By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The new season of NBA starts and Eurohoops presents you the list of the 59 players from Europe. France with 10 players has the biggest representation, Spaniards are the most established players and Antetokounmpo is the most intriguing talent. We divided the players by country and we used alphabetical order in their presantation.
Bosnia (2 players): Rookie center Ognen Kuzmic from Unicaja will have to show in Golden State Warriors that he can have a role in the rotation, but it will not be a surprise to see him in the D-league. On the contrary, Mirza Teletovic after a great Eurobasket tournament and some strong pre-season play is ready to be a part of the Nets‘ rotation after his last mediocre season.
Czech Republic (1 player): This season seems to be Jan Vesely‘s last chance with the Wizards.Τhe team declined the fourth year option in his contract. The truth is that so far Vesely‘s transition to the NBA has been a disaster, but the talent is there – as it was obvious in Eurobasket 2013 – and it remains to be seen if he can cut it.
France (10 players): Eurobasket champions have been a force in the NBA during the last decade and nothing is expected to change. Three of them play for the San Antonio Spurs, Nando De Colo has found a role in the team, Boris Diaw is a starter and Tony Parker is one of the team’s leader in a roster that includes a record number of ten non American players. Joakim Noah is also a starter in a team with high ambitions, Chicago Bulls, Nicolas Batum is a starter in Portland and center Kevin Seraphin will have enough minutes in Washington. Evan Fournier and Ian Mahinmi have earned their roles in Denver and Indiana and the question marks are rookie Rudy Gobert in Utah and veteran Ronny Turiaf in Minessota.
FYROM (1 player): This is the feel good story from Europe. After winning back to back Euroleague title with Olympiacos, 31 years old Pero Antic sacrificed the possibility of a lucrative contract in Europe in order to try his chances in Atlanta. Yes, we want for him to succeed.
Georgia (2 players): Zaza Pachulia after 10 years in the league will have a positive effect on Milwaukee, while 21 years old Tornike Shengelia will have a hard time getting minutes in the loaded roster of the Nets.
Germany (3 players): You can also add Kaman – we don’t – but anyway this is going to be a very interesting year for Germans in the NBA. Dirk Nowitzki is 35 years old and this one of his last runs towards a second title – something more than difficult for Dallas – undrafted Elias Harris will be a part of rebuilding Lakers and rookie Dennis Schroeder seems ready to help Atlanta, despite his total experience comes from a mid-level German BBL team like Braunschweig.
Great Britain (2 players): We are not counting Ben Gordon since he never played in Europe. Luol Deng will be once again a starter in Chicago and Joel Freeland can be a decent role player for Portland’s front line.
Greece (3 players): Greek-American Kostas Koufos was the only representative of the country in the NBA for quite some time, but now he will team up with fellow Greek-American, former Euroleague champion with Panathinaikos and Eurocup MVP with Lokomotiv Kuban, Nick Calathes in Memphis. Still, the name which creates the biggest buzz is Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee Bucks, probably the most intriguing talent of the last draft.
Israel (2 players): Omri Casspi is ready to make the next step in his career in Houston and undrafted Gal Mekel after getting the Israeli league title by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv, has earned a spot in Dallas’ roster. It will be interesting to keep an eye on him.
Italy (4 players): Top Italian players are following the “French route” as they prefer to face the NBA challenge, than get a big contract in Europe. That’s why Gigi Datome after a great year with Roma decided to try his luck in Detroit. Marco Belinelli is expected to be a contributor for the Spurs, Danilo Gallinari is healthy again and can be the top scorer of Denver, while Andrea Bargnani hopes to revive his career in New York.
Latvia (1 player): Andris Biendrins ended up in Utah after losing his role in Golden State. In the past he had proven that he can be an NBA rotation player, but now he had to prove it again.
Lithuania (2 players): The duo of talented young center Donatas Motiejunas (22 years old) in Houston and Jonas Valanciunas (21 years old) in Toronto, after their successful rookie seasons are ready for more. Valanciunas is a starter, while Motiejunas will have to fight for minutes behind Howard and Asik.
Montenegro (2 players): Like Lithuania, Montenegro has two great centers in the NBA, former Euroleague champion with Panathinaikos Nikola Pekovic in Minessota and Nick Vucevic in Orlando. Both are starters, both are valuable.
Poland (1 player): Marcin Gortat left Phoenix for Washington, he is expected to be the starting center and the team expects a lot for him, as it will make a run for the play offs.
Russia (4 players): Andrei Kirilenko sacrificed money in order to be a member of the Nets and fight for the title. Alexey Shved in his second year in Minnesota can be even the sixth player of the team, while Timofey Mozgov is expected to have steady role and minutes in Denver. Also the rookie, Sergey Karasev, one of the purest European scorers of his generation will get his chance to shine in Cleveland.
Serbia (2 players): The rookies are coming. Nemanja Nedovic in Golden State is already compared to one of the greatest European guards of all time, Sarunas Marciulionis. This is flattering, but also a great challenge for the former Lietuvos Rytas player. Miroslav Raduljica to Milwaukee was a surprise. He has the talent, his career in Europe until now it was at best mediocre and in his 25 years will have the chance to play in the highest level.
Slovenia (2 players): Goran Dragic is the starting point guard of Phoenix and things will stay that way. Beno Udrih signed with the Knicks and in his 31 years will provide a boost from the bench.
Spain (6 players): There are no new faces from Spain this season in the NBA, but all Spanish players in the States are considered established names. Jose Calderon in Dallas, Pau Gasol with the Lakers, Marc Gasol with Memphis, Ricky Rubio in Minessota and Serge Ibaka in OKC are starters. Forward Victor Claver in Portland is still searching for his role, but he is part of the rotation and will have decent minutes.
Sweden (2 players): Jonas Jerebko in Detroit and Jeffery Taylor in Charlotte had great numbers in the recent Eurobasket and will be important parts of their teams’ rotations.
Switzerland (1 players): Thabo Sefolosha is one of a kind. The only player of Switzerland in the NBA is also one of the best European players of the league and a starter in OKC, making a push for the NBA championship.
Turkey (4 players): Enes Kanter in Utah, Omer Asik in Houston and Ersan Ilyasova in Milwaukee are respected and important members of their teams. Unfortunately that’s not the case any more with Hedo Turkoglu who is still under negotiations for the buy out of his contract with Orlando.
Ukraine (2 players): Rookie Alex Len after a season in Maryland was picked in number 5 of the last draft and he is projected to develop into the starting center of Phoenix. He will have the company of Viacheslav Kravtsov, who last season was just a name in Detroit’s roster.