ORGULHO CABOVERDIANO: Hawks Draft 72 Walter Tavares In Second Round With the 43rd overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks selected center Walter Tavares from Gran Canaria of the Spanish ACB League. Tavares measures in at a massive 72, 260 pounds with a 79 wingspan. Tavares’ exceptional length makes him a terrific rim defender, and he averaged 1.5 blocks per game in Spain last season in 21.2 minutes. Tavares also averaged 6.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per game on 58.5 percent shooting and 72.2 percent from the free throw line. Danny Ferry noted that Tavares was an “interesting prospect” because of his unique size and talent. Tavares has only been playing basketball for four years, beginning at age 18, and is an exceptionally raw player, but Ferry said the organization was excited to help be a part of his development as a player and that the risk at 43 was worth it for his unique size and potential skill-set. Story by Robby Kalends Walter Tavares Position: Center Height/Weight: 7-3 / 265 Birthdate: 03/22/1992 Club/Team: Gran Canarias (Spain) Round 2: Pick 43 Drafted By: Atlanta Hawks Prospect Analysis Strengths: Huge size and wingspan Athletic for his size Great rim protector Good in pick & roll Good work ethic Weaknesses: Needs offensive improvement Ball handling skills are weak Prone to losing defensive balance and committing fouls Should be a better rebounder for his size NBA Projection: Any player who is 73 with a 79 wingspan and is athletic is worth a shot to some NBA team. You cant teach height and length. Likely an early-to-mid second-round pick who will stay in Europe for 2-3 years. 2013-2014 Season: Showed he has the capability of playing at a high level in his first year in the top Spanish league. In 2012-13 he averaged a double-double with 14,3 ppg and 11.0 rpg in LEB-Silver (Spains #3 league). Key Statistics: 6.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 20.6 mpg, .598 2PT, .714 FT (Spain) Cool Statistic: Saved one of his best games for the last game of the season scoring 11 points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking four shots in a two-point win over Unicaja. Reminds Me Of: Tyson Chandler What Insiders say: Daniel Gomez Otero, National Coach, Basketball Torrelodones Academy (Spain) “Hes 7’3”with a wingspan of 7’9”. He has been playing basketball since 2009 .He debuted last season with Gran Canaria in ACB, but this season his contribution has been very important .He has made considerable progress in one year. An excellent shot-blocker with the capacity for intimidation on defense. He had great agility and mobility despite his height. He must improve his movements in low post. He needs more international experience before going to the NBA”. Domenico Pezzella, SportLab Agency (Italy) Tavares is a good player starting pick-and-roll situations especially when hes rolling to the paint and attacking the rim. A very athletic and explosive scorer in dynamic rebounding situations. He also has a good hook move. His size and huge wingspan give him a chance to be a good blocker and defender. He needs offensive improvement. He is mainly just a dunker and needs to improve his left hand and the ability of create his own shots. Considering his size he is not a huge rebounder and needs to be more focused defensively especially in one-on-one and isolation situations. Robert White, ProspectNext Despite his inexperience, the 22-year-old Tavares has turned himself into a regular contributor for one of Spain’s top clubs. He has value as a defensive project where he combines his fantastic size with shot-blocking instincts. His offensive game is currently limited to powerful dunks at the rim and may never evolve into much more, however Tavares represents one of the few true center prospects in the 2014 class David Aldridges Big Board 2014: Centers | Rank: No. 3 TNT Analyst David Aldridge breaks down the top prospects at each position Spains Walter Tavares is every bit of 7-foot-2, though at 22 hes a graybeard among Draft prospects. But that height and good defensive instincts make Tavares a good prospect. He shot almost 60 percent for Gran Canaria of the ACB League, and led the team in rebounds and blocked shots per game. He does not have great feet, nor is he a great athlete. But hes so long. More>> -- Carl Berman and Chris Denker are Managing Partners of NetScouts Basketball, The International Basketball Connection. You can follow NetScouts Basketball on twitter here, or follow Chris and Carl.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 10:31:55 +0000
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