Sin #6: USA vs. The World
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Take into account Peter Fehse, who the Seattle Supersonics virtually took sight unseen in the 2002 NBA draft. Sure, the youngster has above average ball handling and shooting ability, but Dirk Nowitzki he’s not. Fehse played in Germany's third division, which is terrible.
I researched Fehse's statistics and was advised that Germany Third Division does not keep official stats. It was hinted that there was simply no reason to do so. Luckily, I was able to get in touch with Fehse's former coach and, with a little time and luck, acquired the information I needed. Seattle could have used its draft pick more efficiently and picked up an undrafted gem like as Udonis Haslem or Reggie Evans. Meanwhile, Fehse managed to move up to Division One basketball while getting limited playing time.
In the international crazed 2003 NBA draft New York ignored all the reports and selected Slavko Vranes. This was despite the fact that the 7-foot-6 Serbian only averaged 3.8 points per game. Vranes was so bad that he made the mediocre, 7-foot-6 Shawn Bradley look like superstar Yao Ming. So how could anyone look at Vranes and see a potential NBA player?
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Slavko Vranes
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Last, one of the worst offenses came with the Dallas Mavericks in the 1998 NBA draft. While they ultimately struck it rich with the trade to gain European stud Dirk Nowitzki, they failed, along with the rest of the NBA, to recognize Purdue center Brad Miller, who had a very productive senior season. While most media and Internet analysts had Miller tabbed as a late 1st to early 2nd round pick, it's sad that NBA teams were not in agreement and completely overlooked Miller, who ended up undrafted. Instead, the Mavericks selected Bruno Sundov with the 35th pick.
Sundov had great upside and was viewed by many as an up and coming prospect, but he had already peaked and lacked any real high level experience. He spent the 1998 pre-draft season playing for Plastik Solin in Croatia’s 2nd Division. This was during NBA lockout, which was a concern for Sundov's development, so the Mavericks arranged for him to play at Winchendon Academy. In the end Sundov appeared in 102 career games over 7 years while becoming nothing more than a bench warmer who played on "life-support" thanks to 10-day contracts in his last 2 years.
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Brad Miller
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So what's the bottom line? A sin is committed every time an American talent isn't given proper consideration. Brad Miller is but one of many collegiately trained and developed players whose skills were dismissed by NBA general managers. For all the experience and professionalism that international players supposedly have over their American counterparts, there are overrated positives that keep American ballers excluded from scouts' lists. Selecting international players from a 2nd Division European league isn't always the best answer. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side and it would benefit NBA teams to stay in their own backyards a little more often.
| Sins 1 & 2 |
| Sin 3 |
| Sin 4 |
| Sin 5 |
| Sin 7 |