Knicks eye International prospect

Paul1355

All Star
Let me introduce you to................. Mindaugas Kuzminskas

Knicks looking to draft Kuzminskas?

8:08AM ET
Mindaugas Kuzminskas

Top Email


nba_draft_134.jpg
According to LithuanianBasketball.com (via ESPN's TrueHoop Network site Ball in Europe), Mindaugas Kuzminskas has declared for the NBA Draft.
Who?
You may never have heard of Kuzminskas, but it appears the Knicks have. According to the site, vice president of basketball operations Glen Grunwald and international scout Kevin Wilson recently scouted Kuzminskas, who's currently playing for Siauliai in the Lithuanian League.
At 20 years of age, Draft Express doesn't have him getting drafted in their mock draft. But they do note that: "He has good size for his position and long arms, and is also quite athletic and agile, being able to run the floor very well with good speed, disposing of decent balance and good quickness too."
The Knicks are currently slated for the 8th pick in the second round -- Utah has the rights to their first-round pick -- so there's a chance they could take a flier on Kuzminskas. Yet, it's far from a sure bet.

Article about Kuzminskas in 2009...the most recent I could find.

2009 U-20 European Championship Review: Wings
September 30, 2009
When he?s mentally in the game and motivated, Kuzminskas was one of the most enjoyable wing players to watch here at the European Under-20. He has good size for his position and long arms, and is also quite athletic and agile, being able to run the floor very well with good speed, disposing of decent balance and good quickness too.

His shooting stroke is really very nice, showing a quick release and a pretty high release point, however his percentage from beyond the arc surely doesn?t credit him as a good outside shooter (13%!). He was not what you would call streaky, he was simply completely off target. The 79% in which he converted his free throws gives hope that he can improve as well from long range though.

He also handles the ball decently, and has the potential to work on pull-up jumper. In his best version he?s also a powerful slasher, obtaining decent percentages finishing inside. He?s a pretty good perimeter passer, but not so solid on drives or on the fast-break, only coming up with 0.3 assists per game. Overall he?s too irregular on offense, unable to provide scoring on a consistent base.

He also gave a good rebounding effort
with 5.2 per game, of which quite a lot were on offense. Defensively we return to his mentality. He has good lateral speed, and when his intensity level and effort are as required, he?s certainly reliable, coming up with both steals (1.6) and blocks (1.2). Generally his presence on the court during this championship was noticed positively, but in some of the scrimmages disputed at the recent Reebok Eurocamp he gave another impression at times.

Kuzminskas looks like he can become a valuable asset for teams even at the highest European club level, with further development for a couple of years. His NBA potential may be limited, though.
down_arrow.gif
[Read Full Article]

Recent tweets about this guy.....

<TABLE class=bluelist width=175><TBODY><TR><TD>Mindaugas Kuzminskas looks like a European star in the making, but may struggle to translate his game to NBA level. I need to watch more.
2010-04-19 16:30:02</TD></TR><TR><TD>Mindaugas Kuzminskas played for Siaulai on loan from Zalgiris this year. 6-9 highly skilled small forward w/below average athleticism.
2010-04-19 16:29:07</TD></TR><TR><TD>Mindaugas Kuzminskas, Lithuanian League POY (17.5 ppg in 25 min) will enter his name in the NBA draft, according to agent Sarunas Broga.
2010-04-19 16:27:08</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 
Top