Did a lot of research the last couple of days, just to get a better sense of the Blazer draft. With a high schooler, 2 Russians, and a South Korean, need to do a little research just to understand things better.
First with Telfair. I have tried to read a lot, and the general consensus is he has a solid shot at being a good pro, while some (the Blazers management among them) that he will be very special. Nothing I have read indicates that he will be a bust. Very hard worker, very dedicated to working hard to get better, tremendous passer, decent shooter, and extremely quick. General consensus is he is a good player, just that Portland took him early. Bigger risk and a bigger upside than Jameer Nelson. So I am going to keep an open mind. I would have preferred they took a shot at Podkolzine, but they didn't so lets give him a chance.
The Blazers other 2 picks are from Russia, and Khryapa and Monya played for CSKA in Russia which made the Euro league final four. They are the 2 youngest players on the Russian national team, and have played in the European Championships, and Olympic seeding tournament. The fact that they are the 2 youngest players on the Russian National team is very intruiging. Russia always has a very good international team, with a great deal of depth of talent. The fact that these 2 (with Kirilenko) are seen as the future of Russian basketball means these guys are very talented. One thing I really like about both is they are defenders first, but have solid offensive potential. Most Europeans are offense first, and I think that explains why there has been a limited number who have succeeded. Being defenders first, with some quality offensive skills sets them apart from many of the other Europeans who have failed.
Viktor Khryapa - Did lots of reading and research on this guy. The reality is he is the heir apparent to Ruben Patterson, and from what I have read, he is a clear upgrade over Ruben. He is 6-9, 210, and will play SF. He has been compared to Kirilenko in style of play, and looking at his numbers, and the scouting reports and news accounts that seems to his style. He is not Kirilenko's quality, but he is NO DOUBT better than Ruben. He is taller, a much, much better shot blocker, I think he will be a better rebounder, will get as many or more steals, and will be a better shooter. Good FT shooter, and has 3 point range, and has a very high 2pt %. I think he will be similar to Tayshaun Prince. He is 22, and has 5 years experiance in the top league in Russia (171 games), has played in the World Championships, and Euro League Championships, and the Eurpopean Championships. He has at least 220 games experiance against NCAA Division 1 or better competition. He is ready to contribute in the NBA now.
Sergei Monya - He is a a 6-8 220 lb SG. He is 21, has played 94 games in the top Russian league, as well as the Euro League Championships, and the European Championships on the Russian national team. I would estimate that he has 125 games of experiance against NCAA Division 1 or better competition.
He is farther along than Khryapa. He is an excellent open court player, good mid-range shooter with 3 point range, solid FT shooter, excellent defender straight up and in the passing lanes. Good rebounder for a guard. Everybody says he is very tough, even Khryapa says he is tougher than he is.
This is the pick we got from Memphis for Bonzi Wells, and I believe he will be a better player than Bonzi. He is more willing to play defense, he is tougher, a better shooter, better rebounder, and a harder worker than Bonzi. I believe he will similar to Rashard Lewis, James Posey, Steven Jackson, Doug Christie, and Manu Ginobili. I think he will be able to contribute almost immediately, and though he won't unseat DA (assuming he is still here) when the season starts, he will put some serious pressure on DA. This pick actually makes me feel better about taking Telfair at 13. I believe that Monya was taken 10 places lower than he should have, so this is one of the best picks in the draft.
Ha Seung-Jin - He is 18, 7-3 and 305. Now this is an excellent round pick. I say that because Portland has a lot of young players they need to develop, so why pick someone in the second round who will be gone by the end of training camp? This is a long term project, 3 to 6 years before he ever plays in the NBA. Let him have time to develop. He is big, but actually has some skills, Georgie Murasean or Manute Bol he is not. Fairly active, with a soft shooting touch, decent footwork. I doubt he will be a top of the line NBA center, the things I have read indicate he could be a top 15 to 20 center in the NBA in a few years.
The Blazers second round pick last year was Nedzad Sinanovic. He is 7-3 225, and this is the Blazers scouts report on him.
He's an athletic player with long arms who runs well
He is probably 3-4 years away from playing in the NBA
He will play in Europe and hopefully develop into a NBA player
He wants to learn as much as he can about the game
Has put on 10-12 pounds of muscle in a weight and conditioning program in the last two months
Needs to add more muscle and bulk. According to physicans he can safely put on as much as 35 pounds.
Played ½ the year for the Citluk (Bosnia) second traveling team this past year
Played the other half of the past year for Malaga's (Spain) second traveling team
His body shape compares to Shawn Bradley's, but he has bigger shoulders
He is strictly a center
This was an article about him
When 7-foot-3 center Nedzad Sinanovic of Bosnia-Herzgovina was drafted 54th in the final moments of the 2003 draft, few took notice. "Another late round pick burned on a European stiff " many thought. However this could end up being the sleeper of the entire draft.
Sinanovic served in the Bosnian army for two-and-a-half years. Upon completion of his service in December of 2002, he began playing basketball again and was quickly discovered by assistant coach of the Spanish club Unicaja Malaga, Kosta Janka. Janka informed his friend Rade Filipovic an agent who works with Bill Duffy who quickly signed the prospect.
Sinanovic obviously had NBA potential, but needed time to develop his skills. Filipovic decided to have Janka take the young prospect over to Spain where he began working out with Malaga. Due to Sinanovic's inexperience, he received very little playing time.
Because of the unique situation, a player with great potential and low exposure due to the army stint, Filipiovic and Duffy concocted a scheme to sneak the undiscovered Sinanovic through the draft, making him a free agent, and thus circumventing the NBA rookie salary scale.
It is common for European players to put their name on the early entry list and later withdraw to familiarize themselves with teams. So when the unknown Sinanovic's name appeared on the early entry list, most figured he would pull his name out when the deadline came, as he had not worked out for teams and his agent didn't even speak English.
Duffy gave minimal information, listing Sinanovic's high school as his team and a Bosnian businessman who didn't speak English as his agent. The salary cap circumvention heist was in place. Sports Illustrated was called to run the story, and everything was going according to plan until deputy commissioner Russ Granik announced Portland's 54th selection.
Duffy and Filipovic sat in the Greenroom shocked at what they had just heard. The scheme had been foiled.
Perhaps one of the few scouts to even see Sinanovic was Portland Trailblazer International scout Chico Averbuck, "Nash told me to make the call. I'd seen this kid and I knew he had a lot of potential. Only time will tell if he has the stuff for the NBA"
In a story which ran later, Duffy was quoted by Sports Illustrated a day before the draft saying "We're talking about somebody who could be one of the 10 best players in this group". Meaning the 2003 draft. However due to the circumstances, NBA scouts obviously were not privy to Duff's opinion.
Sinanovic has very good agility for a bigman, he can get up and down the floor and the touch on his shot is developing well. The areas he must develop are his strength and basketball understanding.
Sinanovic is now playing for Belgium team RBC Pepinster, a second tier first-division European team where he can earn playing time and begin to develop.
Nedzad was brought over and played with Portland in the summer league in Utah. According to Filipovic, "The assistant coaches were really impressed. He is raw, but he's a fighter, when he gets knocked down, he gets back up."
He went on to say, "The ceiling is huge, but for now he's just a big project. He can become an NBA All Star, or he could fail to make the league. It's up to him. His great demeanor and work ethic really help his chances."
Sinanovic will come over each year during the summer to play with Portland in the summer league. "It should be a good barometer of his development." According to Filipovic.
Averbuck calls Sinanovic "A player that 2-3 years from now could be a diamond in the rough type". "He's a 7-3 player that just hasn't received the coaching, he's very raw, but the potential is there."
