1) Arturas Gudatis (Zalgris) C
Arturas Gudatis is a 6-foot-10, 253-pound big man from Lithuania.
Lithuania has a much better track record than Senegal (for not just centers, but basketball). Among big men to have come from Lithunia include Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Donatas Motiejunas, Jonas Valanciunas and legend Arvydas Sabonis.
The country has yielded 10 NBA players past and present, and all but two have had productive NBA careers. With an 80 percent success rate, shouldn’t the gamble go on Gudatis?
He played 20 games this year in Euroleague, averaging 15.4 minutes a night while shooting 50 percent form the floor. He tallied averages of 6.5 points, four rebounds and 1.1 blocks/steals in those appearances, and projects to be a full-time center in the NBA.
He is ranked No. 12 in center prospects on Draft Express.
Gudatis is a capable shot blocker and he functions well in the pick and roll. It is easy to imagine Elfrid Payton functioning with him in offensive sets.
The shot blocking and his above-average finishing abilities though are what will make him different from a lot of other Euro bigs. That is to say, he is more like Valanciunas than Ilgauskas.
He has soft touch from the line and from the field, and after he becomes adept with pick and pop plays he could function in the same exact manner as Vucevic within the Magic’s attack.
His power enables him to finish well through contact, and he is very deserving of the hype bestowed upon him.
Gudatis is a guy who can clean up the garbage around the rim, too, which typically is a good way to add a few more points a night to a player’s scoring average at a minimum.
The Magic could look to Gudatis to solve its backup center issue, and the hope would be that he could be here next season.
Next: Could Orlando go with Kristaps Porzingis with No. 5 Overall Pick?