Not long ago, around this time of the year with the draft approaching, NBA fans would flock to the internet in the hope of discovering grainy footage of a player overseas touted as ‘the next big thing’.
In 2016, the grainy footage has been replaced by countless highlight videos and scouting profiles, but the mystery and intrigue over international prospects headed for America remains. But what was once a massive gap in the style and level of play between NBA and Europe has now closed significantly in the past half-decade.
“It’s a market that’s getting better and better and the players are getting better and better,” coach Scott Roth told Sport360.
There are few who understand both the NBA and European landscape, as well as their relation to each other, better than Roth. He began his professional playing career in Turkey in 1985 before entering the NBA with the Utah Jazz in 1988. Roth also played on the San Antonio Spurs, the Minnesota Timberwolves and several European clubs later in his career before serving as an assistant coach for a number of NBA teams.
Roth was most recently head coach of Baloncesto Sevilla in 2014/15, the same time New York Knicks phenom Kristaps Porzingis was in his final season with the Andalusian club before being selected fourth overall in the NBA draft.
The 20-year-old Latvian was an unknown coming into the league, but had a strong first year and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting.
While the knock on Porzingis heading into the draft was his slight frame as a 7-footer, the Knicks were enamoured with his athleticism, skill level and ability to shoot. Their evaluation paid off and the franchise now has a young, budding star to build on for the coming years.
Porzingis is the exception, not the rule for international prospects, but the stretch big man – a player capable of playing power forward or centre and being a threat on the perimeter – is becoming less and less of a unicorn. For NBA teams trying to find the next Porzingis, going abroad may be their best bet because while shooting has never been more important in the league, that skill has been a staple in Europe for a long time now.
The Euroleague average for 3-pointers made by teams per game in the 2000/01 season was 6.2, while the attempts were 18.1. Taking into account a Euroleague game is 40 minutes, if you adjust those figures per 48 minutes – the length of an NBA game – the makes climb to 7.4 and attempts to 21.7.
For comparison, the NBA league average for 3-pointers made didn’t reach that level until 2012/13, while it took until the 2014/15 season for the attempts to be as high. Athleticism and physicality are characteristics Europe can’t replicate to the level of the NBA, but skill-wise, they’ve been ahead of the curve.
“Even dating back to when I was playing in Europe, they’re so far ahead of us fundamentally and how they have grown basketball,” said Roth. “The evolution of US basketball is AAU. Some of these kids play 100 games in the summer, don’t get any training or teaching, usually the AAU teams are not even run by coaches, they’re run by money people who are investing in these kids to get shoe deals and agents. Our way of training has not been very good over the last 10-20 years.
“The Europeans have stayed steady with fundamentals and growing these kids at a very young age. You don’t have a lot of the exterior things with European players. You don’t have entourages or shoe companies or people chasing these guys down. They’re very job-oriented, focused kind of players and I think it puts them ahead of the US players in most cases.”
There’s a tendency to be American-centric when evaluating players in the NBA draft, so it’s no coincidence the team who’ve hit home run after home run with international players refuse to put “World Champions” on their title banners.
Roth was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks when they drafted Dirk Nowitzki, an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies (then Vancouver) when they drafted Pau Gasol, and an assistant with the Toronto Raptors when they drafted Jonas Valanciunas.
Yet, the franchise he believes has been the best at succeeding with foreign players is the San Antonio Spurs. One look at their roster and it’s hard to disagree. Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentinian Manu Ginobili stand out immediately as players the Spurs have developed since drafting them, but San Antonio are also famous for assembling squads brimming with various nationalities through free agency and trades.
That approach is part of the reason why they’ve been the most successful NBA franchise in the past two decades, winning five championships while continuing to be perennial contenders.
“The biggest thing is the trust between [general manger R.C.] Buford and [head coach Gregg] Popovich,” said Roth. “It’s easy to draft any player, even an American player coming out of college. But if the coach doesn’t feel like there’s a need for him, can identify with him or find a way to use him, then the pick becomes useless to the team. The thing that strengthens San Antonio is they’re always able to see that player they like and Popovich has been able to use them in a dynamic way.”
Context is often everything when sizing up international prospects and Croatian Dragan Bender, considered to be the top foreign player in this year’s draft which takes place on Thursday, could prove just how much situation means.
Looking at Bender’s stats, it’s hard to see why he’s projected to be selected anywhere from No. 3 to No. 8 when he averaged 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds in 10 games with Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Euroleague and Eurocup this past season.
Stats don’t tell the whole story though. Bender’s role on the storied Israeli club was limited as they suffered a tumultuous campaign, which saw them miss the Euroleague Top 16 for the first time in history and fire their head coach mid-season.
They were trying to salvage their reputation and giving major minutes to a still-developing 18-year-old wasn’t necessarily going to help the win now. But Bender’s skill-set and shooting ability for someone standing 7ft1ins is what makes him such an appealing talent.
That’s why NBA teams lean on their scouts and make trips overseas to check out prospects in-person, says David Hein, writer of David Hein’s Eye on the Future, a weekly column for FIBA.com, and founder of heinnews.com.
“You have to look at the team he’s on and the level of the team. What’s the level of competition in the league and the club he’s on, where is he playing internationally and take that into account. For some of these guys, stats are such an unfair way to look at it,” he said.
“More than anything else, you have to see the players live. Even if it’s just warm-ups, lay-up drills, shooting, see how he relates with players, how does he encourage team-mates, how does he perform in those five minutes, if he makes a mistake and is pulled then how does he respond? All that is important to see first-hand”
Bender could follow in Porzingis’ footsteps or be another bust, but the risks are just as prevalent when drafting American players. The evolution of the NBA game could be a reason why the success rate of international players starts to climb, but failure has more to do than just where they come from.
Roth said: “It’s just right place, right time, right fit.”
Other stars on the radar
Timothe Luwawu
Nationality: French
Team: Mega Leks (Serbia)
Pos: SG/SF
Age: 21
Possessing appealing size and athleticism for a swingman, the Frenchman has seen his stock rise. He greatly improved his perimeter shooting last season and has all the tools to be a lockdown defender.
Furkan Korkmaz
Nationality: Turkish;
Team: Anadolu Efes (Turkey)
Pos: SG
Age: 18
He’s one of the best shooters in the draft and should space the floor in the NBA. Korkmaz isn’t overly athletic but has good length and could be a draft-and-stash candidate.
Ivica Zubac
Nationality: Bosnian
Team: Mega Leks (Serbia);
Pos: C
Age: 19
At 7ft1ins and 265 pounds, he has the physique to be a paint presence. Despite his size, he possesses good mobility and nimbleness, while being a strong finisher at the rim. There’s potential to work with.
Ante Zizic
Nationality: Croatian
Team: Cibona Zagreb (Croatia)
Pos: C
Age: 19
Zizic had one of the most productive seasons in the Adriatic League by a player under 20, thanks to his high efficiency and motor. He’s also a terror on the offensive glass.
