Roundup Of International ‘Draft-And-Stash’ Players

The Nets were close to bringing 2011 second-round draft pick Bojan Bogdanovic aboard this summer, but their deal fell through. Still, it seems Bogdanovic is destined to arrive in the NBA at some point, unlike many players like him. The Magic took Spain's Fran Vazquez 10th overall in 2005, at the height of the boom in international draftees. Vazquez hasn't played a minute in the NBA, and the Magic's use of a lottery pick on him represents perhaps the most prominent and unsuccessful example of the so-called "draft-and-stash" strategy in NBA history.

The decision to draft a player from overseas and allow him to develop outside the NBA doesn't always bear fruit, but sometimes teams come away with a gem. That's what happened to the Spurs when they took Manu Ginobili with the next-to-last pick in the 1999 draft and let him play elsewhere for three years. Three championships, two All-Star Games and a Sixth Man of the Year award later, the arrangement appears to have worked out just fine for San Antonio.

Often, teams trade their rights to those "draft-and-stash" players, and sometimes those prospects are sent in lieu of future draft picks to clubs unwilling to take on salary as part of the exchange. That happened at the trade deadline this year, when the Grizzlies sent Ricky Sanchez to the Heat. Teams continue to deal their draft rights to overseas players, with Kostas Papanikolaou heading from the Blazers to the Rockets, and Houston sending Furkan Aldemir to the Sixers in deals that were finalized this week.

NBA teams can keep the draft rights to players in perpetuity, and some prospects who were drafted more than a decade ago still remain tied to NBA teams despite never having played stateside. It's possible that one of those long-unsigned draftees will eventually make it to the NBA, but it certainly doesn't seem likely for anyone taken before 2005, when the the Magic spent a lottery pick on Vazquez. So, we'll use 2005 as the cutoff point on our list of "draft-and-stash" players to whom teams hold rights. They're listed by team, with details on how their NBA clubs acquired their rights, as well as their whereabouts during the 2012/13 season. 

76ers

• Furkan Aldemir: Drafted 53rd by the Clippers in 2012; traded to the Rockets on June 29th, 2012. Sixers have an agreement in place to acquire him from the Rockets. Spent 2012/13 with Galatasaray in Turkey.

Bobcats

• None

Bucks

• None

Bulls

• Vladimir Veremeenko: Drafted 48th by the Wizards in 2006; traded to the Bulls on July 8th, 2010. Spent 2012/13 with UNICS Kazan in Russia.
• Nikola Mirotic: Drafted 23rd by the Rockets in 2011; traded to the Timberwolves on June 24th, 2011; traded to the Bulls on June 24th, 2011. Spent 2012/13 with Real Madrid in Spain.

Cavaliers

• Ejike Ugboaja: Drafted 55th by the Cavaliers in 2006. Spent 2012/13 with Juventus in Lithuania.
• Milan Macvan: Drafted 54th by the Cavaliers in 2011. Spent 2012/13 with Galatasaray in Turkey.

Celtics

• None

Clippers

• None

Grizzlies

• None

Hawks

• Cenk Akyol: Drafted 59th by the Hawks in 2005. Spent 2012/13 with Galatasaray in Turkey.
• Sergiy Gladyr: Drafted 49th by the Hawks in 2009. Spent 2012/13 with Baloncesto Fuenlabrada in Spain.

Heat

• Ricky Sanchez: Drafted 35th by the Trail Blazers in 2005; traded to the Nuggets on June 28th, 2005; traded to the Sixers on September 10th, 2007; traded to the Grizzlies on March 15th, 2012; traded to the Heat on February 21st, 2013. Split 2012/13 between Cangrejeros de Santurce in Puerto Rico and Libertad in Argentina.

Jazz

• Ante Tomic: Drafted 44th by the Jazz in 2008. Spent 2012/13 with FC Barcelona Regal in Spain.

Kings

• None

Knicks

• None

Lakers

• None

Magic

• Fran Vazquez: Drafted 11th by the Magic in 2005. Spent 2012/13 with Unicaja Malaga in Spain.
• Milovan Rakovic: Drafted 60th by the Mavericks in 2007; traded to the Magic on June 28th, 2007. Spent 2012/13 with Bilbao Basket in Spain.

Mavericks

• Petteri Koponen: Drafted 30th by the Sixers in 2007; traded to the Trail Blazers on June 28th, 2007; traded to the Mavericks on June 23rd, 2011. Spent 2012/13 with Khimki BC.
• Renaldas Seibutis: Drafted 50th by the Mavericks in 2007. Spent 2012/13 with Lietuvos Rytas.
• Tadija Dragicevic: Drafted 53rd by the Jazz in 2008; traded to the Mavericks on June 29th, 2012. Spent 2012/13 with Azovmash Mariupol in Ukraine.

Nets

• Bojan Bogdanovic: Drafted 31st by the Heat in 2011; traded to the Timberwolves on June 24th, 2011; traded to the Nets on June 24th, 2011. Spent 2012/13 with Fenerbahce Ulker in Turkey.
• Ilkan Karaman: Drafted 57th by the Nets in 2012. Spent 2012/13 with Fenerbahce Ulker in Turkey.

Nuggets

• Chukwudiebere Maduabum: Drafted 56th by the Lakers in 2011; traded to the Nuggets on June 23rd, 2011. Did not play in 2012/13.
• Izzet Turkyilmaz: Drafted 50th by the Nuggets in 2012. Spent 2012/13 with Banvitspor in Turkey.

Pacers

• Stanko Barac: Drafted 39th by the Heat in 2007; traded to the Pacers on June 28th, 2007. Spent 2012/13 with Anadolu Efes in Turkey.

Pelicans

• Edin Bavcic: Drafted 56th by the Raptors in 2006; traded to the Sixers on June 28th, 2006; traded to the Pelicans on July 11th, 2012. Split 2012/13 between KAOD-BC in Greece and CSP Limoges in France.
  

Pistons

• None

Raptors

• Tomislav Zubcic: Drafted 56th by the Raptors in 2012. Split 2012/13 between Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania and KK Cibona in Croatia.

Rockets

• Axel Hervelle: Drafted 52nd by the Nuggets in 2005; traded to the Rockets on September 22nd, 2009. Spent 2012/13 with Bilbao Basket in Spain.
• Brad Newley: Drafted 54th by the Rockets in 2007. Spent 2012/13 with CB Gran Canaria in Spain. 
• Sergio Llull: Drafted 34th by the Nuggets in 2009; traded to the Rockets on June 25th, 2009. Spent 2012/13 with Real Madrid in Spain.
• Kostas Papanikolaou: Drafted 48th by the Knicks in 2012; traded to the Trail Blazers on July 16th, 2012; traded to the Rockets on July 10th, 2013. Spent 2012/13 with Olympiacos in Greece.

Spurs

• Erazem Lorbek: Drafted 46th by the Pacers in 2005; traded to the Spurs on June 23rd, 2011. Spent 2012/13 with FC Barcelona Regal in Spain. 
• Ryan Richards: Drafted 49th by the Spurs in 2010. Split 2012/13 between BC Vienna in Austria and Asseco Prokom Gdynia in Poland.
• Davis Bertans: Drafted 42nd by the Pacers in 2011; traded to the Spurs on June 23rd, 2011. Spent 2012/13 with KK Partizan in Serbia.
• Adam Hanga: Drafted 59th by the Spurs in 2011. Spent 2012/13 with Assignia Manresa in Spain.

Suns

• None

Thunder

• Yotam Halperin: Drafted 53rd by the then-SuperSonics in 2006. Spent 2012/13 with FC Bayern Muenchen in Germany.
• Giorgos Printezis: Drafted 58th by the Spurs in 2007; traded to the Raptors on June 28th, 2007; traded to the Mavericks on January 4th, 2011; traded to the Knicks on December 10th, 2011; traded to the Thunder on February 21st, 2013. Spent 2012/13 with Olympiacos in Greece.
• Tibor Pleiss: Drafted 31st by the Nets in 2010; traded to the Hawks on June 24th, 2010; traded to the Thunder on June 24th, 2010. Spent 2012/13 with Caja Laboral in Spain.

Timberwolves

• Loukas Mavrokefalidis: Drafted 57th by the Timberwolves in 2006. Split 2012/13 between Spartak St. Petersburg in Russia and FC Barcelona Regal in Spain.
• Lior Eliyahu: Drafted 44th by the Hawks in 2006; traded to the Rockets on June 28th, 2006; traded to the Timberwolves on June 26th, 2012. Spent 2012/13 with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.
• Henk Norel: Drafted 47th by the Timberwolves in 2009. Spent 2012/13 with CAI Zaragoza in Spain.
• Nemanja Bjelica: Drafted 35th by the Wizards in 2010; traded to the Timberwolves on June 24, 2010. Spent 2012/13 with Caja Laboral in Spain.
• Paulao Prestes: Drafted 45th by the Timberwolves in 2010. Split 2012/13 between Uniceub-BRB-Brasilia in Brazil and CB Gran Canaria in Spain.
• Tanguy Ngombo: Drafted 57th by the Mavericks in 2011; traded to the Trail Blazers on June 23rd, 2011; traded to the Timberwolves on June 27th, 2011. Did not play in 2012/13.

Trail Blazers

• None

Warriors

• Ognjen Kuzmic: Drafted 52nd by the Warriors in 2012. Spent 2012/13 with FIATC Mutua Joventut in Spain

Wizards

• Tomas Satoransky: Drafted 32nd by the Wizards in 2012. Spent 2012/13 with Cajasol Banca Civica in Spain.
• Emir Preldzic: Drafted 57th by the Suns in 2009; traded to the Cavaliers on June 26th, 2009; traded to the Wizards on February 17th, 2010. Spent 2012/13 with Fenerbahce Ulker in Turkey.

RealGM.com was used in the creation of this post.