NBA Comparison: Bogdan Bogdanovic

Strengths: Despite his positional size, his best attribute is probably his ability to create his own shot … Sometimes he ends up taking bad shots, but he can not only attack people on close outs to a pull up jumper but also create one on one off the dribble … He is not a pure shooter but a scorer, can be streaky from the 3pt line while he likes to shoot over people in the paint … A surprisingly good pick and roll ballhandler, he uses his skills and size to read the situation well and he can finish himself or look for the open man, which is another strong  aspect of his game  … He sdoes a little of everything, rebounding, passing, shooting which is a good thing, though he does not stand out in any of those categories … Defensively, he uses his length to do a good job and though he still lacks the strength to compete with the best SFs in Europe, he is a good enough athlete where he can cover some of his mistakes, at least overseas … He also has pretty good feet to move laterally … Another strength, aside from his upside, is his personality: a little borderline arrogant, he certainly doesn’t lack for confidence and likes to prove himself on a big stage.

Weaknesses: His shooting needs to be much more consistent in order to be a reliable player in the league … His stroke looks good, and with a better shot selection he should improve his percentages. I have doubts whether he can ever shoot over 35% … He struggles to finish around the rim, in transition, where he doesn’t have great control of his body nor great athleticism, but particularly in the half court, where he prefers pull up jumpers … There’s nothing wrong with that, but the percentages aren’t on his side … In order to survive in the NBA shooting long 2s, you better make over 50% of those shots … His decision making is also very questionable, he’s turnover prone, he often finds himself in the air or in traffic without really know what to do and giving up costly turnovers … He is not a physical player and doesn’t have a great motor, though he is a big guard, he needs to strengthen his body a lot to be able to handle contact on both ends of the floor … As mentioned, Fontecchio "isn’t yet meat nor fish", he is a shooter who doesn’t quite shoot well enough, he is a scorer who doesn’t quite score enough.

Notes: Fontecchio is a name to emerge this year, as the young Italian wing took full advantage of his first real season as a pro player with Bologna, showing a good touch and making a couple of big shots during the year that help to put his name on the map in the basketball scouting world …  Playing as a true wing, Fontecchio follows in the footsteps of DaTome and Gentile as Italian small forwards with NBA potential, and though he doesn’t have the shooting of the former nor the ability to attack the rim of the latter, he has the potential to develop into an NBA role player in time.

Outlook: He is a young all-around player still defining his role as a pro, with a good personality on the floor (He seems to have matured a lot in the last year), and though I don’t think I would draft him at this point but he is still young and his game can improve in time …

Rick Pietro 5/21/15