The projected Mavs pick at Nr. 29 is Aleksandar Pavlovic. He´s a 20 year old 6"7 SF from Yugoslavia.
<< Strengths: Extremely athletic swingman, with great size, long arms and great explosiveness. His size and athleticism make him a very interesting prospect. This is a guy who has everything to be a star in Europe and a “player” in the NBA. He is playing his first season at a high level and has already earned an important role on a team with other young stars like Cabarkapa and Koljovic. He has great ball-handling ability for his size and he's a force offensively. He's unstoppable when he's on, because of his great arsenal of moves. He can penetrate with both hands, using his speed and crossover. And if you leave him space he can shoot in your face, off the dribble, with the pull-up jumper. He's pretty fearless about going inside, and has a great knack of finishing in traffic with acrobatic moves. He plays very aggressively and he wont hesitate to dunk on people. He can score a lot in spurts. His offensive game is complemented with nice passing skills, and court vision. He's basically a complete package on offense. The sky is the limit.
Weaknesses: His biggest problem is that he needs to learn how to use his skills. He is too aggressive with the ball, he looks to go 1 on 1 every time he touches the ball. He forces some shots and, more important, he lets the defense concentrate on him every time he has the ball because they know he will go 1 on 1. Defense is still an area for him to develop. He can be a effective defender, with his athletic abilities, but right now perhaps he is too confident he can stop every one and block every shot. He needs to gain poise.
Notes: Buducnost is a team in Europe with one of the better junior programs. Has emerged all of a sudden as a top NBA prospect. Where did he come from? It is extremely difficult to emerge in Yugoslavia. The talent is very thick, and in order to stand out a player must be very good, and it usually takes some time.
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