Wrestle With This: The NBA Undervalues International Veterans
If the FIBA World Cup showed us anything, it's that there are talented pros deserving of looks outside the U.S. Should NBA teams be looking at them more frequently?
This is an installment in the ‘Wrestle With This’ series, a collection of small articles on musings or questions I’ve gained when thinking about the ‘why’ behind draft strategy. While I may not have answers to these questions I pose, I at least want to breach the conversation and allow there to be a discussion on the topic.
The game of basketball is in great, great shape.
Globally, it’s been amazing throughout my lifetime to see how much the game has grown internationally. There’s no greater proof of that than watching the FIBA World Cup, where small nations can challenge the United States legitimately — and even beat them to knock them off of a medal spot on the podium.
That type of international development is often ‘out of sight, out of mind’ here in the United States: we see college and the NBA, which are still predominantly American, and believe the international players who join those leagues are outliers with elite skills. To some extent, that isn’t wrong. Many players attempt to go the NBA and, when they fail, spend time professionally elsewhere. The league is still the pinnacle of professional competition, and likely always will be (though call the winners ‘world champions’ at your own risk).
But in seeing the players who can thrive in these international competitions who don’t play in the NBA, the gap between NBA players and great professionals in other leagues is shrinking. I’ve long thought that international programs and development schemes do a better job teaching the game than we do here in the United States. They don’t just play time and time again, they prioritize the club system which can allow for long-term goals above short-term gains, and rely less on athletic traits so they teach the game effectively.
NBA teams spend millions of dollars scouring the globe for young talent that can someday make it in the league. The outlier athletes with great traits at a young age, those who have brilliant IQ… the cream does still rise to the top. Several teams draft international prospects with hopes they turn into future NBA players.
Yet professionals and veterans, who have cut their teeth in Europe or other pro leagues, don’t get brought over to the NBA all that frequently. There’s a solid sample of success for finding NBA role players across the pond — one that I think could grow in the future. Joe Ingles had five professional seasons overseas before signing with the Utah Jazz. Daniel Theis spent years in the German League before moving to the Boston Celtics and eventually becoming a starting center. Maxi Kleber had a similar pro career before coming to the Dallas Mavericks. Simone Fontecchio was a 27-year-old rookie last year!
It’s happened in the past, too. Andres Nocioni signed with the Chicago Bulls as a 25-year-old. Gigi Datome and Nicolo Melli from Italy were older when they came to the NBA for the first time. Pablo Prigioni didn’t come to the NBA until he was 35! Gustavo Ayon had a few sturdy seasons as well, and his path started in Mexico before heading to the Spanish second league.
Some guys spent their college days in the states before going overseason to hone their professional craft and see major improvements. Jock Landale spent three years playing outside of the United States after coming to St. Mary’s for college and is now a mainstay big around the league, a similar path to Aron Baynes.
As the game is getting better and better overseas and other countries improve at teaching the game, I’d expect (and hope) this trend to explode. This year’s World Cup could be a great launching pad for many career veterans in international leagues to make the leap to the NBA.
Could 32-year-old Stefan Jovic help an NBA team? Will stretch-5 Dusan Ristic get a chance to come over to the league? Isn’t Andreas Obst a role-playing shooter who can make a positive impact on the back end of a roster? Could Arturs Zagars run an NBA second unit to perfection?
There’s also room for guys who started their pro careers in the NBA but struggled to come back, as well. Many veterans, like Jan Vesely, Bruno Caboclo, or Dante Exum find success and their proper roles overseas while playing and gaining experience to become valued veterans. Caboclo and Georgios Papagiannis both showed some real flashes during the FIBA World Cup this year to remind folks that they’re ridiculously good at basketball.
Now before you go and hit me with the “but the rules are different” argument, my take from watching the FIBA tournament is that it’s not the rules that make these teams/ types of players better, its their willingness to play a role and fit into a system. The right NBA team, who can play them in such a role and maximize their traits, will bring out the same value. That’s why some guys come over, fail, and head back to Europe — they never found the role that was right for them.
By finding it first overseas, both the players and the NBA team benefit. The player develops in a way that clearly impacts winning and fits into a style of basketball that forces them to understand their role. For the NBA team, they get a self-aware veteran and don’t have to spend the money on a trial-and-error approach to identifying which role the player is going to thrive most in.
To me, this is the underutilized route in NBA circles. The San Antonio Spurs crushed the international game for years, and reaped the benefit with role players on championship teams for over a decade. The Celtics and Mavericks have found similar success the last few years in doing the same. Sasha Vezenkov is coming to Sacramento this year to be a role player there, and my expectations for him are quite high.
International basketball is great. It’s improving. Many of these guys can come and play in the NBA. I hope we see more of them in the league soon…
Would love if you started doing more scouting reports for international prospects. This point in the draft cycle seems like a good opportunity to highlight some players, who have a year of film playing against quality competition, versus trying to project guys coming from HS. I really think someone like Nikola Topic is going to end up being a very high draft pick, but he has yet to show up on any draft media’s boards.
Totally agree with you, nice article. As an Italian and european scout, i can confirm your sensations and opinion. Right guy in the right team can reach good results, and not only with pure talent. And not only in a "middle level" european team. I hope one day NBA's gm and scout can change direction about recruiting and draft. Have a nice day !