| Live From NYC: Lekic, Pupovic Work Out |
While Chris Taft and Julius Hodge are well-known prospects in NBA draft circles, the last two guys I saw today are virtually unknown.
Serbian big men Marko Lekic and Milan Pupovic worked out in front of the same group of NBA general managers and scouts as Hodge on Tuesday (see Hodge blog entry below).
Two years ago, both were mentioned as future lottery picks. Now they struggle to find someone who has actually seen them play.
Lekic turned a lot of heads. He is 6-foot-11, weighs 264 pounds and has a great NBA body. He's also a very good athlete who runs the floor well and has great hops. In short, he is a monster.
To top it off, he finished off the workout shooting a perfect 20-for-20 from NBA 3-point land. You don't see that every day, even from sharpshooters.
So why isn't Lekic ranked in the top 10? Two years ago, he might have been after a workout like that. However, GMs have gotten wise to a certain type of workout monster. Most European players look great in workouts because they are so fundamentally sound. Now, GMs actually want to see guys play in games.
The problem is that I couldn't find one GM or scout in the audience who had seen Lekic in game action. He plays for a small team, Atlas, in Serbia and averages about 12 minutes a game.
Everyone left the gym with two tapes of Lekic in game action. If the guy actually looks like a player in a real game, you'll be hearing a lot more about him.
If not? Remember Cleiton Sebastiao, last year's freak of the draft? No? Exactly.
The other guy, Pupovic, is more your standard Euro big man. He's tall, on the thin side and very skilled. Two years ago he got pretty strong consideration from Dallas in the second round. Now Pupovic, a former teammate of Darko Milicic, is just trying to get noticed. Looks like he got his wish ? he's got a workout with the Spurs Thursday.
Used courtesy of: ESPN.com |
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