(Editor’s note: The Pistons hold the No. 18 and No. 49 picks in Thursday’s NBA draft. We’ve previewed 24 candidates for each pick since May 20. Today marks the last two profiles.)
First-Round Candidate: Ante Zizic
ID CARD: 6-foot-111/2 center, Croatian national playing professionally in Crotia, 19 years old
DRAFT RANGE: Ranked 22nd by DraftEpress.com; 21st by ESPN.com; second among centers by NBA.com
SCOUTS LOVE: Zizic turned 19 in January and he still has some filling out to do, but he has the frame to add strength to a body that weighed in at 249 pounds at the recent Eurocamp attended by NBA scouts. He posted solid production as a teen in the tough Adriatic League, averaging 13.4 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 64 percent.
SCOUTS WONDER: There’s not a lot to go on when trying to assess where Zizic can take his game offensively. He runs well and appears to have soft hands. There are flashes of nimble footwork. But he hasn’t spent any time with the ball away from the blocks.
NUMBER TO NOTE: 0.9 – the number of assists per game Zizic posted for his team, Cibona, compared to nearly three times that many turnovers. Zizic’s turnover rate of nearly 20 percent at least suggests he is a very raw offensive prospect who will require plenty of seasoning – whether in the D-League or more time spent in Europe – before he’ll be able to challenge for an NBA rotation spot.
MONEY QUOTE: “I am a type of modern center. I run the floor very well. I can finish with strong dunks. In defense, I can close down the paint. I have the ability to block shots, collect rebounds. Effort is something you must have. It’s like other basketball skills. It is something natural. I was born with it.” – Zizic as told to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com
PISTONS FIT: Much like his countryman Ivica Zubac, Zizic is a 19-year-old who figures to be drafted somewhere in the range where the Pistons are picking at 18 in the first round. If they were to take either player, they might decide his development could be best served by coming to the NBA, practicing against Andre Drummond and Aron Baynes and spending time in the D-League – or that it would be best for all concerned for Zizic to spend another season in Europe, which would save the Pistons both cap space and a roster spot.
BOTTOM LINE: It would be an upset if there weren’t three Croatian teenagers – Zizic, Zubac and Dragan Bender, who could go as high as No. 3 and surely will be a lottery pick – taken in the first round. Croatia is a country of about 4.3 million people, making it about the size of Louisiana, Kentucky or Oregon. It’s remarkable that so many talented big men were born within months of each country in a nation so small.
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports Second-Round Candidate: Chinanu Onuaku
ID CARD: 6-foot-10 center, Louisville sophomore, 19 years old
DRAFT RANGE: Ranked 38th by DraftExpress.com; 35th by ESPN.com; ninth among centers by NBA.com
SCOUTS LOVE: Onuaku might be a tad short for center, but he makes up for it with a hefty upper body and very long arms, weighing 245 pounds at the NBA draft combine with a 7-foot-23/4 wing span. He flashes solid athletic ability, is very young for his class and projects as a good rebounder and defender.
SCOUTS WONDER: It’s a leap of faith to see how Onuaku could develop as an offensive player, which might limit his ceiling to backup center. It is on such doubts that Onuaku is projected to go in the second round, where teams are far more comfortable taking players slotted for complementary roles.
NUMBER TO NOTE: 27 – the percentage of times Onuaku turned the ball over on his touches as a Louisville sophomore, making Zizic look like a great caretaker. That’s a number that would keep Onuaku from earning an NBA head coach’s trust in any capacity and speaks to the development ahead of him.
MONEY QUOTE: “He seems to understand what his role is. Really competes defensively. His body is strong. It’s not necessarily all that trim, but that will help him get in better shape. He goes after rebounds, he goes after shots, he tries to help defensively. He’s always going to be kind of a garbage man offensively, but he seems to relish the role of an enforcer, which is good.” – anonymous NBA scout as told to David Aldridge of NBA.com
PISTONS FIT: The Pistons chose their backup center carefully in free agency last season and one of the factors was valuing that player’s ability to convert free throws in consideration of the struggles of Andre Drummond and the necessity of removing him from games to avoid intentional fouling. If the Pistons were to draft Onuaku with the idea of him ascending to backup status – perhaps in a year, when Aron Baynes can and likely will choose to opt out of his contract – they would have to believe he can continue the improvement that saw him go from 47 percent as a freshman to 59 percent as a sophomore.
BOTTOM LINE: Onuaku played for the gold-medal winning United States team at last summer’s U-19 FIBA world championship in Greece and had a strong sophomore season for Louisville. He’s someone NBA teams followed closely over the course of his time at Louisville. There’s not enough evidence of offensive potential to make Onuaku a first-round consideration and it might not have helped his cause to return to college for another season. But a team without need for a scoring backup center won’t hesitate to grab him somewhere in the second round.
