peZt wrote:Alpi is example #512312 that Scouts and GMs are still too stupid when it comes to drafting Euros.
When history has shown us one thing, then it's that 18 year olds who dominate or produce in Europe rarely if ever bust out. Someone who becomes MVP of a grown mens league at age 18 is a top 5 talent. Just stop overthinking and draft the dude in the top 5
Yet NBA teams keep falling in love with raw, athletic Euro's who barely get playing time in their pro teams and yet they still somehow think that guys who arent good enough for their Euro team will be good enough for the NBA. Why? Simply because they dominated some kids at the U16's and therefore scouts think they have "potential". There are too many examples to count of Euro busts who got less than 5 minutes per game yet were still drafted in the lottery, cause of their suppossed potential.
And then guys like Sengun who don't fit the NBA narrative with their body, fall outside of the lottery, despite dominating men at 18 years
Next example is Nikola Topic. If this dude isn't getting drafted in the top 5, NBA teams will make yet another obvious mistake
amen. the only fairly recent exception i can think of is Ante Zizic. no idea what happened there or why he didn't work out, but this absolutely holds true most of the time. it's the most reliable draft strategy - the one area of the draft where it really is not a crapshoot. you find an 18 or 19 year old putting up numbers over there against grown men, you have a player.