The 2017 NBA Playoffs start tomorrow and they are loaded with international talent. Orazio Cauchi, Nicola Lupo and Andrew Bernucca have written features on the three most important international players to watch this postseason in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert, and Marc Gasol. However, a lot of international players remain who also could be pivotal to their team success. So, we all decided to share our thoughts on what other international players you should be watching, and why.
Which international player are you looking forward to watching in the playoffs?
Andrew: This is tough to answer because there are a million reasons to watch so many different international players in this post-season. We covered some of them with our features on the Greek Freak, the French Rejection, and manboobs. But there’s still plenty of exciting international players and story arcs left.
The stache bro’s are without Durant for the first post-season ever and the two of them are having really solid seasons alongside Russell Westbrook’s historic one. The Thunder also feature two international rookies in Alejandro Abrines and Domantas Sabonis. The Jazz are sporting a pair of boomers in Dante Exum and Joe Ingles and the latter has become a key role player this season. There is one player who I am really looking forward to watching this post-season though, and that’s Jonas Valanciunas.
Valanciunas is the center for the Toronto Raptors but I’m not so sure he’ll still have that title come the end of the season. The Lithuanian big man got injured in last season’s Eastern Conference Semi-Finals series against the Miami Heat. The Raptors still managed to advance but then lost to the eventual champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the conference finals.
Valanciunas has been healthy for most of this season but has had on-court struggles. The NBA is continuing to get smaller, making a player like Valanciunas less and less valuable. This is something Toronto Raptors Head Coach Dwane Casey addressed in early January, “I tell Jonas (Valanciunas): ‘Oh, you want to play more? Then dominate. I don’t want to see fadeaways over 6’8” guys. Get to the rim. Get every offensive rebound. If not, you’re coming out.'” The Raptors figured out a way to address the Valanciunas conundrum by trading for Serge Ibaka in mid-February.
This has led to the Raptors using lineups with Ibaka at the five, especially at the end of games and when other teams go small. Will this trend continue in the 2017 NBA playoffs? If the Raptors face teams who continue to use small ball, Valanciunas becomes less and less valuable with every possession. What does that mean for his future? Could this post-season be the beginning of Valanciunas having to take on the role many offensively skilled big men have started to take on already? Will he start coming off the bench like Greg Monroe, Enes Kanter, and Nikola Vucevic?
Something tells me the 2017 NBA Playoffs will answer those questions for us.
Orazio: Nice question, there are several of them, honestly. First of all, Giannis Antetokounmpo played a hell of a season and I can’t wait to see what heights he can bring his team to in the playoffs. I’m not a great fan of the Bucks and their offensive system, but Giannis is such a fun player to watch that he makes me forget about that. He can do basically every single thing on the basketball court and if he’s able to help his team in causing problems for the Raptors, that would mean that we’re really talking about a player that can really push his team beyond its limits.
Another guy I’m really curious to see is Valanciunas. When the Raptors traded for Ibaka at the deadline, I immediately thought that wasn’t good news for Valanciunas. Ibaka can be used as a stretch five in many situations and that’s limited Valanciunas’ minutes. If Jonas doesn’t show strong signs of improvements during this post season, I really think that Toronto should consider trading him in the offseason. The league is simply going in another direction and if Valanciunas is not able to adapt, he should go somewhere else.
The other player that I’d definitely give a look at is Abrines. I’ve always been a fan of his game, even when he was at Barcelona. He was the only true shooter on his team until Doug McDermott’s arrival at the trade deadline. He’s not going to play a ton of minutes in the postseason, but Oklahoma desperately needs shooting and Abrines is almost a 38% shooter from three-point land, so he’ll have his chances during the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
Nicola: That’s a tough question, it’s almost impossible to choose one specific player because I think all of them will be interesting to watch for different reasons. On Def Pen we have covered Marc Gasol, Rudy Gobert, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who are likely the primary must-watch International players this upcoming postseason. However, there are several other players that definitely deserve your viewership.
Think about all the International big men who play a key role for their respective teams. Tristan Thompson has always been a key player for the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, and I think he will remain a key player for the team this postseason as he was during their past two playoff runs.
The rhetoric remains the same for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s International quarter: Russell Westbrook is a beast who was unstoppable this season, regardless of opponent. But if OKC wants to make a long journey in the playoffs, then Westbrook will have to expect big men Steven Adams and Enes Kanter to make an impact. Also, Oklahoma City has two interesting rookies in Domantas Sabonis and Abrines, so make sure to take a look at these kids bringing some energy (the Lithuanian) and efficiency from three-point territory (the Spaniard).
Another International player that I will be curious to watch this postseason is Ibaka. He is a solid veteran with NBA playoff experience so he can be a key factor for Toronto both from a mental and technical point of view. He plays alongside Jonas Valanciunas, another International guy who deserves significant attention, so it will be interesting to see how they will work together against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Some playoff teams added international guys around the trade deadline to strengthen their squads, who do you think will help their team the most?
Andrew: Okay, the obvious answer here is Ibaka joining Toronto, but that was a huge trade and we’re kind of talking about role players. So let’s forget him for now and focus on two other guys, Bojan Bogdanovic being traded to the Wizards, and Ersan Ilyasova being traded to the Hawks.
The Ilyasova acquisition really caught me off guard. I mean, I think it was a good trade don’t get me wrong. It was essentially a bag of hammers (protected second round pick and swap on second round pick) and then a mallet that always breaks (Tiago Splitter) for a solid stretch four.
Ilyasova’s numbers have dropped since joining from the Sixers but that makes sense as he’s taken on a lesser role. Ilyasova was a starter for the Sixers and he’s now a backup big for the Hawks. He’s given them much-needed depth in the frontcourt and provides fantastic floor spacing off the bench as well. The Hawks have used him at both big positions and with a first round match-up against the Wizards coming up, he could keep Marcin Gortat out of the paint and open up driving lanes for Dennis Schroder.
Since we’re talking about the Wizards we can quickly move over to the other trade deadline move we want to discuss and that’s Bogdanovic joining the Wizards.
After a rough start in the early stages of the season, the Wizards eventually figured things out and have been playing some of the best basketball in the NBA lately. But once it became clear that the Wizards were a playoff team, questions sprouted up about how much of a force they could be in the post-season. One of the biggest questions was if they had the depth to compete in the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
The Wizards answered this question by trading for Bogdanovic and I think this could end up being one of the more influential trades of the season.
Washington really only had two players they consistently trusted off the bench before the addition of Bogdanovic. The two players were Ian Mahinmi and Kelly Oubre Jr. Neither of those players are guards nor do they add floor spacing like Bogdanovic. While guys like Tomas Satoransky and Trey Burke had shown flashes off the bench, the lack of consistency doesn’t bode well for the playoffs where every possession matters.
Bogdanovic was having a career year in Brooklyn before the trade but even though his minutes have dropped in Washington, his numbers have stayed up. He’s shooting with a higher accuracy from three-point range – 39 percent compared to 36 percent – and is still averaging the same number of three-pointers made per game, 1.8, even though he’s averaging fewer attempts, 4.5 compared to 5.0.
In short, Bogdanovic is still playing a big role for the Wizards and I expect him to shine in that role in the 2017 NBA Playoffs and prove his worth as the best international trade deadline acquisition.
Orazio: As Andrew mentioned, it’s too easy to answer this question with Ibaka. Ibaka was clearly the strongest International player on the market at the deadline. But I’m really curious to see the kind of impact that Ilyasova will have for the Hawks in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs. If he’s used as stretch four or five, he could really help the Hawks in forcing Gortat out of the paint and clearing up space for Dennis Schroder to penetrate. Of course, Ilyasova is not having the same kind of role in Atlanta that he had in Philly, but he’s a player who can really provide offense from the bench for his team.
Washington desperately needed help for their bench and they made the right move in trading for Bogdanovic. He’s a great three-point shooter who can easily be a 20 point guy on the right night. He can really help Washington in reducing the offensive burden on Wall and Beal. Bojan knows how to finish at the rim, and he has good passing vision, but his lackadaisical defense is worrisome for a bench unit that has struggled defensively this season.
Nicola: I’m joining Andrew and Orazio in saying that the Toronto Raptors and their GM, Masai Ujiri, did a great job in trading for an efficient veteran like Ibaka. With the addition of P.J. Tucker alongside Ibaka, the Raptors have emerged as the team with the best chance of giving the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics a run for their money in the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
Bogdanovic being traded to the Washington Wizards is a move that has added some very important depth to their roster. He is one of the best International offensive players in the NBA as he can shoot the ball and score with consistency coming off the bench. The fact that has impressed me the most regarding Bogdanovic is definitely that in the final part of the regular season with the Washington Wizards, he was able to keep almost the same numbers he recorded as a key player for the Brooklyn Nets. As mentioned by Andrew, this is due to his higher accuracy from three-point range as a member of the Washington Wizards, adding shooting efficiency and scoring off the bench.
Which veteran do you expect to help their team the most?
Andrew: For veterans, there are three guys in the running for me. Gortat is going to be huge for the Wizards in the first round as Ian Mahinmi is out with injury. Gortat is going to have to step up big and make sure they don’t get bullied into a long series by the Hawks in the 2017 NBA Playoffs.The Hawks have a veteran who could play a key role for them as well in Jose Calderon. The Hawks acquired Calderon shortly after he was waived by the Warriors and he became the backup point guard they were desperately in need of. Malcolm Delaney has struggled for consistency all season and if the Hawks have any chance of an upset, they can’t afford that. Calderon is the opposite and is about as consistent as they come in the NBA. He’ll check into every game, value the basketball, run the offense, and do everything he can to help his team win.
The veteran who I think will be vital to his team’s performance, though, is Boris Diaw of the Utah Jazz. Diaw won a championship with the Spurs back in 2014 and has been a part of multiple post-season runs with the Spurs and the Phoenix Suns. He knows what it takes to win in months four through seven, and that will help as not a lot of his Jazz teammates do.
Gordon Hayward has played in four playoff games in his entire career, and Rudy Gobert and Rodney Hood have played in zero between the two of them. The Jazz are facing a tough series from the start as they face the Clippers and if they want to win that series, and cause any problems for the Warriors, Diaw will need to teach the inexperienced players what it takes to win in the NBA playoffs.
Orazio: If I had to choose one name, I’d choose Gortat. The Polish Hammer is the kind of veteran that can really wake up his teammates in the most difficult situations. He has already played 10 seasons in the league and in recent years has shown great signs of leadership, motivating young stars in the making like John Wall and Bradley Beal, or trying to push the bench players to give more because they were playing like crap this season.
Considering this will be the first presence in the postseason for Utah since 2012, Diaw will definitely help the team with his veteran presence. I’m not expecting a lot from him on the court, as he’s not the player he was in San Antonio, but he’s still one of the smartest guys in the league and will be able mentor Hayward and Gobert.
Nicola: Again, the Toronto Raptors have a veteran in Ibaka who can give DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry a hand both mentally and tactically. He can be a factor on both ends of the floor thanks to his offensive versatility and his great shot-blocking ability.
The Washington Wizards great season is not only about John Wall and Bradley Beal, it’s about the Polish big man Gortat as well. He averaged a double-double – 10.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game – and is shooting a career-high 57.9% from the field, which is a demonstration of his consistency. His impact in the playoffs will be a key factor for the Wizards as Mahinmi is out with injury and he is going to play a lot of minutes. Washington will face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs, and Gortat will be a tough nut to crack for his former teammate, Dwight Howard.
