Roko Prkacin is one of the top international prospects in the 2021 NBA Draft. Hailing from Croatia, Prkačin is ready to bring his skillset into the league and join the ranks of other top Croatian players such as Bojan Bogdanović, Dario Šarić, and Ivica Zubac.
Roko Prkacin 2021 NBA Draft Profile
International Career
Prkačin made his debut in the Adriatic League, a professional FIBA Europe league consisting of 14 teams from 10 countries, in January of 2019 for Cibona Zagreb. He scored six points and grabbed six boards, a solid debut for the growing big man.
Fast forward a year-and-a-half, and Prkačin was named team captain of Cibona Zagreb last September. That made him the youngest captain in team history, as he was two months away from his 18th birthday.
This season, Prkačin is averaging 13.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. It’s important to remember that these numbers are coming in less than 30 minutes on the floor and versus seasoned veterans in Europe.
Strengths
Prkačin is highly skilled on both ends of the floor.
On offense, Prkačin makes his living as a strong post presence, but also an athletic forward who can create his own shot off the dribble. He has the appropriate skill set for a modern big. In addition, he has strong vision too, which bodes well for his playmaking potential down the road.
He’s solid at guarding his man and a tough rebounder as well. Prkačin has good size and makes sure to use it. He’s also fairly decent at steals, averaging nearly one a game in Europe.
Weaknesses
As good as Prkačin’s offensive skillset looks with a simple eye-test, he’ll have to become more consistent from three to truly make a name for himself in the NBA. He’s making about one a game with Cibona Zagreb, but success will come from becoming a stretch four. He also has to improve his free throw shooting, as it’s currently at 65%.
Fouls and turnovers are a bit of an issue for him right now as well. Simply put, these do tend to dissolve with more experience. Prkačin will need to fix his fouling issue sooner rather than later if he’s going to effectively guard the NBA’s best forwards.
NBA Comparison for Roko Prkacin
If he improves his shot, Prkačin is shaping up to be similar to Joe Ingles on the Utah Jazz. They’re both pesky defenders who can certainly get hot and contribute on offense.
2021 NBA Draft Projection
There’s a shot that Prkačin gets selected at the end of the first round, but he’ll most likely go in the early second round.
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