European NBA Prospect Rankings: Winter 2016

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Ante Zizic greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-three overall pick to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

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13. Anzejs Pasecniks, C, Herbalife Gran Canaria

2017 Draft Prospect

2016-2017 Stats: 6.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.8 blocks per game

Pasecniks is a bench player for Eurocup’s best team, a Latvian center who’s really come on in the last month or so. He’s nearly doubled his output from last season in points and rebounds per game, and the 21-year old has popped onto NBA Draft big boards because of it. The main draw of Pasecniks is his physical profile, as he is 7-foot-2 with prototypical NBA big man mobility. He succeeds primarily in the pick-and-roll, because he can cover a lot of ground quickly, and has great finishing ability, shooting 64 percent from the field this year.

Pasecniks also has shooting range developing out to the 3-point line, and while his block rate lags behind comparable European bigs (5.86, compared to 7.33 for Gudaitis), he has good defensive potential thanks to his size and mobility. He can be a similar player to a guy like Timofey Mozgov, a plus athlete who can be an effective role player in the NBA.

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