2018 NBA Mock Draft: Way too early edition

Bamberg’s Arnoldas Kulboka is the final European wing to come of the board in the first round. The 6-foot-9 19-year old has the potential to be a solid offensive piece in the NBA because of his shot-making and ability to attack close outs.

Kulboka has a jumper with a pretty quick release that is deadly in catch-and-shoot situations. Interestingly, he’s also shown that he can pull up off the dribble with range out to the 3-point line. That makes him a bit more dangerous when going against a moving defense as he can pull up in the mid-range or go to the hoop. The two major limitations to his offense, though, are his lack of burst on the first step and his lack of strength around the rim. He often can’t explode by his defender and doesn’t have the strength to finish through them at the basket meaning he shoots a lot of layups fading away from the hoop.

His defense isn’t there yet, but there are flashes of basketball IQ where he jumps passing lanes and leads the break going the other way. His lack of strength is probably part of the reason he’s not super willing to engage in battles on this end, but he’ll need to show more here next season.