Strengths: Zukhanenko has a long and lean body frame with good long arms … Considering his decent foot speed, agility and athleticism, and add that to the fact that he runs the floor quite well, it gives him interesting physical potential at 610 … He’s able to put the ball on the floor, adequate at pick setting, he creates good possibilities for pick & roll situations …

Weaknesses: Has to gain a lot more strength and become more aggressive and physical on both ends of the court. Added strength would improve his rebounding and the ability to defend better inside … His hands are a negative as he loses passes and fumbles the ball far more often than he should, and also his defense in general (including shotblocking and positioning) are quite average … Right now he doesnt enjoy a nice stroke on his outside shot (15 foot range although he also tries the 3), lacking a good follow through and not getting full extension on his right shooting arm … But with a lot of hard work, he should definitely be able to become a player that also needs to be defended on outside positions … With the minutes he will probably receive this season, he should try to improve on an average offensive awareness and create more firepower from the low post attacking his opponent and his ability to find the open man.

Outlook: Right now he still has too many downsides to be considered as a draft pick for the NBA, for which 2008 is his last possible draft year, but he shows nice potential if he has a big jump in skill development.

*Nationality: Russian

Date scouted: 9/14/2007 at Fuenlabrada (Spain)