Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Andrea Bargnani From: Benetton Treviso (Italy) Height: 6-11 Weight: 240 Position: Power Forward Projected Picks: (as of 6/9) NBADraft.net: 4 DraftExpress: 1

Pendergraft's take: Click here

Locke's take: Truthfully, I know very little about Bargnani. According to the scouts I talk to around the league he is a tremendous shooter and has all the components of a star. I have heard on more than one occasion some questions about his intensity. That would concern me greatly.

From what I understand of the European league he has played against very high-level talent and in marquee games in comparison to some of the players that have been coming over in with less and less experience.

The whole European player trend is one worth a much longer discussion. The combination of Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol made the European player the hot find. However, the last few years have been littered with numerous busts. At this point the scouting in Europe is so good and diverse that there aren’t many surprises. Therefore, the bust rate of European players seems to be the same as American players. Whereas, in the past scouts believed they could find something special or unseen now they are scouting these players the same as a Brandon Roy or a Tyrus Thomas, with hundreds of other eyes watching as well.

Pelton's take: You're right, David. The European trend is worth more discussion, though with this the only European amongst our top 15 prospects, I'm not sure where it's going to happen. I will say that I think the best Euro picks have tended to be in the late part of the first round and the second round, Nowitzki and Gasol aside. The Sonics took advantage of that last season with Johan Petro.

Bargnani's Euroleague statistics back up the notion that he is more ready to contribute than many of the youngsters who come to the NBA from overseas (see Milicic, Darko). Bargnani averaged 11.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for one of Europe's better teams, and his playing time peaked during the postseason.

Bargnani shot 43.3% from 3-point range, and while that will probably come down somewhat in the NBA because the FIBA 3-point line is 20-6 compared to the NBA's 23-9, that would be an impressive mark for a big man in the NCAA, where the line is at 19-9. John Hollinger has done excellent research in his Pro Basketball Forecast series, finding that Euroleague stats generally translate fairly well. Based on what Bargnani did with Benetton, he should be able to at least give rotation minutes off the bench this season. Beyond that? Well, that all depends on Bargnani's work ethic and character.