*George Lucas du Paula withdrew his name from the 2015 NBA Draft yesterday. He will remain in Brazil to improve his game and raise his draft stock for the future.
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a little (relatively) known Brazilian NBA Draft prospect attempts to make a run at a first round selection due to his incredible physical measurements and raw skill that could one day make him a significant player at his position.
It was just a year ago that the Toronto Raptors surprised the basketball world by selecting Bruno Caboclo with the 20th overall pick. It was so shocking that it was obvious that Adam Silver had not practiced/learned how to pronounce his name ahead of the draft. He was a complete mystery and came from beyond left field to everyone outside of the Raptors draft room.
With his minimal play through his rookie season (another reminder of the need for teams to have their own D-League affiliate) the average NBA fan still only knows Bruno as the player who is now one year away from being two years away. Thanks, Fran Fraschilla.
Despite all of that though, Bruno is a reminder that the NBA Draft can still surprise you. Every team comes to the draft with particular goals/priorities, one of which is to look for prospects who have a high ceiling as a player. For many teams it isn’t a matter of what can you do for me now, it’s what can you potentially become in the years to follow. Development then becomes a key attribute for a team with this specific goal in mind. The Houston Rockets did it exceptionally well this past year with Clint Capela, who went from struggling in the D-League to playing crucial minutes in the NBA playoffs.
This brings us to the 2016 NBA Draft (why’d you defer, George!!) and a young Brazilian point guard named George Lucas de Paula. His measurements alone are enough to make the casual draft analyst dream about what he could be as a player, and more than enough for Jay Bilas to get drunk. At the 2015 NBA Draft Combine George Lucas measure out at 6’5.5” in shoes, with an insane 7’0” wingspan, a standing reach of 8’8”, while weighing 197lbs with a 6.7% body fat. This doesn’t even include the fact that his hands look like he is wearing a catcher’s mitt (10 inches wide and 9 inches long).
Although it remains to be seen what he will look like when the 2016 draft rolls around, it is his potential as a player that could push de Paula into the first round. His raw skillset was on full display when he participated in the 2015 Nike Hoop Summit in April. Here is what DraftExpress wrote about George after day 4 of the event:
“…the flashes of talent he displays at times is undeniable, particularly on defense, where his incredible physical tools makes him an absolute terror, but also with his shooting and passing as well. He seems to know how much of an unfinished product he is in an interview we conducted with him, and talked repeatedly about the things he still needs to work on, mostly discussed above.”
According to George, the Nike Hoops Summit was a bit of a mixed bag but was one that he generally enjoyed. “Overall it was a good experience for me. Spending the week on the court with the best players in the world of my age and each one of them with different backgrounds was a good environment to learn from all of them. I found all of those guys are very talented; it is a matter of who has had previous experience on participating in events like this one. Experience really counts in this case because it is a much different style of play than we are used to on our own teams.”
This is one of the big assets to de Paula as a player…he’s very aware of where he is at in his developmental stage. He knows that he is raw, and he knows how hard he needs to work to develop, but he can also see what he could become. He has a goal in mind.
So what type of player does de Paula want to be? “I see myself as a point guard who can score and love to assist. I have the tools to defend bigger and smaller guys. I can be that international flavor on the NBA running style of play.” The team that drafts him will go a long way in helping to see this dream become a reality, and George hopes to one day be drafted by a team that will take the time to develop him the right way. “I hope to find a good environment for my development as a professional athlete because I have a lot to improve on my game. I have the tools to make it in the NBA, I just need one opportunity.”
The player that de Paula most readily compares himself to is Deron Williams, which considering his current status in the NBA is a bold choice. Deron no longer looks like the worldbeater he once was and it’s easy to forget that many once debated whether it was he or Chris Paul who was the top point guard in the NBA. Williams brought the size and strength that a smaller point guard cannot easily provide. His length and vision was once a devastating force, and de Paul hopes to bring this same intensity. “This is something you can’t teach. Either you have it or not. I can find open guys on the court.”
His stats from Brazil don’t jump off the page and he was limited in both minutes and games played for Pinheiros/Sky of the NBB, but he is also quick to point out that these stats are misleading for a young player such as himself.
“I would like everyone to understand one thing: NBB is a pro level basketball in Brazil. As a young prospect like myself, participating or dressing up in the Pinheiros’ Pro Team is a bonus for me. They put me there to get experience. It is a natural thing, I won’t get minutes there. My team is the U19 where we were National Champion last season. This year of 2015 will be my last player for the U19…I also played for the U22 Pinheiros team. It is a developmental league created by the NBB league to develop young players. At the U22 league last season we went to the Final Four and finished fourth. We went to the Finals with a 30-2 record but we were beat by a team that all guys were 21 (close to 22) years old. We had guys as young as 17. Only 2 guys in our square were 19 years old. We actually did pretty good. You can watch me perform on the U19 and U22 games where I am the starting point guard on both.”
de Paula could be a terror due to his size, length, and court vision. As a late first round pick, or an early second round pick, he could be the steal of the draft in a few years. Any team that wants to run a heavy switching defense would be wise to take a look at a point guard with the height of a small forward and the length of a center.
George de Paula may be nothing more than an enticing dream of what he could one day become…but missing out on his type of potential could be a scenario that will keep many General Manger’s up at night.
Now we just have to wait another year to see where his NBA journey begins.