The 76ers drafted Serbian big man Philip Petrushev with the 50th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. This was a flight to an interesting prospect. He had an unorthodox career. Philadelphia followed closely, adding another big man to No. 53, the big man Charles Brazil of Western Kentucky.

If you are a hard-core fan of West Coast League basketball, you may be familiar with Petrushev, who played for Gonzaga (2018-19 and 2019-20) for two years and transformed from a player with little playing time to a super player. Efficient members 31-2 Gonzaga team. In Gonzaga’s final year, Petrusev scored 17.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 56.2% shooting percentage, most of which appeared to be near the rim. The return of the 2020-21 season may help the Bulldogs surpass the top spot and win their national championship title, which they lost to the Baylor Bears in March this year. However, due to the COVID-19 suspension in the NCAA season, Petrushev chose to leave Gonzaga and Use his talents to return overseas.

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“The NCAA season has a lot of uncertainty,” Petrushev said last summer. “Here, I should be able to show some skills that I couldn’t do at Gonzaga and increase my draft inventory.”

Petrushev is suitable for a familiar friend: KK Mega Basket, which is a Serbian team in the Adriatic League and once hired the Sixers’ first-round pick Timoth Luwau-Cabaro. The 21-year-old player won the league MVP in everything he did there, averaging 23.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, while expanding his range to the three-point line, which was an important part of his transition to the NBA. Potential major development. He is an excellent finisher at the basket, and if combined with a reasonable three-point shot, he can open up the field and act as a pick-and-roll/pick-and-roll partner for the Philadelphia bench guard.

(On the other hand, there are major defensive issues. Scouts say that Petroushev is not particularly long, does not move well, and will be difficult to hold up when changing to outside players. These are the main problems of the defensive position is the Kings .)

However, compared with many European imported players, the 76ers may not have much time before he comes here. Petroshev may want to enter the NBA early, which defeats some of the goals of getting an international player late in the second round. A source told the Voice of Philadelphia that they want Petrushev to become a concealer, which is good news in the short term, even if only for a year.

The other side of the coin is Charles Bassey, a center forward in Western Kentucky. He spent his growing years in Nigeria, starting as a football player and eventually turning to basketball (growing to 6 feet 11 Inch will do it). After moving to the United States to participate in high school games, Brazil will eventually continue to spend a fruitful three-year career in Western Kentucky. He missed his second season due to injury.

There are some skills and characteristics that should be easily transferred to the next level. Brazil runs very hard on the court and is a good lob target with excellent finishing ability. You can expect him to bury some people under the rim when he dunks on the poster. He is also quite tall-Brazil has a standing distance of nine and a half feet, and the same exercise tools make him a powerful lob target, helping him to get around the rim. Bassey will attract players who come out of the screen, which is useful for young ball handlers who want to play in the second unit. His ability to double jump is very good, and Brazil’s timing allows him to block a large number of shots in the interior. Brazil averaged more than 3 blocks per game last season.

Unlike many former football players you’ve seen, there are some problems with Barcelona’s footwork (although strangely, they are offensive strengths in some ways). Scouts questioned his ability to defend space at the next level. Although the 76ers have given up on this under the leadership of Doc Rivers and Dan Burke, to a large extent, Brazil is considered the best player for airdrops in the NBA. . He is not a shooter either. As a passer or a ball holder, he won’t give you anything, and he must be a better offensive decision maker. Brazil often turned the ball over when he was in college, and if he had any chance in a big club, it would make him quickly pulled down.

The result here is that neither of these guys are likely to immediately play a substitute role for the Philadelphia team. They need time overseas or with the development league staff to speed up and solve problems in the game. This is to be expected in the late second round of the draft, but it means that Philadelphia has some big shots to buy this summer.

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