficult task - believe me - to say this prospect is good enough and this one isn't. But if you're up for it, I'd love to read your comments.