Sofoklis Schortsanitis

Sofoklis Schortsanitis (34th pick, 2003)

As did many players on this list, Sofo drew a mention in the recent Euroleague round-up:

Sofo, brought in from Olympiakos, is in the midst of the best season of his career. This isn't as powerful of a statement as it might have been, given some of the wasted years he had in an Olympiakos jersey, yet it's something. He is playing at what looks to be about 350lbs - which time has proven to be about as slim as you can ever expect from him - and is using it to be an unstoppable scorer in the paint. Sofo averages 12.3 points in only 19 minutes per game, shooting 57% from the field, getting to the line five times a game, and even hitting those free throws at a much improved 67% clip. The only thing that stops him is his own feet - a good number of his alarmingly high 2.4 turnovers per game can be attributed to travels.

Sofo is pictured above at his fattest, the biggest he ever got, circa two years ago. He is not that big now - in fact, this is the size he's at now. Certainly a lot better. But also certainly still big. A more pressing concern is that in Schortsanitis's five year heavy weight gain/heavy weight loss cycle, he hasn't developed his skills much. His skill level remains high, only because it was so high in the first place.

As recently as last summer, the NBA was interested in Sofo. He came over for summer league with the Clippers, and the Rockets tried to trade for him. Sofoklis's uniqueness and unstoppabilitiness are always going to be intriguing for as long as he's playing at the upper echelons of the European game. But his disastrous summer league performances also confirm that he should probably stay there.

Chances of making the NBA expressed as an arbitrary percentage: 10%

Sofo, brought in from Olympiakos, is in the midst of the best season of his career. This isn't as powerful of a statement as it might have been, given some of the wasted years he had in an Olympiakos jersey, yet it's something. He is playing at what looks to be about 350lbs - which time has proven to be about as slim as you can ever expect from him - and is using it to be an unstoppable scorer in the paint. Sofo averages 12.3 points in only 19 minutes per game, shooting 57% from the field, getting to the line five times a game, and even hitting those free throws at a much improved 67% clip. The only thing that stops him is his own feet - a good number of his alarmingly high 2.4 turnovers per game can be attributed to travels. Macvan, brought in midseason from Serbain team Hemofarm, has slotted in as a face-up scorer off the bench, averaging 3.9 points in 8.6 minutes. He has gone from playing in the high thirties in minutes in the Eurocup, to being a 10th man in the Euroleague, but he's a fine tenth man to have. Macvan is a smooth and fluid scorer, with good hands and great passing vision, able to score in the post, rebound, get open, drive the ball, and hit some jumpshots (albeit far too confident at this latter ability). If he gave even half of the defensive effort that he does on offense, he'd move further up the hierarchy.

- Sofoklis Schortsanitis

Big Sofo has supposedly lost almost 150 pounds. This is good. The number is presumably exaggerated a bit, but whatever the amount he's lost really is, it's still good that he's lost it.

Last year, he was simply too fat play; allegedly nearer to 500lbs than 400, and seemingly trying his best to undermine the team that continues to persist with him perhaps long after they shouldn't, Sofo appeared in only 95 minutes all season, and fouled once in every four of them. How a man can get as big as he did is hard to fathom, and how a professional athlete (at least ostensibly) can get that big is simply mindblowing. But it happened. Sofo has always had a huge frame, yet with all that fat on him, he was heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGE. You could feel your head being drawn closer to the screen, such was his gravitational pull. He was the biggest basketball player I have ever seen. And it was reflected in his frankly pretty hopeless play.

This year, however, Sofoklis has turned up to play. Perhaps motivated by the impending expiration of his contract, Sofoklis has lost all the weight and is an unstoppable force in the Greek league. He plays only 13.3 minutes in Greek league play, partly because Olympiakos keep winning in blowouts, partly because his stamina still isn't great, and partly of Olympiakos's surfeit of big men. (When you have all of Sofo, Ioannis Bourousis, Nikola Vujcic, Linas Kleiza, Andreas Glyniadakis and Loukas Mavrokefalidis, you might as well use them). Yet in that short space of time, Sofo averages a whopping 9.4 points per game, shooting 69% from the field. He is unstoppably strong in the paint; there's no else that big or that physical, and Sofo has the skill to go with that. His free throw shooting is also much improved; his tally is only 58.4% on the season, but he's gone 35 for his last 47 after starting 17-42. (He also went 5-17 from the line in a Euroleague game.) It's all a part of his rehab.

That said, he's still fat. He moves quite well for a fat guy, but it's still only relative; Schortsanitis remains 6'9 and bereft of athleticism. His only defense is to foul, and he does that a lot still, roughly once in every 5 and a half minute in Greek league play. This will come even more to play in the NBA, if ever he gets there, because everyone is faster than him there. A lot faster.

Nonetheless, the Rockets are said to be interested in his draft rights.