Monday Open Discussion

by JakeTheSnake on Dec 3, 2007 11:28 AM EST in Draft

Do you know this man? You should, he was drafted by the Wizards 2 years ago. You may know him as Vladmir Veremeenko, the ~~46th~~ 48th overall pick in the 2006 Draft. Like Oleksiy Pecherov, Veremeenko stayed in Europe his first year after being drafted, but unlike O-Pec he doesn't have a buyout clause in his contract so that he can join with the Wizards whenever he pleases. This puts him in a very similar situation as he who shall not be named was in last year. So if you're Ernie Grunfeld, what would you do with VV?

After the jump, you can view your options.

Just in case you wanted to know a little bit more about Veremeenko, here are his NBADraft.net and DraftExpress profiles.

Poll

What would you do with Veremeenko?

0 recs | Comment 9 comments

Story-email Email | Print |

Comments

Need more info

My vote was "other."

First, I don't think VV is likely to be all that much of a commodity -- so it seems unlikely he would be much of a bargaining chip in a deal. But your poll brings up two questions that would greatly affect the discussion of VV: 1) How's he playing in Europe? 2) How big is his buyout.

Without the answers to those questions, the comparison to JCN seems misleading. JCN was considered the best guard in the world not playing in the NBA. I haven't heard the same about VV, although the links you provided suggest he's playing well. JCN had a monster buyout that made signing him virtually impossible. I guess it's possible VV's buyout is so massive we could never get him with a reprieve like Barcelona gave JCN.

"Now, obviously individual production does not unilaterally equal better team production, but there's a high level of causation."

by Vanilla Gorilla on Dec 3, 2007 12:38 PM EST 0 recs

I'm with the Gorilla

Interesting to revisit VV, had forgotten about him...and it seems like the Internets have too, there's so little about him that's current. Any chance we could find out more before putting it to a vote?

by crucifictorious on Dec 3, 2007 1:04 PM EST up 0 recs

OP

Trade his rights for Vlade Divac?

svpstyle.com

by ScottVanPeltStyle on Dec 3, 2007 12:44 PM EST 0 recs

Wait and see w/ Arenas and Jamison

Let's face it, the Wiz are pretty deep at young unknown quantities at the four (Blatche, O-Pec, McGuire), and we really don't need a fourth. I just don't see how he'd get any PT, especially when you throw Songaila and Jamison on that list of people in front of him in the rotation.

I think we should leave him in Europe this year, as a contingency plan if Jamison, who is an unrestricted free agent, leaves at the end of the year. He could help out the depth chart then and provide some safety in case Jamison bolts.

That being said, if we do bring him over this year, the best thing to do would probably package him w/ Mason for a PG. But from what little I could find, he actually seems like a decent prospect, so maybe we should keep him.

The Washington Wizards: providing career scoring nights for unknown opposing bench players since 2004.

by mamemimo on Dec 3, 2007 2:04 PM EST 0 recs

Here's what I've been able to find out so far

Here's what Ball in Europe had to say about him:

Last year the Wizards gambled a second round pick on Belarus big man Vladimir Veremeenko. Well after 10 games (8 in the Russian League, 2 in the ULEB Cup), his team remains undefeated. And Veremeenko showed consistency off the bench, averaging nearly 7 pts and 4 rebounds in a team starring Daniel Ewing Junior (Weekend Editors Note: Another fine Duke grad!) and several players who won the European Championships in Spain this summer.
(You can look at his stats, along with the rest of the team's, here)
His sister is pretty good.
SI.com analysis from '06

ANALYSIS: Veremeenko is not exactly a household name in American basketball circles, but NBA scouts have been following his career for years due to some impressive performances at the junior level in Russia. Veremeenko has been playing well in the Russian League for four seasons now, and he has a high skill level, capable of playing both forward spots. For the past two seasons, he has played for Dynamo St. Petersburg, an improving team which also plays in the highly competitive FIBA Europe Cup, a league that is comprised of top-level clubs throughout Europe which is just one level below the Euroleague, the top competition in Europe. Like many Russian big men, he shoots the ball accurately from the perimeter, but is also an athletic rebounder. Some scouts feel he could eventually be a force in the low post, but he'll have to gain significant strength to operate down low in the NBA. With Andrei Kirilenko having reached star status and young Russians Sergei Monia and Viktor Khryapa also making their way in the NBA, Veremeenko would love to be the next from his country to break into the NBA.

It should also be noted they had him ranked 59th on their board. I'd assume he'd have to be a little higher now...I think.
Here's some analysis from Bassline Spin:

Veremeenko is a shooter with size. "He's a scorer who can shoot the ball," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "I think he's more of a three/four (primarily a small forward who can slide over to power forward) than a four/three." (Source: The Oregonian) ...He runs the floor well and has a feel for the game. ...Named Belarus Player of the Year four years in a row. ...He can shoot it. ...Doesn't rebound very well.

So there you have it. Have we learned anything from this? Probably not.

Bullets Forever: Your place for the very latest in Wizards news and PhD-level analysis.

by JakeTheSnake on Dec 3, 2007 2:45 PM EST 0 recs

Haven't thought about this guy in a while

I agree with Mameemimo,we have a lot of young forwards that might fill a similar role. Right now we could use a backup center, or a backup PG, not a another forward.

By the way, the other night I had a dream that JCN was trying to hang out with me, but he was a total douchebag and I was trying to get out of it. Ha! My subconscious cracks me up!

by Aldo on Dec 3, 2007 6:47 PM EST 0 recs

JCN dream

If he tried to sleep with you, your name may be Pau Gasol.

"Now, obviously individual production does not unilaterally equal better team production, but there's a high level of causation."

by Vanilla Gorilla on Dec 3, 2007 10:12 PM EST up 0 recs

ZING!

Bullets Forever: Your place for the very latest in Wizards news and PhD-level analysis.

by JakeTheSnake on Dec 3, 2007 10:15 PM EST up 0 recs

use him as trade bait

i would wait until the trade deadline approaches to see where we are, and then if there is something that needs addressing, we can do it then. if we are ok, save his contract for the draft.

by iwatchthenba on Dec 5, 2007 3:15 PM EST 0 recs