4. Juhann Begarin (France)
Player Comp: Lonnie Walker lV
A violently athletic combo guard, with an ideal NBA body. Begarin is still very raw and unrefined, but has a lot of pure talent going for him. In the Raptor’s system, that could really help him over time, but for now he’s a bit of a project.
Still working on learning the game, the footage of Begarin is breathtaking. Watching him play overseas is like getting the ‘star’ power-up in Super Mario. He just runs faster, hits harder, and jumps higher than everyone else around him.
Now, sometimes that works to his detriment. Like many young, uber-athletic guards, it sometimes looks like Begarin’s feet are going faster than his brain can keep up with, but if you’re an NBA team looking for a spark plug rookie, look no further.
He loves to rush on the break, which fits the Raptors offensive schemes. He has the ideal frame for NBA defence, although often erratic on that end. Basically, he’s a project, but one that can pay off big if things fall into place.
For the Raptors, he would fill the slot left by Terence Davis. An energy guard off the bench that can come in, run wild for 15 minutes, and sit back down before he blows a fuse. The backcourt going forward is still something of an unknown, but with VanVleet there we know we’ll have some difficulty guarding larger point guards.
Westbrook, Wall, Harden, these guys are simply too powerful for Freddy-V to handle alone, that’s where the Raptors could use Begarin. Even if he makes some mistakes on that end, he will beat his opponents down both physically and mentally.
A cheap second-round prospect with the natural gifts of Begarin is never a bad idea. Whether he can make good on his powers is still unknown, but he has them, let’s see how they pan out.