Hello to the 2021 NBA Draft | Notes on International prospects

54 min readNov 19, 2020

I’m Kuzey, 19. I’ve been writing about basketball since I was 9. I have been working in Eurosport Turkey for the last 1,5 years. I have written on various sites and magazines before. I’ve been working as a freelance scout for three years. I worked as a consultant. I have interviewed dozens of prospects such as Theo Maledon, Deni Avdija, Henri Drell, Aleksej Pokusevski, Arturs Kurucs, Yves Pons, and dozens of notable basketball people such as Luis Scola, Xavi Pascual, Jonathan Givony, Dimitris Itoudis, Sasa Obradovic, Joan Plaza, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Derrick Williams. I write an article every day. I live in Turkey, I go to all the Euroleague and Youth League games. My main areas are all of age group in Africa and from U12 to U20 European and NCAA. Anyway, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter and feel free to DM!

AFRICAN PROJECT

The 2020 NBA Draft is over. Y E S. Wish luck to Deni Avdija, Killian Hayes, Theo Maledon and all prospects! So, here is your solid international prospect watch list before the 2021 NBA Draft. This is just my thought, not overall. Last note, I will write deep reports for all these and more prospects. So, nothing “deep to deep”, just a brief look to 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 generations (yes, I know, not all prospects, I selected). Enjoy. By the way, this is not a ranking.

Emil Stoilov

Team: Estudiantes

Born: February 7, 2002
Position: C
Height: 6'11’
Wingspan: 7'1'’

OFFENSIVE SYNOPSIS

Emil Stoilov’s best weapon on the offensive end is his scoring ability in post-up games. The right-handed Bulgarian has soft touch in the paint. When he turns to the basket over his left shoulder, he unstoppable in his class. Using very well his left shoulder turns in post-up games. Stoilov does a great job using his impressive size and frame against smaller players, also, against aggressive shot blockers. For example, let’s say he playing against a 7-foot rim protector who was born in 2001. Stoilov sets up spin moves, uses his fluid hip mobility, gives Rondo fake (I’m serious, he can do that…) or turn fake, drop sets and finishes position with nice last touch. His last touch is fluid, soft but if he plays post-up a little bit far from the basket, he knows how to use glass to increase the momentum of the ball. Stoilov does a good job on pass the ball, see the open man when he has the double-team. Sometimes, he forces the post-up situations against a great post-up defender but I don’t think he is a selfish, forcing the game player. His fluidity and BBIQ (he reads his defender’s footwork and reacts after that…) make him a modern-era post-up player. Last note, he has face-up ability going forward due to long hook ability and skills to see his team’s movement. As I said, he has soft touch under the basket. Can finish both hands, can finish in traffic, knows how to create a shield around the ball, has great body coordination to jump and do something, has good work and a quick hook release. However, his lack of pop and explosive finishing ability, aggressive athleticism hurt his finishing skill-set. Sometimes he has trouble finishing dominantly and it’s hurt his self-confidence. Great off the ball offensive player. And I think Bulgaria NJT and Estudiantes youth team also have a share in this. I mean, Stoilov played this kind of set at off the ball motions on both teams: When he starts the position at the strong-side wing, 2 and 4 on the weak-side are playing screen the screener. The player who then out the screen, makes a backscreen for Stoilov, Stoilov uses his quickness and within a few seconds of taking the ball, he can return to the basket and find a bucket. Don’t forget that he is 6-foot-11 but can play this set behind the 3-points line. I don’t have words for his shooting ability. Has a lot of room to improve in all terms. Has not any shooting threat and shooting flashes. And this part is my biggest question mark about him. Will Stoilov has an average shooting threat? We don’t have enough flashes to analyze his shooting form. From his FTs, I just can write that his elbow angles and shot pocket looks good. But timing, release, footwork, hip momentum, energy transfer… All other things are bad in my opinion.

DEFENSIVE SYNOPSIS

Emil Stoilov is a player who knows how to use his impressive physical tools on the defensive end. He is not a defensive playmaker or major defender but thanks to his ability to combine his BBIQ and physical tools, he is a good defender in my opinion. Emil Stoilov is a good rim protector but here is the first note: He is not an elite shot blocker. He usually protects the rim with his length, by press the ball, he can control his man and force him to expose the ball around the rim. Plays with nice rotations around the rim, talks with his teammates under the rim, uses his strong frame very well (if he guarding shifty/crafty ballhandler around the rim, Stoilov can stop the offensive player with using his wingspan and nice lateral movement) and has nice finger sensitivity. Also, I think Stoilov has good timing when contesting shots in the paint and his general quickness helps him here. However, lack of vertical pop limited his rim protection.

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Ariel Hukporti

Doing nice close outs, Noam Dovrat doesn’t have perfect quickness, lateral movement and pop but he is able to recover thanks to his good positioning on off ball motions. He does a good job running around screens and back into the play. The Israeli prospect does not make unnecessary help defenses and continues his off ball defense without leaving his man open, so if he needs to make a move for closeouts he can make it without breaking his team’s defense. Dovrat raises one hand in front of the shooters while holding the other down, to avoid a foul. He sometimes has a problem with agility against his opponent’s quick footwork, but thanks to his active hand coordination and good court vision he can make up for this. He can also react perfectly against shooters. It’s hard to say that Dovrat is an excellent ISO defender, but despite his lack of athleticism, he has a nice pace, good anticipation ability, and the ability to exploit his opponent’s position with low stance. In other words, Dovrat keeps his body lower than his opponent’s body and prevents his opponent from dribbling quickly. If the attacker (ballhandler) gets an angle to dribble, he generally does a good job getting back in the play. But sometimes he gives space from top of the key to under the basket as he defends his opponent very closely. Although Dovrat has a good lower stance, he can’t guard shifty ballhandlers in these situations.

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Yannick Kraag

Team: Prat
Born: October 16, 2002
Position: G/F
Height: 6'7’
Wingspan: 6'9'’

OFFENSIVE SYNOPSIS

An instinctual scorer who is aggressive looking to find ways to make things happen, Yannick Kraag’s offensive game is predicated on his ability to use his quickness with the ball to use wings channel, play as a cutter and force opponents to leave a cushion that gives him extra attack zone to get his shot off around the perimeter. At the 2019 FIBA U18 European Championship and 2018 FIBA U16 European Championship, his main scoring weapon was off-ball motions. In these two tournaments, he scored 48 points while playing as an off-ball player with 75% FG. In doing so, Kraag made excellent use of drives from the wings. He created a weakness on the opponent’s defenses with his burst and go-stop-go-stop techniques. The Dutchman used his teammate’s screens well off the ball. When picked up the ball, Kraag finishes possessions sometimes after one-two dribble in three to four seconds, sometimes with a quick dunk or fluid athleticism. Running in transition well, Yannick Kraag can dribble open court and finishes positions with quickness. Also, he’s a good dribbler on half-court as a secondary ballhandler. However, I think he has room to work on his handling & passing package and general on-ball offense. Kraag isn’t a bad handler or passer, but his passing and handling abilities are too casual. He can’t play as a handler or roller in pick-and-roll games. He needs weapons on his arsenal to improve his offensive game. Shooting is a huge question mark… Yannick Kraag is a cold-blooded player. He has the mentality to shoot against pressure. He reads the game and makes a decision to use his shot. Kraag can create his shots in mid-range. He also has nice extension and release making it difficult for most players to contest or block his shot but his mechanics are inconsistent and not too smooth.

DEFENSIVE SYNOPSIS

The lack of elite strength and athleticism hurts his defensive stock. He needs to work on his overall defensive performance but, there are some good signs. Showing good reaction on the ball defensively, Kraag does a pretty nice job putting pressure on shooters. I think he isn’t a pesky defender in general but with his closeouts and eye-hand coordination, he is a decent pesky defender. Kraag knows how to give bad angles to his opponent’s thanks to his BBIQ, lateral movement and body control. Showing a good stance, he is an aggressive defender and you can see his aggressiveness last summer. However, that’s it. I think he needs to improve the rest of his defensive game. He has a great vertical pop but doesn’t use this to protect the rim consistently. He reads screens well but doesn’t run well around screens. Not switchable, not running through passing lanes well, has the ability to get steals on the ball on defense thanks to his quick hands and stance but he is not a deflection player; I think he needs a TON of work on his defense.