Milovan Rakovic

Milovan Rakovic - 60th pick, 2007
Did not play last season, and did not do well in the one before. In the decline of his career. Never had NBA athleticism or NBA centre size and definitely not coming over now.

Milovan Rakovic (60th pick, 2007)

- Since being drafted, Rakovic has undergone three distinct physical changes, all evident in that picture. His hair fell out, he grew a big beard, and he developed even more upper body strength than before. Rakovic was always big, but he's bloody enormous now, and when served in combination with the rest of the look, it makes him look pretty intimidating. Very intimidating, even.

There's skill to go with the beef. Rakovic was briefly touched upon in the recent Euroleague round-up:

Rakovic was always rugged, but he's put on even more muscle, and is now what can only be described as freaking enormous. He is agile for that size, too, and a versatile offensive player, hitting mid-range jumpshots, running the pick-and-roll, and creating in the post, all with a graceful fluidity of motion and imposingly scary size. He also defends the pick-and-roll better than most big men, particularly those that big.

In the context of this piece, though, things cannot always as favourable.

(Note that later on in that blurb, I wrote that Siena was a threat to win it all, then retracted that claim after Olympiakos annihilated them by 48 in the first game of the series. Since that time, Siena have won three straight, clinched the series, and moved onto the semis in a fashion almost as comprehensive as their game one loss. Please reinstate previously retracted claim.)

In that series, Rakovic totalled only 19 points, 9 rebounds and 14 fouls in 56 combined minutes of 4 games. As much as I like Rakovic, and as much as the talent level is obvious, the NBA is not suited to him. The Euroleague isn't especially suited to him, either. Moving from the EuroChallenge to the EuroCup to the Euroleague in three consecutive seasons is not easy to do, and it caught up to him when he was exposed in that series. Scoring the ball is seemingly easy enough to do, but Rakovic is doing so more with finesse than power, and he's not mixing it up on the glass. He's also caught wanting on the defensive end, as, despite all that size and relative agility, he is not doing a great job with the physical play on the interior. Marcin Gortat comparisons would be nice, but they're only valid if you ignore one end of the court. At the moment, he's a destitute man's Drew Gooden. A couple of years at Siena - a physical team built on defense - might be exactly what he needs to round off his game.

Chances of making the NBA expressed as an arbitrary percentage: 5%

Up front, Ksistof Lavrinovic is not as good as he was, but he still has plenty to give. He retains decent athleticism for a 7 footer on the wrong side of 30, can still drive the ball, crashes the glass in his never-boxing-out way, and can effectively defend both the interior and the perimeter with his combination of size and speed. As always, he is guilty of trying to do too much, turning it over at a high rate and all-too-often resorting to a three point shot he hits at only 27%, and not being always engaged defensively. Yet his inside-outside production remains, and is complimented nicely by Magic draftee Milovan Rakovic. Rakovic was always rugged, but he's put on even more muscle, and is now what can only be described as freaking enormous. He is agile for that size, too, and a versatile offensive player, hitting mid-range jumpshots, running the pick-and-roll, and creating in the post, all with a graceful fluidity of motion and imposingly scary size. He also defends the pick-and-roll better than most big men, particularly those that big.

Another ex-NBA draft pick to have signed in Italy is Milovan Rakovic, whose rights are owned by the Magic. Rakovic was one of the best players in the Russian Superleague last year, averaging 15.2 points and 6.4 rebounds in 25 minutes per game for Spartak St Petersburg. He's cashing in on that and moving to Italy to play for Italian powerhouse Montepaschi Siena. There's lots of upheaval in Russia at the moment; the Superleague teams have all signed a pact vowing to break away from the current governing body, with whom they are thoroughly disenfranchised, and to begin running operations on their own. Amidst this upheaval, many players have left; Spartak also released James White (14.8/3.7) and Goran Suton (played 94 minutes all season). Additionally, Unics Kazan have released veteran Lithuanian jumpshooter Saulius Å tombergas, and Lokomotiv Kuban have released their imports James Gist, Andre Owens and Gerald Green. It's probably fair to say that Green will not be returning to the Dallas Mavericks.

- Milovan Rakovic

Magic draft pick Rakovic is having a career year and is one of the best players in Russia. He was injured at the start of the year but returned to action in late November, and averaged 14.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in Spartak St Petersburg's short Eurocup campaign. He is also averaging 27.3 minutes, 16.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in the Russian league, shooting 57% from the field and 73% from the line. Rakovic only takes 3 free throws per game, which needs to go up, but he's scoring a lot of points, efficiently.