Player Profile:
“As a long, thin 6-8 wing, Kurucs is gaining traction on a lot of draft boards as of late — even rocketing into the lottery discussion in some circles. His perimeter shooting has been streaky-but-effective throughout his young European career and he has the budding scoring prowess needed to be an impressive spark plug in the foreseeable future. With that said, his rudimentary ball handling and ultra-thin build give me some concerns moving forward. He hasn’t rounded out every aspect of his offensive game yet and seems more like a long term prospect banking on athleticism than somebody who should be catapulted into immediate first round discussion.” — 2017 NBA Draft Big Board 5.0.1.
Outside Opinion:
“Kurucs, a 6-foot-8 swingman, has impressed with his ability to create his own shot. In 15 games with Barcelona B this season, he’s averaging 9.7 points per contest in 19.8 minutes. He hoists 4.3 3-pointers per game and is converting them at a 34.4 percent clip. That’s a number that will need to improve in order for Kurucs to reach his full offensive potential. Still, he is capable attacking off the dribble, which is a highly valued skill among wing players given that the number of creators from the position is limited” — Chris Stone in FanSided’s NBA Mock Draft 2017, Week 14.
Team Fit:
Some circles are extremely high on Kurucs, and thus the Raptors shouldn’t be too worried in drafting him 21st. The lanky Latvian has the scoring potential needed to give Toronto a nice boost of depth on the wing, something they could be looking to insure in lieu of their recent acquisition of Serge Ibaka — which sent Terrence Ross to Orlando.
Although he’s potentially a draft-and-stash guy more so than anything else, this is a Raptors team that is clearly in win-now mode. Allowing their depth to take their time in fine-tuning their game overseas is a reasonable expectation, and what we could see them do in this scenario.