Sacramento Kings: 5 options for pick No. 36 in 2018 NBA Draft
By Ty Delbridge
3. Rodions Kurucs
- Height: 6’10”
- Weight: 190 lbs
- Age: 20
- Position: SF
Rodions Kurucs is one of a few European players being talked about being drafted this summer. Kurucs is 20 years old from Latvia and is a professional playing for Barcelona. Kurucs is a large wing who has excellent skills on the offensive end. He could also play some small-ball power forward because of his ability to space the floor. ESPN has Kurucs ranked as the 45th-best player in their top 100 prospect rankings.
Last season with Barcelona, Kurucs averaged 10.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 33.3 percent from the 3-point line. Kurucs plays on the B team for Barcelona and sees a limited amount of playing time, but his physical tools and the skills he has have intrigued NBA scouts enough where he is being talked about as a top-40 pick in the draft.
The Kings do not have a guy like Kurucs on their team in the backcourt. He has the potential to become a starter in the league if he can figure out the NBA game and add some weight to this body. He can score, handle the ball and is a smart basketball player. If the Kings feel like they don’t need him right away, they could keep him over in Europe for a few more seasons, and they could bring him over when his body is more matured, and his skills are more polished.
The Ringer compared Kurucs to Chandler Parsons, Nicolas Batum and Jonas Jerebko. All three guys have had good NBA careers, and if Kurucs can develop his game similarly, the Kings would be getting a steal in the second round. Kurucs is still raw, but the Kings have shown in the past that they are not scared of takings risks on guys.