Following the selection of Bilal Coulibaly, the Washington Wizards went with another high potential player with their only other pick. Tristan Vukcevic is a center who has potential to be a high impact player for the Wizards.
From Serbia, Vukcevic is a six-foot-ten center who has tremendous skill on the offensive end of the floor. However, he lacks the athleticism to really make an impact as a shot blocker for a team. This will come back up later.
The biggest unknown with the 20-year-old is how will he look when he hits the NBA. He has received inconsistent minutes in the Euroleague and this has reflected in his play. However, when he receives multiple heavy minute games, he looks elite, especially from beyond the arc.
He is currently on contract with KK Partizan, the club he played with last season. However, before the draft his agent informed teams interested in him that he would like his contract to be bought out by the team that drafts him so he can come to the NBA. This would cost roughly $1 million and would likely mean that the Wizards would sign him to a fully guaranteed rookie contract.
What is the floor for Tristan Vukcevic on the Washington Wizards?
While he has shown flashes of creation, including a fairly consistent step-back jumper, the floor for Vukcevic is Davis Bertans. Once considered on of the best shooters in the league, Bertans is capable of setting the net on fire.
Many Wizards fans will be unhappy to see this name again as the Wiz offered him one of the worst contracts in the league before flipping him in a trade for Kristaps Porzingis. However, to say that a younger, more reasonably paid player like this couldn’t help a young team’s development is absurd.
This is probably the floor of what Vukcevic could contribute to the Wizards. If this is what they get, I highly doubt that anybody would be upset.