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NBA BASKETBALL July 31, 2002
The Euroleague: The NBA's Real Developmental League



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The old days when NBA teams looked to the college ranks for instant impact players are truly ancient history. New draft patterns continue to evolve as college basketball increasingly loses its traditional role as the NBA’s training ground. Last year’s draft was unique. Three of the first four players selected were high schoolers, the fourth a foreign player and overall four Europeans were taken in the first round. This year’s draft was just as revolutionary. For the first time a foreign player was the initial pick and a record number thirteen foreigners, eleven of European, were drafted.

The recently concluded season was unique in several ways. The immediate success of rookies Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Andrei Kirilenko as well as the achievements of the league’s “European team,” Sacramento, has forced NBA general managers to consider the European option a lot more seriously then in the past. Both Gasol and Parker’s success were very significant. Gasol’s Rookie of the Year season, after being drafted third, has decreased the risk factor in selecting foreigners high in the draft. Though drafted 28th and only 19 years of age at the time, Parker won the starting point guard job at San Antonio and played like a poised veteran. He demonstrated that even a late first rounder or second round pick could make a valuable immediate addition to the team that chooses wisely.

In the past, top draft picks were chosen according to their “NBA readiness” after several seasons of college ball. During the past few years, the trend has been towards potential, as most of the top young American players have opted to enter the draft straight from high school or after a brief stay in college.

Today’s top young European prospects offer an attractive blend of potential and “NBA readiness.” Players like Gasol, Parker and Kirilenko and recent selections like Nikolz Tskitishvilli, Bostjan Nachbar and Jiri Welsch are hardly diamonds in the ruff. All have either one or more years of experience at the highest levels of European basketball. In many ways, their training and experience far exceeds what players of a comparable age get from NCAA basketball.

A European season consisting of national league play, European Cup league competition and playoffs can easily amount to 60-70 games. Rosters consist of young prospects plus European and American veterans, slightly below NBA caliber. The leagues are full of players with NBA experience. Almost no one is truly “NBA ready” when drafted, but some of the top European youngsters seem to be further advanced then most college players.

It’s become common practice for NBA teams to draft talented but less advanced players as “futures.” The opportunity to return to their European teams for additional seasoning makes them a more attractive option then college players who can’t return to the NCAA and are usually expected to prove their NBA readiness immediately.

New breed Europeans like Gasol, Kirilenko and Tskitishvilli posses tremendous athleticism and versatility and have an enormous upside. They are soundly based in the basketball fundamentals that are often lacking in American high schools and colleges these days, and they have experience playing in a structured system. The NBA offers them a chance to display and further develop full-court skills, which are less integral to European basketball. In short, their potential is based on developing existing skills necessary to flourish in a different system rather on gaining experience.

Over 30% of the players drafted this year were born outside the USA. In many ways Europe is already fulfilling the task the NBA had in mind when it created the NBDL, only it’s doing it for foreign rather then American born players.

 

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