Nikola Mirotic, SF

Positives: For a four-forward, he is very good at delivering big buckets from the perimeter (shot 40.4% from three-point range in ACB competition this year) … Has good confidence in his jumper and likes to have the ball in his hands in crunch situations … Good floor spacer who gets a lot of opportunities from pick-&-rolls, cutting to the basket and spotting up, as he uses his size and quick release to get off his shot vs. smaller forwards … When he is challenged by bigger men, he has a quick initial step, along with good hesitations and pump fakes to force the four- and five-types to leave their feet too early, as he compensates with just adequate back-to-the-basket skills by delivering a scoop shot off the glass or stepping back and firing off a soft floater … Has the long arms and good court vision as a perimeter defender and will scramble for loose balls with little regard for his own safety … Looks comfortable facing the basket, showing the ball-handling ability to take his man off the dribble … Has an effective jump shot/turnaround jumper, but needs to improve his post game … Has the lower body strength and speed to run the court on the fast break for a power forward (just a bit slower for a three-type forward though) … Has a smooth shooting stroke and the ability to create his own shot … Can consistently hoist jumpers from the mid-range area and shows good mechanics and great elevation releasing his shot, making it tough for the defender to block … Can step back and shoot off the dribble while creating separation from his opponent … Has a nice fade-away move, but his turnaround jumper is his money shot … Showed better consistency finishing from the low post this year than in previous seasons, but it is still a work in progress … Has also improved his free throw shooting ability and shows good court awareness, as he is rarely caught out of position … Looks balanced and in control when shooting, especially on the fade-away … Shows good creativity when driving to the basket and is a fiery competitor who can throw the elbow when he feels he is getting out-muscled … His mid-range stroke is effective up to 20 feet and he utilizes it quite a bit when the bigger opponents box him out of the lane … Does a nice job of turning around, setting his feet and put the ball in the net over smaller rivals … Is best when used as the offense's first option … Has the arm length and elevation to get up and time his leaps in attempts to block the shot … Shows good potential as a pick-&-roll finisher and has also shown the ability to dunk on the break … Marginal passing out of double teams, but with patient coaching, he could become effective, as he has the hand quickness to create a fair share of steals going for the ball … His elevation ability allows him to generate thunderous dunks in the transition game.

Negatives: For all of his promise and potential, Mirotic could slide to the second round, or not even be drafted, as he signed a contract to play for Real Madrid that expires after the 2016 season and contains a buy-out clause of more than $2 million dollars … Recently received citizenship in Spain and while he asked to remain in the 2011 NBA Draft, there are serious doubts that he ever wants to leave the Real Madrid team … Unless he can restructure his deal and make his buy-out more reasonable (NBA teams can contribute just $500,000 towards any buy-out), he remains the draft's top "mystery" … Has good court speed, but is not explosive as you would want from a 225-pound forward … Not a great rebounder, as he lacks good leaping ability … More of a finesse-type of scorer who prefers shooting from the perimeter and will need to advance his back-to-the-basket skills before he hopes to garner quality minutes in the NBA … Gets most of his inside scoring from offensive board put-backs or from broken plays, and has just a marginal post game … Like most Europeans, he lacks the strength to drive to the basket, making him a liability, especially since he does not have the explosive burst to get to the rim vs. bigger opponents … Marginal defensive rebounder, even for the European circuit and when he gets pressured by rotating defenses, most of his turnovers result from keeping the ball on the floor too long, or from his poor passing skills.

Compares To: ANDREI KIRILENKO, Utah -- Mirotic is a power forward with a small forward's perimeter shooting stroke, as he plays the game too soft under the basket to bang with the big boys. He is a fine free throw shooter and has good mid-range ability. With his athleticism and reach, he might be a better fit at small forward. He is not going to have success blocking shots in the NBA like he did vs. smaller competition in Spain. He is still too weak to bang heads at the power forward position and he can be taken out of his game by a physical defender. Look for him to need time to acclimate to the NBA style of play, if he can find a way to get out of his multi-year contract he recently signed (rumors are he is using the NBA Draft as leverage for a better deal and really prefers to stay in Europe). He is a fine pick-&-roll finisher who will need to be in motion to have the success he displayed the last two years, but he will have to drastically improve his upper body strength before he can make an impact at the next level.

--Dave-Te' Thomas

In 20 games during Euroleague competition, Mirotic averaged 6.6 points, 14.5 minutes, 3.3 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game … Appeared in 31 games for Real Madrid in the Spanish ACB League, scoring 249 points (8.0 ppg), as he made 68-of-120 two-point field goals (56.7%), 21-of-52 treys (40.4%) and 50-of-56 free throws (89.3%) … Snared 116 rebounds (3.7 rpg) with 12 blocks, 21 steals (0.7 spg) and 21 assists … Charged with 44 personal fouls and had 31 turnovers.

Playing for the Spanish U-20 National Team, Mirotic scored 92 points (15.3 ppg) in six contests, hitting on 54.3% of his two-point tries and 29.4% of his treys … Grabbed 41 rebounds (6.8 rpg) and blocked three shots … Appeared in 31 games for Faymasa Palencia, as he registered 8.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 19.8 minutes per game, shooting 47.4% from the field and 57.3% from the foul line.

Mirotic finished the season averaging 7.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.5 blocks per game in 14 minutes per game over 18 appearances … His per-minute averages speak for them-selves: ninth in performance index rating (0.59), 16th in scoring (0.48 points per minute), 17th in blocked shots (0.03 per minute) and 19th in offensive rebounding (0.08 per minute) … Mirotic would have ranked high for the full season in both three-point shooting (44.4%) and foul shooting (84.6%) accuracy had he played enough … For more proof, in nine games when he played 15 or more minutes, here were Mirotic's averages: 11.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.0 block, 58.4% two-pointers, 57% three-pointers, 85.7% free throws. Seven of those nine games were in the Top 16 and the playoffs.

In his last two seasons of competition (Euroleague, Spanish League, U-20 European Championships), Mirotic played in 88 games, logging 1,573 minutes on the court (17.9 mpg) … Scored 722 points (8.2 ppg), as he made 201-of-383 two-point field goals (52.48%), 56-of-152 treys (36.84%) and 152-of-207 free throws (73.43%) … Grabbed 364 rebounds (4.14 rpg), including 111 from the offensive glass … Handed out 62 assists (0.7 apg) with 49 blocked shots (0.56 bpg) and 59 steals (0.67 spg) … Charged with 155 personal fouls (1.76 pg) and 59 turnovers (0.67 pg).

JUNIOR BASKETBALL HISTORY

Mirotic began competing in organized basketball during his days at the Podgorica Academy … .He grew up with Real Madrid CF (Spain) juniors, playing with that squad from 2006-08 … The forward earned MVP honors at the 2008 and 2009 Junior L`Hospitalet Tournament as a member of the Spanish U-20 National Team … Also in 2009, he added MVP accolades at the Campus Basketball Without Borders … He later made his professional debut with Real Madrid during the 2008-09 season … He was signed for the 2009-10 season by Faymasa Palencia, LEB-Gold and later joined the Real Madrid CF squad for the 2010-11 campaign, as he went on to be voted the 2010-11 Euroleague Rising Star.

Has a dual citizenship in both his native Montenegro and in Spain … Born 2/11/91 in Titograd, Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia.