With that said...no I don't think Sergio Llull is going to be spectacular. He's already 22 and still not dominant (not sure he's even starting in Euroleague). He's also going to be a weakness on the defensive end. But for a second round pick, he could easily live up to that. Maybe even start for a bad NBA team.
Bad on the defensive end? You haven't even read his scouting reports. If you're not sure about the player you're talking about I suggest you stop talking.
Don't want to continue this too long when the thread is overall about Llull so I hesitated on responding but there's been 3 different people to respond so here it is. I picked a few "SF's" who could play wing or have played more like a wing player. Batum is shooting well and playing some good defense, but he is not above average yet - just look at the stats (I know they don't tell the whole story but he needs more before he can be higher). Gallo is a SF, just thought of him as a possible wing with his style. Beaubois does look good and he could be a stud. He still hasn't proven anything, however. I guess Kirilenko was out because I felt it was a stretch to call him a "wing". But yes, Kirilenko in his 5x5 days was pretty good. Turkoglu may be above average, and Peja was a stud, but I didn't include most from the older generation and they were guys that are definitely more SF's than guards. If we include SF's then I have to bring in Boki Nachbar, Jiri Welsch etc. I'll give you Calderon, but he has definitely been below par this year (Toronto fans basically hate him). Draft position value wise, sure - not everyone was picked in the 1st round and it's a crapshoot. However, Euro players are drafted low mainly because they are taken and then waited on. Vspan would have gone higher drafted later, as would Manu etc. Scola would have been a high pick if not taken way before he peaked. It's just disturbing to me to see barely any stud guard talent. I mean you still have guys like Aaron Brooks, Kevin Martin, Jameer Nelson, Rajon Rondo etc. who are studs who are picked out of the later picks. 2nd round you still pick up the Mo Williams, the Monta Ellis's, and value like the Ramon Sessions, the Chase Budingers etc. Yes there are the Morris Almonds and the Maurice Agers too, just that other than Gino and Parker, it's really rare to see star-level Euro guards or even close to that. And that is exactly what Rubio needs to be to justify the hype. He can't just be another Jose Calderon - he needs to be a Tony Parker or at least an Aaron Brooks, and I'm not so sure he has that in him.
Good read. I hope the team doesn´t loose Lowry, but if they do, bringing Llull might be a good option. Or Prigioni who also played with Scola a lot and can teach Aaron Brooks some tricks.
:grin: I was thinking the same thing. If Battier can be a top 5 defender in the NBA, surely Rubio can be a good one. Rubio does have nearly the same wingspan.
I've always said this. Go and re-read when i talk about athletes and some poster talk about how unathletic battier is and use that same excuse as to why he can't do certain things. I always bring up his combine results and the superman drill. Battier may not be as explosive as alot of wings, but he is 6'8 and has long arms and good feet. Where I maintain rubio will have big trouble is he can't use his size to dominate smaller players because he has slow feet and no post game. Also tell me the last time a international player was known as a good defender. Someone used Kidd as the example which is so wrong in so many ways. Kidd came in the league with a football build at 20. He has always been a physical pg at 6'4 and 200+ lbs. His end to end speed and quickness has always been there since entering the league. Kidd has always been an average to poor shooter, but he's always been a really good high end defender because he was able to stay in front of the quick point guards.
- Oberto - Nene - Varejao - Yao - Diaw - Pietrus - Turiaf - Biedrins - Najera - Elson - Diop - Udoka - Gortat - Ibaka - Kirlenko - Marc Gasol (and Pau currently) - Sefolosha .....
I didn't know there was an argument about international players and their defence on this thread. Interesting how that argument turned out.