There is no tougher league for draft prospects anywhere in the world to participate in, making this an outstanding showcase to see just what these young players are capable of doing on a weekly basis against the cream of the crop that basketball has to offer outside the NBA.
This year there is once again a nice crop of players to follow and evaluate all season long, including two strong candidates for the number one overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft. Multiple potential future first rounders also lurk here, some seeing more playing time than others. Weve attempted to rank and categorize the NBA draft prospects not only by their NBA potential, but also by the amount of minutes and production that can be expected out of them in the 2005/2006 Euroleague season.
1. Andrea Bargnani, 7-0, Power Forward, 1985, Benetton Treviso
Jonathan Givony
Checking in at the number one spot overall we find a player who has shown flashes of outstanding NBA potential over the past few years playing for one of the most respected basketball organizations in the world, Benetton Treviso.
This season, Bargnani has continued to show flashes of brilliance, but has taken himself a step further and begun to produce in a huge way so far in the Italian league. Whether its putting up 25 points in 28 minutes on legendary Dejan Bodiroga and Rome, or scoring 17 points in 19 minutes against the weaker Teramo, all in a matter of a few days, Bargnani has caught the eyes of NBA scouts everywhere and has begun to establish himself as one of the premier talents that Europe has developed in the past few years. The fact that he is producing at such a high rate against stiff competition makes this all the more intriguing considering the way that the NBA is beginning to shy away from drafting European players strictly based on their potential. The scary part of this is that Bargnani has quite a bit of the coveted Vitamin P himself, just turning 20 years old earlier this week.
A more detailed updated scouting report will be published here on DraftExpress soon. The nitty gritty is that Bargnani is a very athletic 7 footer with tremendous abilities on the offensive end, most of which comes into play while he is facing the basket. He can slash to the hoop thanks to his excellent first step and ball-handling abilities, or pull the trigger and score with ease with range well out to the three point line. His man to man defense has been steadily improving, as he shows good instincts in this area as he does in all parts of the game. He will still need to improve his team defense and his rebounding skills, as well as adding bulk on to his rather thin frame, but with the strides he has made over the past few years there is little reason to believe that we wont see that coming into play in the not so distant future.