By Dionysis Aravantinos/ info@eurohoops.net
The way these 64 European players (2017-2018 season) in the NBA are revolutionizing the game of basketball at the best competition in the world is something secial. Each of them has a unique story to share, and other young prospects who currently play in Europe look up to them and want to follow their journey in the NBA.
Eurohoops brings you, Europe’s five best young prospects that will keep the NBA busy the next few years, and could be potential rising stars in the world’s toughest league.
Rodions Kurucs
Country: Latvia
Age: 19
Position: SF
Team: Barcelona
Height: 6-8
Rodions Kurucs; a 19-year old small forward from Latvia. Kurucs currently plays in Barcelona and his name has been called up for the first team a few times. His versatile skills, unique talent, length, and athleticism is what makes him a unique talent in Europe.
Early Years
The 19-year Latvian has been playing basketball since 2012, when he played for VEF Riga, his hometown team in Latvia. He showed his skills and unique talent since playing in the club’s youth academy, and in March 2014 he signed a multi-year contract with the Latvian club, in Latvia’s second division. At the time, Kurucs was only 16-years old, and he was competing in the second division in the country. As he showcased his talent in Riga, the following year Barcelona signed him to a four-year deal.
For his first year in Spain, Kurucs played for Barcelona’s junior club, but since 2016 he is part of FC Barcelona B. On March 14, 2017, he made his official EuroLeague debut and scored two points.
The big question mark. 2017 NBA draft
According to many draft experts and mock drafts, Kurucs was projected to be picked in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft. Kurucs had already entered his name into the 2017 NBA draft along with other 182 players, but during the last day, he withdrew his name from the draft. Kurucs will now play another full season with Barcelona, could quite possibly get some opportunities with the first team and will enter his name in the 2018 draft coming this June.
ACB, EuroLeague, Barcelona & Expectations
Kurucs’ length and athleticism gives him a boost on the offensive side of the court, but also his versatility helps out his team. Coaches in the past have used him both as a guard and a forward and he has very quickly adapted to the different positions successfully. The way he will utilize his skill-set this year, and will work on his weaknesses, will be a huge factor as to if he will get some playing time with the first team of Barcelona.
Last season, Kurucs averaged 9.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in the 24 games he played with Barcelona. This season he is expected to lead Barcelona B to victories, but also try and get some minutes in the EuroLeague under Barcelona’s first team. It will be challenging, but Kurucs will need to have this experience under his belt, so he knows what to expect from the top level of competition in Europe. Scouts from the United States will be watching him, the pressure will be there, but if he remains healthy, he will have the ability and the opportunity to showcase his talent and become one of the engaging storylines this season heading into next year’s draft.
Dzanan Musa
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Age: 18
Position: SF
Team: Cedevita Zagreb
Height: 6-9
Perhaps the second best 18-year old European basketball player after Real Madrid’s star Luka Doncic, and one of the most exciting international draft prospects. Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Musa is currently playing for Cedevita Zagreb in Croatia in the first team, under coach Jure Zdovc. His dream is the NBA, and his name will be on the 2018 draft list.
Early Years
Being born in Bosnia, Musa had passion in an early age for football, before choosing to focus on basketball. But when he started playing basketball at the age of eight he fell in love with it and wanted to go as far as he could with it. After playing basketball at KK Bosna XXL, he moved to Sarajevo before joining Cedevita Zagreb in 2014. In December of the same year, Musa signed his deal with Cedevita and finally made his official EuroLeague debut on October 15th, 2015, scoring 4 points and becoming the tenth-youngest player to make their appearance in the EuroLeague since the 2000-2001 season.
With the national team, Musa led Bosnia to the gold winning medal for the 2015 FIBA Europe Under – 16 Championship while he managed to average 23.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game. Musa also played in the FIBA Europe Under-17 championship where he led the tournament in scoring with 34.0 points per game. In a game against Chinese Taipei, he managed to score 50 points (!) in 27 minutes and now holds the record for most points scored in FIBA Under-17 Championship.
ABA Liga, A1 Liga, EuroLeague & the Eurocup
Since 2015-2016, Musa is part of the Cedevita Zagreb first team and has played in the ABA Liga, the A1 Croatian Liga, the EuroLeague in 2015-2016 and the Eurocup last season. In the ABA Liga, last season, the 18-year old small forward played an average of 14.5 minutes per game, managing to score 6.3 points 50% shooting from the field, and 1.6 rebounds per game. Musa had some impressive games, but also some relatively quiet games. His best game came against Olimpija where he managed to score 26 points on 71.4% (!) from the field. In the Croatian league, Musa averaged 12.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while also managing a +7.4 on the +/-.
As stated earlier, Musa made his EuroLeague debut on December 15th, 2015, and scored 4 points. In the ten games he played, Musa managed to average 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in just 7.8 minutes. In 2016/2017 Cedevita participated in the Eurocup tournament, with Musa averaging 4.3 points per game.
This ABA season has started off well for Musa, as he is averaging 13.7 points per game in the first four games of the season, while his coach is trusting him and playing him more minutes (25.8).
Expectations
This season will play a huge role in his near basketball future. If he plays a big part in Cedevita’s offense this season (which he shows he can do), averages many minutes and Cedevita has a successful season his chances to go higher in the 2018 draft will increase. In a league which produces NBA talents and young prospects, Musa could very well be the next star in the making to come out of the ABA league and be drafted in the first round next year.
His shooting skills will come into play this season, as he will try to score more on defenders, using his length and height to get shots over the smaller guys. His aggressiveness will be needed by his team on both ends of the floor, as well as his passion and hard-working mentality. Finally, his confidence in his shooting is high for an 18-year old who will have to prove his skill-set this season, to coach Repeša and his staff.