FIBA World Cup: 5 players from outside the NBA that could make an impact

4. Danilo Barthel

Danilo Barthel will likely be the last player on this list that comes off the bench for his team, and his overall production will likely not compare to the guys further down. But for Germany, the 6’10” power forward fills such a huge need that their tournament success in some ways hinges on him.

After all, Germany starts a solid batch of NBA or near NBA talent. Dennis Schroder, Daniel Theis and Maxi Kleber are all currently rostered, and Paul Zipser was within the last two years. The problem, you may notice, is that none of those players is exactly a knockdown shooter, with some (Schroder) being outright bad. While Germany has toyed around with starting Maodo Lo and Ismet Akpinar, both of whom are fairly respectable shooters, they can not be relied upon to provide all of the spacing for the Germans on their own.

Barthel was the best player this past year for the top Bundesliga team in Bayern Munich. He’s a highly effective shooter from the power forward spot, and given the way that Germany has at times seen the floor collapse around Schroder, Germany needs every bit of shooting it can get. The results so far have been excellent too. While the Germans have been playing relatively soft competition, they’ve had a couple of games where lineups with Barthel in them built the lead in the game. He will not be the best player on Germany, but he could have as much say in their success as any of the NBA players.