NBA Draft: 2019 Mock 2.0: If the Dallas Mavericks land in top 4

Aside from Sekou Doumbouya, Goga Bitadze is the only remaining international player to go in the first round of this mock draft. Bitadze has been a guy that many scouts have had their eye on this year as he has been dominating overseas for the different teams he has played for. He is entering this draft at just 19 years of age, making him this year’s Luka Doncic, in a sense.

The Warriors only hole at this point has been the center position. They only had DeMarcus Cousins back for a short time before he went down with another serious injury and Andrew Bogut and Kevon Looney have been just serviceable bigs surrounded by all-time talents. Adding a European big man could have some serious benefits for a team built like the Warriors.

Bitadze’s strengths come very similarly to the strengths of most of the European big men we have seen flooding the scene over the past several years. In fact, the only European big man that really has not been blessed with the innate ability to pass at a high level, set good screens, finish with floaters in the lane, etc. is Dirk Nowitzki.

Bitadze is a great prototypical Euro big man, but he is lacking in some major areas as well. For one, he is not a particularly good post-up big man. He can finish in the lane and create opportunities for himself and his teammates, but he is not a powerful, demanding big man.

Player Comparison: Jusuf Nurkic

Nurkic and Bitadze have both played in the same Adriatic league overseas and both came to the NBA with similar skillsets. Both guys play the less pretty basketball that Americans are just now learning more about with the incredible passing, great screen setting, hard-nosed, big rebounds, dominant style of play that we have seen from guys like Nurkic, Jokic, Gasol, etc.

Next: Toronto Raptors