Suns give draft promise to AK-74?

[F-Dog]

If you've been following the draft news, you'll already know that Martynas Andriuskevicius has declared he's back in the draft--this is despite having a huge buyout this year.

This is from another board:

As it is explained in Lithuanian press Andriuskevicius is entering the draft with two conditions. The first is that hes taken in Top5 according to one paper and Top10 according to other. And second condition is that the team which will draft him would let him stay in Europe and more exact in his club Zalgiris for at least one more year. If those two conditions arent assured he will withdraw from the draft as he said 2 months ago.

From the king of Euros, Chad Ford:

Andriuskevicius in? The other last-minute shocker came via agent Herb Rudoy who told Insider, via e-mail late Monday evening, that he had entered Lithuanian Martynas Andriuskevicius's name into the draft.

Several weeks ago the feeling in Rudoy's camp was that Andriuskevicius would wait at least one more year before flirting with the NBA. However, it looks like they have changed their minds. The 7-foot-3 18-year-old was the highest ranked center on Insider's draft board and could be a top-10 pick in this year's draft.

Andriuskevicius has played for Zalgris in Lithuania for the past two seasons and has been tutored by former Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis. He's very tall and long, with a soft touch around the basket. He's an excellent passer and, over the course of the season, has started adding some meat to his frame.

However he wasn't very impressive at a recent junior tournament in Tel Aviv, Israel. While he showed a ton of skill, his body is still too weak to hold position in the paint. If that's a problem at the junior level, you can only imagine what will happen in the pros. Martynas' game is still pretty raw.

Still, his inclusion in the draft really shakes things up in the top 10. Based on his size and potential, Insider has him ranked as the top international player in this year's draft, just ahead of Latvia's Andris Biedrins.

So, who's got a top-5 or top-10 pick this year, needs a center, and wouldn't mind having their draft pick play overseas for a year or two? Hmmm...

This is what NBADraft.net has to say:

He's in, he's out, he's back in. Bigman with very good agility. Andriuskevicius just signed a long term deal with Italian team Rimini, but decided to enter the draft last second. There's speculation he's got a guaruntee with Phoenix.

If the Suns picked Andriuskevicius and left him with Sabonis for a while, that would make a lot of sense to me. AK-74 is supposed to have as much raw talent as any Euro big man in the draft, with the emphasis on 'raw'.

My main concern if this is true would be that the Clippers would hop in and steal him at #6. They're supposed to like him a lot, and they might not mind wiping their rookie's salary from their cap, either...of course, they are in desperate need of a PG right now...

 

[George O'Brien]

I get mixed responses about whether leaving a player in Europe counts against the cap. Delfino was drafted by Detroit and stayed in Europe.

If you can leave a guy in Europe without the cap hit, it might make sense. Otherwise, I'd take Biedrins who is considered to be more NBA ready.

 

[slinslin]

If strength is the main concern he needs to come over as quickly as possibly and work with conditioning coaches as soon as possibly instead of continuing to play against equally "soft" european competition.

 

[F-Dog]

If strength is the main concern he needs to come over as quickly as possibly and work with conditioning coaches as soon as possibly instead of continuing to play against equally "soft" european competition.

From what I understand, he still hasn't made the jump to top-level Euro competition, and even the Euros are expected to beat him up right now (I guess you could expect that, since he's 18yo and 7'3"). Plus, he's working against Arvydas Sabonis day in and day out--how can that be a bad thing for a young center?

Besides, the longer Andriuskevicius stays in Europe, the more he'll be worth when he finally starts his rookie contract. One of the main problems with drafting a project big is that he may not be worth anything before his first contract expires, and if AK-74 takes a couple of years to develop before heading over to his NBA team, that will be much less of an issue for him.

 

[elindholm]

I wonder if these rumors are partly because the Suns apparently made past promises to Tsakalidis, Stoudemire, and Cabarkapa. If they have a history of making promises, there's more reason to suspect that they might make a promise again.

My personal guess is that the Suns are very likely to trade their pick (or the player they take with the pick in a pre-arranged deal), or possibly use it to bribe Charlotte (although I am regarding that as less likely). I think there's no more than a 30% chance that they will keep the player resulting from that pick.

 

[F-Dog]

My personal guess is that the Suns are very likely to trade their pick (or the player they take with the pick in a pre-arranged deal), or possibly use it to bribe Charlotte (although I am regarding that as less likely). I think there's no more than a 30% chance that they will keep the player resulting from that pick.

That's because you don't like anybody in this draft.


I wouldn't want to commit to a percentage on the draft pick, myself. The Suns might trade the pick if they don't like who's there for them, and they're more likely to hold onto it if they think they see the next Amare staring back at them. Even if a trade is likely (I'm pessimistic), the #7 is not so valuable that the Suns couldn't replace it with prospects already on their roster, if they want to.

I hope they see a great player to scoop up, because they're not usually wrong about those things. With little chance to scout most of these players, I freely admit that I'm in the dark as to whether one of them has the potential to be spectacular...



Anyway, if you're looking for some rumor-quashing, here it is, courtesy of yet another message board:

According to his agent, there is no truth to the Phoenix rumor. He says he has yet to talk to ANYBODY about Marty since he entered his name in the draft. I was very persistent and I finally got a hold of him today. He says his name is being entered into the draft in order to protect him, if a team wants to take him with a high pick (he wouldn't say how high) and let him develop in Europe, that would be fine with them.

There you have it--his agent is on a fishing expidition, and no GMs have hopped into the boat just yet.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I wonder if these rumors are partly because the Suns apparently made past promises to Tsakalidis, Stoudemire, and Cabarkapa. /QUOTE]

They made a promise to C-Jake too. It can't hurt. If he's a guy you really would take at 7 or so regardless, the worst thing it does is drop someone else you want to you.

No, the worst thing is to have someone you like better unexpectedly drop and you have to pass, or break your promise.

 

[Joe Mama]

Whoever said that the Phoenix Suns made a promise to Jake Tsakalidis? I don't think they suspected one bit that he would fall like he did. In fact I don't remember ever reading or hearing that they actually promised Amare Stoudemire they would take him. I know they did want him very badly though. CJ and Cabarkapa are the only guys that I heard were actually promised.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

I would be hugely surprised if Andriuskevicius had any contact with the Suns. At most, BC went on a trip to Europe and may have seen him (there are no official reports).

Realistically, I don't see the point. I think the Suns have enough talent that they could make an impact in a year or two. That means getting players who will be able to contribute SOON rather than four year projects.

 

[Errntknght]

George, "I get mixed responses about whether leaving a player in Europe counts against the cap."

I'd expect it to be treated the same way as any other draft pick you made and had not signed. I believe there is at least a period of time during which it counts against your cap as far as making trades or FA deals. It could well extend for that purpose until the draft rights expire or you renounced or traded such rights.

As far as the Suns making an absolute commitment to any player with a draft pick that could turn into the #1 pick, that would be folly... unless they were sure they'd pick him #1, should that chance arise.