#60 Erden

[boscel33]

Does anyone know anything about this kid?  I'm intrigued a bit after reading this quote from Danny in the Herald:

"Ainge insisted he couldn’t believe Erden was available with the 60th and final pick of the draft. The 6-foot-11 banger still has one year left on his contract with his Turkish pro team, which may have helped account for his slide.

“He’ll be our first-round pick next year,” Ainge said. “We don’t have a first-round pick, but he’s our guy. We think he’s got a terrific upside.”"

[Who]

As those two went head-to-head, the four-man rotation of the big men inside shed light on a serious issue with those mock drafts. 7-1 C Semih Erden is projected to go to Seattle at No. 50 or Miami at No. 52, while 7-0 C Omer Asik is projected to come off the boards at No. 34 to the T-Wolves or No. 45 to the Spurs. But Erden abused Asik in the post. He’s considerably stronger than his Turkish counterpart, and showed the same ability to knock down jumpers beyond 15-feet. Seriously, you want Erden on your team.

- Andrew Katz, Dime Magazine from the Eurocamp pre-draft

[Brickowski]

Who is being quoted?  And while we're on the topic of big men in Turkey, can anyone give us a report on Gaspar Widmar, the 6-11 kid now playing for Fenerbahce Ulker?

[lon3lytoaster]

That's interesting. Is Ainge hinting he wants to bring him over next year with the "He'll be our first round pick" jazz?

[moskqq]

The quote was from Danny Ainge.  An insight into Erden can be gleaned from his bio in Draft Net...Erden rated a 9/10 in 4 categories; athleticism, size, quickness and POTENTIAL...runs the floor well, not afraid to bang inside...plays only 20 minutes/game thus his stats are rather modest...played well against Duncan in the Olympics...needs to get stronger, raw but has a great upside if only he applies himself...developing offensive game...shows fair handles considering his size...

In other words, this is a player that could develop into something special but as yet is raw, has good instincts but a  rudimentary basketball IQ (which if developed could vastly improve his lateral quickness and defensive acumen), has a nice shooting stroke from midrange and 3 pt. range but lacks NBA accuracy (potential only)...rated 90 in draft net yet lasted until the 60th pick?...Arguably Turkey's best player....will gain more experience in the coming year but whether European basketball equates to NBA basketball is doubtful...

Of course he will be our equivalent to a first round pick since we have none...that's not saying much but understand that at some point we need to start grooming a big inside and Erden appeared to Danny to be the best of the rest....in Danny we trust?!

[moskqq]

Food for thought:  The highly touted Bill Walker graded out to a 90 rating on Draft Net, the same as Semih Erden.  Obviously Walker presents with a more polished game than Erden so it's apparent that CENTERS (with size, athleticism etc.) are evaluated differently than SFs etc.

Giddens, Walker and Erden were all rated at least 2nd round draft picks (Draft Net) and in this draft (with minor exceptions) anyone selected after the lottery had some doubts about their potential impact in the NBA.  In other words, Danny didn't select UNKNOWNS when he made his choices but seemed to desire athletic players (with size) who weren't afraid to mix-it-up and who  played a physical rather than a finesse-type game.

[hwangjini_1]

As those two went head-to-head, the four-man rotation of the big men inside shed light on a serious issue with those mock drafts. 7-1 C Semih Erden is projected to go to Seattle at No. 50 or Miami at No. 52, while 7-0 C Omer Asik is projected to come off the boards at No. 34 to the T-Wolves or No. 45 to the Spurs. But Erden abused Asik in the post. He’s considerably stronger than his Turkish counterpart, and showed the same ability to knock down jumpers beyond 15-feet. Seriously, you want Erden on your team.

- Andrew Katz, Dime Magazine from the Eurocamp pre-draft

well then, i guess this pretty much make KG expendable. 

draftexpress.com has a lengthy write up on him. the basic points seem to be that he is athletic, lacks a consisten offensive game aside from dunks, and can play ok defense.

but what struck me most of all was their opinion that sometimes erden simply doesn seem keep his focus on the court. it seems that he has ability to develop needed skills on both offense and defense. but the article left me wondering whether he is as focused on basketball as ainge would like.

hey, at #60 we cant demand too much. it will be interesting to see what he turns out to be. if all he does is give the team 15 good minutes as a backup to perk, i would be very happy.

[MrBlonde]

The rankings are also from draft.net, which I wouldn't put too much stock in.

[cordobes]

Well, I wrote this a few days ago:

Asik :
Turkish powerhouse Fenerbache has a very weird (for an european team) big men rotation, with 4 U-22 centers sharing minutes. Asik is one of them, probably the less talented but also the one who can be more useful in the NBA.

http://www.celticsblog.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=64&topic=20413.msg317063#msg317063

I'm watching some Erden's games during this weekend and I'll try to write something that resembles a scouting report later. Anyway, I don't agree with Katz. I can see Erden abusing Asik in a workout, particularly a 1x1 - as Asik's offensive game is virtually non-existent, Erden is way more athletic and very capable of putting the ball on the floor, but when it matters, Asik is far more reliable and I can foresee his future as a NBA role-player. I can't say the same about Erden. He'll never be a NBA player, I don't think, unless something drastic changes in his attitude.

Vidmar is basically a less athletic, more refined and more focused Erden. I think the best comparison to Gasper is Ante Tomic. 

[spelz]

Is Erden playing in the olympics this summer?  If so, I would really like to see him play.

[cordobes]

Is Erden playing in the olympics this summer?  If so, I would really like to see him play.

No, he won't. Turkey didn't qualify. They played very poorly in the Eurobasket, losing 5 out of 6 games and being blown out by every decent team they faced. Actually, Portugal was better than them  . And Erden played mostly garbage time, he wasn't really in the rotation.

I can upload some of his Euroleague games, if you really, really, want to watch him...

[Bankshot]

That's interesting. Is Ainge hinting he wants to bring him over next year with the "He'll be our first round pick" jazz?

Yep.  Check out Erden's interview.  He plans on playing in Boston next season.  He's not signing a new contract with Turkey after this season.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/

[EJPLAYA]

That's interesting. Is Ainge hinting he wants to bring him over next year with the "He'll be our first round pick" jazz?

Yep.  Check out Erden's interview.  He plans on playing in Boston next season.  He's not signing a new contract with Turkey after this season.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/

Does he have one more season in Turkey, and THEN plans on coming, or was last year his one more season? I may be reading it wrong, but I got the impression that he had one more to go there...

[winsomme]

That's interesting. Is Ainge hinting he wants to bring him over next year with the "He'll be our first round pick" jazz?

Yep.  Check out Erden's interview.  He plans on playing in Boston next season.  He's not signing a new contract with Turkey after this season.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/

Does he have one more season in Turkey, and THEN plans on coming, or was last year his one more season? I may be reading it wrong, but I got the impression that he had one more to go there...

yeah i got the impression that he will not be here until the 09-10 season, too

[Scribbles]

That's interesting. Is Ainge hinting he wants to bring him over next year with the "He'll be our first round pick" jazz?

Yep.  Check out Erden's interview.  He plans on playing in Boston next season.  He's not signing a new contract with Turkey after this season.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/

Does he have one more season in Turkey, and THEN plans on coming, or was last year his one more season? I may be reading it wrong, but I got the impression that he had one more to go there...

Yeah he still has one year remaining on his Euro teams contract then will not resign.  So like winsomme said, 09-10 will be when he comes over.