Serbia Strong

The Serbian U19 team featuring #11 Nikola Milutinov and #12 Nikola Jankovic

As has been stated before, this really is the draft of international players, with 10 of the projected first rounders being from foreign countries and 8 of those only playing competitive basketball overseas. Two of the projected first rounders and three of the prospects overall hail from Serbia, the most of any country outside the US. Let's take a closer look at each of those players.


Nikola Jankovic, PF, 19 years old, 47 on the Big Board

Nikola Jankovic's strengths lay in his aggressiveness on both sides of the ball. He attacks the basket hard and ends up at the free throw line at a great rate, and he crashes the boards with reckless abandon. Defensively he does a good job of keeping his hands up and contesting shots without fouling. Best of all he isn't one-dimensional on offense either, as he does have a good enough mid-range jumper to keep defenders honest. He's pretty raw right now, but teams willing to be patient with him will end up with a very solid offensive player with good rebounding numbers.


Nikola Milutinov, C, 19 years old, 25 on the Big Board

As a 6'11" center, Milutinov does a little bit of everything you want in a center. He boxes out well and grabs the boards. He contests shots and plays solid defense while hardly fouling. He doesn't turn the ball over very much and he also does a good job of finding open teammates. Milutinov is a great scorer inside though, which is his one true calling card. His offensive production is sky high as his efficiency inside is best in the Serbian League.


Luka Mitrovic, PF, 22 years old, 22 on the Big Board

Mitrovic is held back a bit by his age, since there isn't much potential left in his game. However, he's still a more enticing prospect than the other Serbian players because of what he brings to the table right now. Mitrovic is a capable scorer from anywhere on the court, but he prefers to do his work down low. He has great post up moves, solid footwork, and actually has a pretty good handle in order to beat his defenders off the dribble. His defense leaves a bit to be desired, especially at only 200 lbs he has a tendency to get pushed around, but he does have good fundamentals in terms of rebounding which allows him to still grab defensive boards at an elite level.

I'm looking to bring some international flavor to LA this draft. This is a good article for that thought process. We need one of those high IQ international players that always seem to find a role in the CSL.

Nikola Milutinov intrigues me. I might consider him with the Heat pick i have. Cant go wrong with a big with potential in the late first round

RobIII(CLE) wrote:Nikola Milutinov intrigues me. I might consider him with the Heat pick i have. Cant go wrong with a big with potential in the late first round

If he lasts that long.

It's definitely hard to gauge a lot of these guy because I've never seen them play. You typically know what to expect with guys that have played in the NCAA in real life, because Myles does a good job of replicating their skill sets. Hard to feel confident taking a euro early in the draft because of that. 

I haven't scouted any of these guys, but reading the descriptions, Jankovic sounds intriguing.

As this draft unfolds, it will be interesting to see who the last steals are this year. Some of these guys may end up playing key roles on a few teams here in the CSL.

I'd say I do a good job replicating Euro skill sets too, because I do a lot of research during each draft creation. The only thing I screw around with is talent level. Take Marcus Smart for example. His skill set here is fairly similar to his skill set IRL, but I just pumped him up with talent steroids.

Myles (SAS) wrote:I'd say I do a good job replicating Euro skill sets too, because I do a lot of research during each draft creation. The only thing I screw around with is talent level. Take Marcus Smart for example. His skill set here is fairly similar to his skill set IRL, but I just pumped him up with talent steroids.

Yeah, you might, I just would have no idea because I've never seen most of the euro guys play.