Jan Vesely vs Victor Claver

Yes here’s a big difference, Vasely is a freakish athlete at 6’11, while Claver is just average athletically. Vasely has NBA athleticism, so the likely hood of him being more successful than Claver is much greater. Not to mention the height and age advantage that you mentioned.

Is Claver planning to come over any time soon?

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/06/as_trail_blazers_work_on_impro.html

Basically outlines that neither Claver, Freeland or Koponen are likely to come over at least until 2012-13 season. ESPN wrote this update on Koponen today:

UPDATE: There was a report Wednesday that Petteri Koponen feels "like a hostage" and that he wants the Blazers to release his draft rights.

Acting general manager Chad Buchanan told Blazer’s Edge that the Koponen’s comments were a surprise.

"We’ve had a lot of conversations with his agent over the last few years. We’re well aware that Petteri would love to come over and play for us and play in the NBA but at the same time we have to make sure the timing is right for our team," said Buchanan.

Will the Blazers grant his wish and release him?

"No. I don’t foresee that at all," said Buchanan. "There’s still some value around the league with him. We have to look out for what’s best for our team moving forward. How Petteri fits into that is something that we discuss a lot. We wouldn’t do that."

–Nick Borges

So, apparently Koponen feels like a slave to the Blazers and feels otherwise about his ability to contribute as an NBA player. It is a shame we will not to see these guys take a crack at Summer League this year, due to their cancellation. I thought Koponen looked pretty darn good when he played in Summer League with Jerryd Bayless and Nicolas Batum. He even seemed more ready than Nicolas, though during the NBA season Nicolas brought an aggressive playing style I had not witnessed when I watched him in Summer League. But, he has yet to really take his play to the next level in Europe, which of course makes you question his readiness.

Joel Freeland seems to be a contract thing, and will probably let it expire instead of paying a nice sized buyout for very little guarantee of PT. Not to mention that while Joel has indeed improved greatly as time has gone by, he is probably never going to be much more than a back-up post guy. The Blazers could use that, but I think it is best for Freeland to just finish his deal and come over either when it is over or if the last year of his contract contains a reasonable buyout.

As far as Claver goes, I think you have to like his potential in eventually contributing to the Blazers. He may never be a star, but should eventually be a pretty nice combo forward who could play a decent chunk of minutes in the 24-28 range. I really think he is actually quite athletic, and while Vesely may be a couple years younger, and slightly longer, Claver is a much better shooter. Their Euroleauge statistics were very similar:

Claver: 27.6 mpg, 10.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.4 bpg, 47.2% from the field (52.9% 2 pt, 36.8% 3 pt), 84.1% FT, 2.5 TO (pretty high)

Vesely: 26.9 mpg, 9.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg (with 1.7 orpg), 1.1 apg, 1.4 spg, 0.8 bpg, 51% from the field (56.8% 2 pt, 33.3% 3 pt), 43.8% FT (ugh), 1.5 TO (Much better)

While Victor is a couple more years along in his development, he has been a contributor in the ACB for quite a few years, and seems to be rounding out into a nice player. He was seen as a potential steal at 22, and if you look at some of the combo forwards drafted in front of him (Austin Daye, Earl Clark), he very well could be. Vesely seems to have more of an intensity to his game than Claver, and indeed does not rely on his outside shot as much, but he is far from a polished prospect and will have things to work on. Do not think their is a lot of difference between the two, but I do understand why Vesely is more highly thought of than Claver, it seems to be an effort level which many seems to make him potentially more valuable.

I agree with mess.eee

Claver is more in the Peja mold while Vesely is more like Tom Chambers.

Especially seeing that Tom Chambers and Peja were multiple time All-Stars and much better shooters than either of the two players they are being compared too. Also, Claver obviously has some athletic ability that Peja has never really displayed in his time in the league, though in no way does he have Peja’s incredible shooting ability that made him at a time one of the games most dangerous scorers. Chambers also was an incredibly dangerous scorer, and a big time athlete with an ability to pull out to the midrange. Also, both were solid FT shooters, Peja actually being incredible, which neither of these prospects are.

One comparison I might give Vesely is maybe a slightly more athletic and much less offensively polished version of Danny Manning. Atleast statistically, that would be much more comparable, atleast more to expectation than Tom Chambers. Danny made a couple All-Star teams, and was the first pick in his draft, but he averaged a fairly modest 14 ppg and 5.2 rpg for his career. If Vesely can end his career with similar numbers, it will be a big success. From ages 25-28, Danny was at or near 20 ppg and All-Star level, which is again something I do not see Vesely achieving, but are much more realistic goals for him to shoot for than being Tom Chambers (who finished at 18/6 for his career, and scored over 20,000 points, plus was a 4-time All-Star).

I would say Claver’s goal should be in the Derrick McKey model. McKey was a long player, decent athlete and had a nice touch. Plus, he had the ability to D-up either forward position. He finished his career at 11 and 4.7, which are numbers I expect to be much higher than Claver’s career averages, but numbers he should shoot for to average in a few seasons. Peja’s numbers, and game, are very little like Claver’s, and McKey was one of those guys who was a nice role guy to have on your team, which seems to be where Claver would like to be headed once he comes into the NBA. Not everyone can be a star, and at a time, Peja and Tom Chambers were, at least much more so than Danny Manning and Derrick McKey.