VITALS: 7-1, 235 Slovan (Slovenia) OVERVIEW: Begic played with numerous clubs around Europe but has yet to stick anywhere. After being released by Bologna last season, he joined Geoplin Slovan Ljubljana this campaign and averaged 9.7 poiunts, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in Adriatic League play. LIKELY DRAFT POSITION: Second-round pick. COMPARATIVE UPSIDE: Zydrunas Ilgauskas COMPARATIVE DOWNSIDE: Shawn Bradley ROLE PROJECTION: Eventual center after many more years of development. POSITIVES: Begic is listed at 7-3 in some reports. He is reasonably well-coordinated considering his stature and he has a frame which should enable him to easily add to his current weight of about 235 pounds. Begic has a good medium range jump shot and a decent hook shot that he uses whenever he is near the basket. This past season he finally joined a team where he could play and develop - and he needs many more years of development. Begic is a long-range project but anyone with offensive tools like his at this height is interesting. SHORTCOMINGS: Begic does remind some people of Shawn Bradley because he is rather willowy and can be roughed up without too much trouble. He wasted a few years in Italy where he was on a top team that rarely played him and that has set him back a bit. With his frame, he'll likely need to be close to 270 pounds before he could seriously consider coming to the NBA, and it's questionable if that can be achieved anytime soon.
