Maarty Leunen

Maarty Leunen - 54th pick, 2008<
The Scalabrine of Italy. A useful role player, but his usage rate continues to slide to the point that his 40% three point shooting is of increasingly little value, and he offers little other than that from an NBA perspective.

Maarty Leunen - Leunen is something of a forgotten man from an NBA perspective, but is a fixture in Italy, where he has spent the last five years. In each of those last five years, he has shot better than 40% from three, save for one season at 39.6% to which we'll grant a mulligan. Leunen is not aggressive with this shot - last season for Cantu, he scored only 7.2 points in 31 minutes per game. He also only rebounded for 5.4 per game in that same time, a very poor return for a 6'9 starting power forward, and barely shot more than one free throw per contest. Leunen is about as unpowerful as a 'power' forward can be. But what he does do is take his unathletic face-up game and make the best of it, shooting timely shots, moving the ball around, passing very well, occasionally driving, and so often making the right place. This does not lend itself too well to an NBA which, much as it likes a good stretch four these days, requires its stretch fours to actually hunt and take shots. But at least it is pleasingly different from all the things summer league is normally known for.

Maarty Leunen (54th pick, 2008)

- Oregon product Leunen, who has developed his hair-based sartorial elegance as he's aged, has taken his somewhat limited skillset to exactly the right place - Italy. Specifically, Leunen is playing for Bennet Cantu, a team that's been little more of an also-ran in the past few seasons, but who have had a strong year and who are thus in second place in Serie A (behind perennial champions Montepaschi Siena). Cantu's style is predicated around depth (ten players score more than double figures) and outside shooting. Seven players shoot better than 37% from three point range, and Leunen's 41.7% ranks sixth on the team. The only players not to shoot are veteran rebounder Dennis Marconato and starting point guard Mike Green; however, Green has an excuse, because it's his penetration-and-kick game that's a large part of how this offensive scheme works. In addition to his shooting, Leunen averages 11.0 points per game, leads the team in rebounds with 6.3 rpg, and is second in assists with 2.7apg.

One important statistic not listed there, though, is the 33.0mpg that comes in. That tempers the production somewhat. In fact, it renders it underwhelming. Leunen is in a pretty ideal situation, and accepting his tender offer from the Rockets just to get cut doesn't avail him anything.

Chances of making the NBA expressed as an arbitrary percentage: 3%

Maarty Leunen

Leunen was a second round draft pick of the Rockets back in 2008, a jumpshooting power forward not unlike Pat Garrity without NBA athleticism or a position he can defend. He spent last year in Italy playing for NGC Cantu, where he averaged 12.2 points and 5.8 rebounds in 33 minutes per game, helping the team to an unexpected 4th place finish in Serie A. Leunen will probably never join the NBA, especially since his rebounding numbers have gone down, but Cantu are happy with him and Leunen already has a contract there for next season.

- Maarty Leunen

Rockets draft pick Leunen is playing in Italy with NGC Cantu. He is averaging 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 32 minutes per game, shooting a Maarty Leunen-like 49% from three point range. He's also shooting 65% from two point range, and should perhaps take more shats.

Due to his heritage - a heritage hinted at by his surname - Leunen is eligible for a Dutch passport. And having the passport of a country within the European Union is a great asset to any American basketball player, for it allows them to be counted as a European player, which gets them past the limitations on non-EU players that most leagues have (and therefore, they become more attractive to prospective teams). However, as far as I can tell, Leunen does not have a Dutch passport yet.