16. Rodions Kurucs, SF, Latvia
For the past few years, Rodions Kurucs has kept his name in the draft right up until the deadline. I do, however, think that this is the year where the FC Barcelona forward will finally keep his name in and enter the NBA Draft. Kurucs has the talent and potential to blossom into a lottery pick, however, he may not be able to contribute greatly right from the off.
On the offensive end, Kurucs can do it all — but he’s still very, very raw. The Latvian has shown that he can shoot adequately — last season he shot 32 percent. That percentage is nothing write home about, but it’s a decent building block. I can see Kurucs starting out in the NBA similarly to Orlando Magic player, Mario Hezonja. There’ll be very rough patches, but the selection of Kurucs could pay off in the long-run.
Standing 6-foot-8 and weighing 190-pounds, Kurucs must put on a lot of weight before he enters the NBA. Also, Kurucs is very raw, he has a lot of work to do to reach the heights set for him. In terms of international prospects, Kurucs is a million miles away from Luka Doncic’s ability.