I’ve been saying since Day One that Michael Beasley should be the No. 1 pick in this upcoming NBA Draft, no questions asked. It’s a belief only made stronger after watching him bulldoze through a very talented, very athletic Kansas squad last night.
You can’t just focus on guys like Beasley, Eric Gordon and Derrick Rose though, because as with every draft, several European prospects most certainly work their way into the picture leading up to the big day. The latest? Italy’s 6-8, 19-year old small forward Danilo Gallinari, who Sports Illustrated’s Ian Thomsen says might be the guy taken with the first pick this summer:
“I think he’s the No. 1 pick,'’ an NBA scout says of Danilo.
The first player picked overseas?
“I think he’s the best player in the draft,'’ says the European-based scout, whose strong opinion of the 19-year-old Gallinari is in the minority but not without merit. “He has so much character, he’s a big, strong kid with a special combination of skills, and he’s going to be a matchup nightmare whether he’s playing small forward or power forward.'’
“He’s the best player on his team at his age, which is saying something,'’ says another NBA scout in Europe. “He can go outside, he can play one-on-one and he can go to the rim — as opposed to his father, who couldn’t put the ball in the ocean.'’
Is “Gallo” that nice? Our friends over at DraftExpress have Danilo at No. 5 on their current mock draft and their scouting reports paints an equally impressive picture of his skills.
The hype around Gallo will most certainly grow as the draft draws closer (assuming he applies), but, as with any Euro player of the past few years, will he be closer to Dirk or Darko?
January 31st, 2008 at 8:12 pm
ashto says:
No sense in choosing him over a proven college player. Pick your cream of the crop this year.
But anyways, there are always foolish GM choices that get on the hype bandwagon. But the risk/award ratio is too steep. History says so.
I gotta see this kid play constantly -and with consistency- to be a believer. Oherwise go for someone who your sure is gonna make an inmediate impact.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Brown says:
I’ve been saying for years that the majority of these European “studs” are extremely overrated. For every Dirk, there’s a whole bunch of overhyped players.
NBA GMs need to stop drinking the kool-aid on these Europeans. How many European lottery picks have panned out to become impact players? I’m having a hard time thinking of any…
Stick with the college guys, at least you can guage the talent they’re playing against.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Kobeef says:
Danilo has been having a great season and is a great, heady player but is not “blow you away” athlete and will have a hard transition to the NBA as a result. At best he is Andreas Nocioni.
Nicolas Batum and Ricky Rubio are more likey to be legit NBA players than Gallinari. Rubio especially but Batum is a much better athlete than Gallinari.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:42 pm
spliff 2 my lou says:
I still stand by my belief that European players are the perfect role players. I would not build my team around one unless that was my only option and I would not draft one with the first pick. Even the best current euro players dirk and Manu are better suited as role players as they are not even the Mvps of their teams. see: josh Howard and tim Duncan respectively.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Dominique says:
But you have to consider that Gallinari is the best player in a team that is in the euroleague, which is better than NCAA.
When Ginobili arrived from Euroleague, he was ready to contribute, more than the usual 1 and gone freshman.
You also have to think about Beasley’s true position in the league, will he be 3 or 4?
And there is also the need of the drafting team. For example, if the wolves get the 1st pick, I am not sure that they will draft Beasley, because as good as Beasley and Big Al might be on offense, they will lack size and defense…
February 1st, 2008 at 4:41 am
Luke says:
Argentina is not really part of europe
February 1st, 2008 at 7:15 am
Dominique says:
Yes, but he was Europe best player, ruling the Euroleague.
February 1st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
QQ says:
Take Beasley or Gordon. There’s no use in picking a European
player 1st overall (top 10’s good, but, cmon no.1???), when players like Darko and Tskitishvili(remember him? No? Exactly.) had already proven the OBVIOUS…
February 1st, 2008 at 12:37 pm
dagwaller says:
In my opinion, Europeans are just as much of a crap shoot as high school kids or 1 and done college players. You don’t know what you’re going to get, because you didn’t see them against top notch competition. I’d bet this guy’s going to be better than Darius Miles…and cost a lot less, too. Plus, as they said, he’s a good character guy. QQ thinks it’s obvious…maybe you should be a GM! Send me your mock drafts of when Tony Parker, Manu, Diaw, Dirk, Yao, and AK were drafted, too.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
doc says:
the new darko
February 1st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
doc says:
the new darkos in the building