No. 3 – Laurynas Birutis from Lithuania (7-1 215)
Season Stats : 63-75 shooting splits for 15.1 pts, 7.1 rebs, 1.3 blks, and 1.8 fls in 25.7 mins
His per 36-minutes stats put him at 21.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks with only 2.4 fouls.
That’s impressive.
In eight games against the top two teams in his league he shot 62% from the field and stayed close to his season averages. He had 15 games this season with at least 20 points, nine games with at least 10 rebounds (including a 17 rebound effort) and eight games with at least 3 blocks.
Birutis is a solid finisher, can score well on the move for a big man, is a decent defender and shot blocker and has a good motor. While he’s still raw offensively and could improve his rebounding, he’s been fairly productive in Lithuania’s top league – LKL.
He needs to continue to refine his overall game and bulk up but he’s got good size and frame, better than advertised athleticism and his upside is appealing. He could be something along the lines of a Cody Zeller or Jonas Valanciunas. Why not lock up his rights, keep the development going and see what happens?
Domantas and Arvydas Sabonis, Valanciunas and Zydrunas Ilgauskas were all big men from Lithuania and they all worked out pretty well. Google NBA players from Lithuania and you will see that majority of the big men panned out to at least have a solid role in the NBA. I like those odds.