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Washington Wizards: Lukas Kuba On Tomas Satoransky, Rumors and More

By Ben Mehic

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The Washington Wizards are determined to sign Czech star Tomas Satoransky. Insider Lukas Kuba gave us insight on the guard, the Wizards and more

We’re just over a week away from the beginning of the 2016 NBA Free Agency period.

The Washington Wizards, like virtually every other team in the NBA, are hoping to convince Kevin Durant to come home.

Besides Durant, though, the Wizards have been targeting guard Tomas Satoransky for quite some time.

After selecting Satoransky in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft, the Czech star has developed overseas, becoming one of the most productive players in the Euroleague. Now that his contract with Barcelona is up, the Wizards are finally determined to sign Satoransky.

Since we’ve been focused on covering the players that are already on the team, Satoransky has been off our radar. We’ve occasionally gotten updates on him, but for the most part, our knowledge about Satoransky is pretty minimal.

I reached out to Lukas Kuba, who follows the careers of Jan Vesely and Tomas Satoransky. He monitors the media coverage of the two Czechs and writes about it for Truth About It.

Lukas was kind enough to answer five quick questions regarding Satoransky. You can follow him on Twitter: @Luke_Mellow

1) Obviously, you’ve watched Tomas Satoransky for much longer than the folks who’ve covered the Washington Wizards, including myself. What has he improved on the most since the Wizards drafted him in 2012?

Tough to say one thing…

2016 Tomas Satoransky is definitely much improved at every facet of the game compared to Satoransky the Wizards drafted four years ago.

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Whereas then he was basically a young kid with hops who could dunk and run on the break, he’s now a legit point guard and a floor general.

His shot has gotten much better; he now regularly shoots FIBA threes without hesitation.

But If I had to pick one aspect where he’s improved the most? It’s his individual defense.

These past two seasons he was Barcelona’s defensive stopper on the perimeter and he’s got an I’m-not-afraid-of-anybody attitude there.

How many players really try hard on the defensive end? Obviously he’s not Kawhi Leonard by any means, but he won’t be a liability on defense, except for certain matchups against super quick small guards like Isaiah Thomas.

2) Satoransky spoke about wanting to stay focused on Barcelona instead of thinking about his potential future in Washington. A lot of folks believed this was just his way of saying he wasn’t interested in coming to D.C. From all of the things he’s said, do you believe he has legitimate interest in coming?

Well, I get asked this a lot by the Wizards fans.

He’s always said he wanted to play in the NBA one day and it was his dream since boyhood. In the past he also said that it would be great to play with a superstar like John Wall.

I think he generally likes the Wizards organization and from what I heard, he loved the one-on-one talk with coach Scott Brooks last month when they met in Barcelona.

But he’s definitely not desperate to come and play for Washington – he’s in a great position with Barcelona, a top 5 team in Europe and an awesome city, too.

All I know is that the Wizards really want him NOW, and Saty might just say yes to them this summer.

3) Satoransky is listed as a point guard, but at 6’7″ he’ll probably spend time at other positions in the NBA. How well could he adapt to the NBA game?

I don’t think it’d be that much of an issue for him adapting to the NBA, but of course even quality NBA rookies have their ups and downs during their first season in the league.

What’s great for him is he has positional versatility which is of utmost importance in the current positionless NBA.

He’s a point guard, but he can play off-guard as well, and at 6-7, 215+ pounds I’d be excited to see him paired with the Wall-Bradley Beal backcourt as a de-facto small forward in a three-guard lineup.

Believe me or not, he’s even played some power forward this season, so his versatility is certainly an asset for a team.

4) What are his biggest strengths and weaknesses?

Satoransky’s strengths: terrific size for a guard, excellent passer, great basketball IQ, very good penetrator who can find an open man in traffic and get his shots over taller defenders, excels at running on fastbreak, competes at both ends, and he’s a great guy and team-oriented type of player.

Weaknesses: he may struggle to stay in front of elite point guards, his lateral quickness is not top-notch and his shot release is somewhat slow. Also, I’m not sure if he can regularly create his own shots against bigger and more athletic NBA defenders.

5) And, finally, give us your prediction: is Satoransky finally going to come to Washington this summer?

This month I’ve spoken to a few people in Czech basketball circles and everybody agrees on one thing: Saty is ready to go to the NBA, and the overall situation is such that he has an ideal chance to come over and actually get on the court and play.

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Obviously, I don’t know what’s his decision will be… but it seems like he’s on the fence whether to stay in Barcelona or sign with Washington.

His friend and former NBA player Jiri Welsch said last week that he thinks Saty won’t leave to the NBA after this season (“Right now, I’m not sure if Washington is a better option for him than Barcelona,” said Welsch).

Moreover, what hurts Washington’s case is Satoransky wanted to win at least one big trophy with Barcelona before coming over, but they once again lost to Real Madrid in the Spanish ACB League finals, leaving Saty title-less.

Next: Wizards Free Agency: Who to Target and Avoid

I hope I’m wrong on this because I’d love to see him play for the Wizards next season – and hopefully they can convince him to sign with them this summer – but my prediction is Tomas stays one more year in Barcelona and then signs with the Wizards in the summer of 2017.

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