Milicic, Schortsianides await word on draft status -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Chad Ford ESPN.com Darko Milicic is not the next Dirk Nowitzki. Nor is he the next Pau Gasol. Nikoloz Tskitishvili? Forget about it. Everyone always wants a comparison when talking about international phenoms, so I'll give you one. Try LeBron James. Like James, NBA scouts have closely watched him since he was 15 years old. Like James, Milicic's talent is so extraordinary, words often fail even the most jaded NBA personnel gurus. And like James, Milicic is making a move to put his name into the NBA draft this summer. YOUNG EUROS Darko Milicic Position: Forward Height: 7-0 Country: Yugoslavia Born: June 20, 1985 Sofaklis Schortsianides Position: Center Height: 6-11 Weight: 285 Country: Greece Born: June 22, 1985 If things go his way, the consensus among numerous NBA scouts is that Milicic will be the No. 2 pick in the draft -- one spot behind James. Milicic is part of a growing wave of European teen-agers that no longer idolizes the Toni Kukocs and Peja Stojakovics of the world. Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tyson Chandler are their heroes. Milicic is just 17 years old. Yet he feels he's ready to make an impact in the NBA now. Most NBA teams agree. Unfortunately for Milicic, NBA commissioner David Stern doesn't. The league ruled last week that Milicic and one other international phenom, Greek center Sofaklis Schortsianides, were ineligible for the upcoming draft. At issue is an arcane section of the collective bargaining agreement that puts a limit on when international players are eligible to be drafted. ARTICLE X, Section 6(c) reads in part ..."A foreign player who is at least eighteen (18) years old and who has not exercised intercollegiate basketball eligibility in the United States shall become eligible to be selected in an NBA draft held prior to the calendar year in which he has his twenty-second (22nd) birthday if he expresses his desire to become eligible to be selected in the next NBA draft by written notice to the NBA at least forty-five (45) days prior to such draft." Both Milicic and Schortsianides will be 18 before the June 26 draft. But the league's interpretation of that section has created a small firestorm. Here's the problem: The league interprets this section to mean that a player must be 18 when they officially declare for the draft. The deadline for declaring for the draft this year is May 12. Milicic turns 18 on June 20. Schortsianides turns 18 on June 22. "Our lawyers feel that the language is very clear," NBA spokesperson Tim Frank told ESPN.com "You've got to be 18 years old to declare for the NBA draft if you are an international prospect." The agents for the two players, Marc Cornstein and Mark Fleisher, believe that the section simply means you must be 18 by draft night. The NBA Players Association may agree with them. While the official party line coming from the NBPA is that they're "studying" the issue, sources inside the union say that they've been working on the league to change their stance the past few weeks. If the two sides can't come to a compromise, the NBPA may file a collective bargaining grievance with the league. Of course, this whole mess brings to the forefront one of Stern's pet peeves -- the Players Association's refusal to agree to an age limit in the NBA. Stern has pushed for some time to get the players to agree to modify the collective bargaining agreement in an effort to limit the age in which any player can declare for the NBA draft. Stern has pushed for a 20-years-old age limit. The NBPA has resisted on these simple grounds: If a kid is ready to play, and a team is willing to draft him, why should his age matter? Debates about amateurism and the value of a college education dominate the discussion when talking about American players. But everything gets a bit hazy when discussing their international counterparts. There are no amateur minor leagues in Europe. Both Milicic and Schortsianides signed professional contracts with clubs in Yugoslavia and Greece, respectively, when they were 15 years old. They have been playing at the highest level in Europe for two seasons. They aren't amateurs. No college basketball program in the country could take them. “ I truly understand the NBA's concern about high school kids coming out too early and giving up the opportunity to go to college. But this is a very extreme circumstance. They're not giving up an education. That's just not the issue here. ” — Agent Marc Cornstein "I truly understand the NBA's concern about high school kids coming out too early and giving up the opportunity to go to college," Cornstein said. "But this is a very extreme circumstance. They're not giving up an education. That's just not the issue here." Admittedly, both players are in tough situations. Milicic is stuck playing in Yugoslavia for KK Hemofarm. According to Cornstein, Milicic makes just $20,000 a year, lives in terrible conditions and can't secure an insurance policy to cover him should he suffer a career-ending injury. Milicic, like most young European players, is locked into a long-term contract with the club. The only way to get out is to buy the deal out. The only way to buy it out is to get selected very high in the draft. Schortsianides is in a similar situation. His club is teetering on bankruptcy to the point where they had to drop out of the Euroleague. Cornstein and Fleisher both claim that NBA team personnel have assured them that their guys are lottery material. Milicic is a smooth 7-footer with a great outside shot, superior ball-handling skills and a great grasp of the game (sound familiar?). What makes Milicic different is that he has a tough streak in him. Unlike most of the European big men who have come into the league the last few years, Milicic isn't afraid to mix it up in the middle. Schortsianides, nicknamed "Baby Shaq" by the Greeks, is a 6-11, 285-pound buising, offense-orientated, dominating low-post player that you just can't find in the NBA these days. ESPN.com talked to four of the league's top personnel men, and all of them claimed that Milicic would be the second player taken in the draft. All four of them also thought that Schortsianides would be a top-10 selection. Denver Nuggets assistant general manager Dave Fredman wonders what all of the fuss is about. He's been behind the drafting of Andrei Kirilenko, Raul Lopez, Tskitishvili and Nene Hilario. He knows a thing or two about young international players. While Fredman believes that, in most cases, the kids are better off staying overseas for a few extra years, he still thinks that the training international players get overseas allows them to progress at a faster rate than their straight-from-high-school colleagues. "It's different for everyone obviously, but I think they're just better prepared," Fredman said. "They're playing at a higher level than the kids in college. I just don't see the hang-up. They've been professionals for a while, they understand the dedication it takes to get better. Now most of them have to work on their bodies to handle the beating they'll take, but that's easier to fix than poor fundamentals. My experience has been that these kids can handle it. If we draft them, it's on our shoulders to make it work." Darko and Baby Shaq are hoping an arbitrator agrees. Chad Ford writes the daily NBA Insider column for ESPN Insider. To get a free 30-day trial, click here.
That is stupid, if they want to get drafted and are good enough to play then they should able to be in the draft. Darko Milicic sounds like a young Vlade Divac and Sofaklis Schortsianides(wow what a name) sounds like a young Arvydas Sabonis. I am all for europeans in this league, the more the better. Sofaklis Schortsianides is huge! Look at this! Draft him RudyT draft him now!http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/sophoclesschortsianitis.htm
Actually Milicic is like KG then Vlade but with better handles I think. The Greek kid is more like Curry from the Bulls
