Mikhail Prokhorov knows international players, as do those around him. It should come as no surprise that they see European players as a rich vein of basketball talent that’s been under-prospected, under-mined. After all, he spent a lot of money stocking the CSKA Moscow roster with mostly European talent during the 13 years he owned the club.

CSKA had the Euroleague’s highest payroll before Prokhorov sold out last year, around $55 million annually. That’s just below what the Nets’ roster is being paid this year, low by NBA standards, but in the Euroleague, it’s an astronomical figure. Of the 20 highest paid European players in 2008-09, eight were on CSKA’s roster, including three of the top six and five of the top ten.

Considering Prokhorov’s history, we thought we’d take a look at the CSKA roster the last few years to see if any of them might be tempted to join their old boss should he finally get control of the Nets…and which might be valuable pieces for the Nets. Those still with CSKA might very well be tempted to move. The team’s new owners have reportedly cut expenditures by 30% this year.

As his old coach, Ettore Messina, noted this week, Prokhorov almost always left basketball decisions at CSKA to his basketball people and didn’t let his own biases play into roster decisions. He’s no Mark Cuban. Still, why not take a look at the possibilities, those players who were either developed or brought in on his watch. After all, these are the players he knows best. We broke them down into three categories: draft prospects, young prospects and NBA-ready (including three who have played in the NBA previously) plus one big wild card.

The Draft Prospects:

This group is the most promising, in part because they are legitimate prospects but also because draft projections put them near where the Nets will pick this June and in 2011.

Alexey Shved, Russian, currently plays for CSKA. 6’6” combo guard. 20 years old. Shved is projected as either a low first round pick or a high second round pick. The Nets have one of each. Described by Draft Express as “extremely fluid, skilled and athletic”, Shved has an ability to create his own shot and has a high BBIQ, although he can sometimes be a bit wild. “In terms of pure talent, there are few guards in the NCAA that would rank ahead of him,” according to DX.

Artem Zabelin, Russian, currently plays for CSKA. 7’1” center. 21 years old. Zabelin is projected as a late second rounder. He’s a typical European big man, meaning highly skilled with a nice stroke…and suspect NBA athleticism. That athleticism is made even more suspect by a torn ACL he suffered in the 2008 European Under-20 Championship. Still, he was intriguing enough in 2007 that the Nets brought him for a pre-draft workout. Ed Stefanski said of him then, “Much better shooter that you would think for that size, good skills. The kid looked pretty good for a 7’1” guy with mobility. Needs a body.”

Semen Shashkov, Russian, currently plays for CSKA’s youth team. 6’8” swingman. 19 years old. Shashkov is projected as a late second rounder in 2011, when the Nets have two picks in the second round. Called a “waste of great talent” in his most recent DX profile, Shashkov is seen as “impressive from a physical standpoint” but lacking in aggressiveness and toughness. Still, DX has him being drafted.

Young Prospects:

Can you say “fallen angel”? Both of these players were developed in CSKA’s youth program and were once seen as surefire NBA prospects. One was taken in the lottery, the other never taken, but both are still very young.

Yaroslav Korolev, Russian, currently plays for Albuquerque Thunderbirds. 6’9” forward. 22 years old. A classic Euro-bust. Taken #12 by the Clippers not long after his 18th birthday, he never met expectations. He had been a star on the CSKA youth team which won the Euroleague juniors championship in 2005. After averaging 1.1 ppg and 0.5 rpg in 34 games over two years with the Clips, he was waived and returned to Russia. He has disappointed there as well. Still, we note two things: the Nets were reportedly interested in him before the 2005 draft and he chose to leave Russia for the D-League in October, not long after Prokhorov decided to buy the Nets.

Anton Ponkrashov, Russian, currently plays for CSKA. 6’7” point guard. 23 years old. In 2006, he was regarded as one of the best point guard prospects in Europe and a sure NBA draft pick. In one Euroleague game, as a 20-year-old, he had 17 points and 14 assists, but he never developed much consistency. Some saw Marco Jaric and Zoran Planinic in him: a big European point guard that didn’t make it in the NBA. He was never drafted. Now beyond draft age, he’s seen minutes for CSKA at three positions—point guard, shooting guard and small forward although he is primarily a pass-first point guard, backing up Planinic.

NBA-Ready:

The player many see as the most NBA-ready Euro and the player many call the “Jason Kidd of Europe” head this list. Three others are former NBA players who retreated to Europe, two of whom wore Nets caps on Draft Night.

Ramunas Siskauskas, Lithuanian, currently plays for CSKA. 6’6” swingman. 31 years old. Siskauskas, in the words of Draft Express, is “arguably the most complete player you’ll find outside the NBA”. DX further describes him as being “a phenomenal shooter, ball-handler, passer and defender, as well as one of the smartest guys you’ll find around.” A veteran of international play, Siskauskas is a long time member of the Lithuanian Olympic team, averaging 11 ppg and 4 rpg in the Beijing Olympics. He was the Euroleague MVP and Russian Player of the Year in 2008 and has won national championships in Lithuania, Greece, Russia and Italy as well as two Euroleague championships. How many years does he have left? Does he even want to play in the NBA? More than anyone else on this list, he deserves the chance.

Theo Papaloukas, Greek, currently plays for Olympiacos. 6’7” point guard. 33 years old. As noted, the “Jason Kidd of Europe”. He played six years with CSKA, getting to the Euroleague Final Four four times and to the Final three times. With him at the helm, CSKA won the Euroleague championship twice, in 2006 and 2008. He was named MVP of both the 2006 Euroleague Final and the 2006-07 Euroleague regular season. The leader of the Greek National Team, he has a FIBA European championship and a silver medal in the FIBA World Championships, where he decimated Team USA in the semis. Pursued at various points in his career by the Heat, the Celtics, the Lakers and Bucks. Never a big scorer, he is a pass-first point guard. Still when needed, like Kidd, he can put up big numbers. Getting up there in years but still four years younger than Kidd.

Trajan Langdon, American, currently plays for CSKA. 6’4” shooting guard. 33 years old. One of the world’s great shooters. Played three years in the NBA, three more in Italy, Turkey and Russia before joining CSKA in 2005-06 for their first championship run. Even in Cleveland, where he played three years, he could always shoot. During his college, NBA and European careers, he has never shot worse than 36.5% in any season and his career percentage at all levels is 42.6%, hitting 1,212 three’s. Not known for much else other than shooting, he has won a lot of games in his career, from Duke to CSKA. Like the others, getting older, but shooters can hang in there for a while.

Viktor Khryapa, Russian, currently plays for CSKA. 6’9” power forward. 27 years old. Taken by the Nets out of CSKA with the #23 pick in the 2004 draft then immediately sold to the Blazers for $3 million…the first Bruce Ratner cost-cutting move. After three years with the Blazers and Bulls, Khryapa returned to CSKA in time to play a key role in the 2008 championship run. His best year in the NBA was 2005-06 when he played in 69 games for the Blazers, averaging 5.8 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Not likely to be returning but could be a role player.

Zoran Planinic, Croatian, currently plays for CSKA. 6’7” point guard. 27 years old. No introduction needed. After the 2006 Draft, when the Nets took Marcus Williams, Planinic saw diminishing prospects and signed with Tau Ceramica in Spain. When Papaloukas left CSKA for Olympiacos two years ago, Planinic was signed as his replacement. A solid European player, he has never reached the top rank in either Europe or the US.

The Wild Card:

Only once, says Messina, did Prokhorov involve himself in a personnel decision, in the summer of 2007.

Andrei Kirilenko, Russian, currently plays for Utah Jazz. 6’9” combo forward. 28 years old. Prokhorov attempted to bring Andrei Kirilenko back to CSKA after the Russian National Team had surprised Spain in the 2007 European championship game. Prokhorov wanted to buy Kirilenko out of his NBA contract. It was emotional, patriotic…and ultimately foolhardy. Prokhorov and Kirilenko are friends and AK-47 is currently the only NBA player from Russia. Do note as well Prokhorov has made a big deal out of developing Russian players. The big problem with bringing him to the Nets is the financial aspect. Kirilenko has an ugly contract the Jazz would probably be willing to dump: $16,452,000 in 2009-10 and $17,823,000 in 2010-11. Trading for him would exhaust more than half the cap space the Nets have accumulated for the 2010 free agency. Waiting a year for him to become a free agent might work. Kirilenko has seen his productivity diminish every season since 2006, when he signed a six-year, $86.5 million deal. On occasion, though, he can still surprise, as he did against the Knicks this month. He scored 23 points, including 5-for-8 from deep, grabbed six rebounds and handed out six assists, a couple of them beauties. And he is second all time in “5×5″ games—five or more points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He’s done it three times.

Of course, this is merely a fan’s exercise, a little weekend fun. There are contracts, cultural issues, personal histories, etc. that could interfere–not to mention perceptions both here and in Russia. Is Prokhorov out to improve Russian basketball or steal from it? But if Prokhorov does buy the Nets, we wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised to see one or more of these players in Brooklyn…or Newark.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 5:32 pm by NetIncome and is filed under Draft, Features, International Basketball, Mikhail Prokhorov, NBA, Nets, Zoran Planinic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.