The first domestic fan of Serge Ibaka I knew -- FanHouse alumnus Shoals of The Sporting Blog and FreeDarko -- picks up a somewhat funny but ultimately smart request from Ibaka and his agent Justin Zanek, which appeared on DraftExpress.Basically, Ibaka has a deal to make some good bread in Spain for a few years, more than a set-in-stone rookie scale outside the lottery would pay him. There's no salary scale for second rounders, so the team which owns his rights could theoretically pay enough in a few years to make the transatlantic journey worthwhile for Ibaka.
Ibaka's not alone, though. Turkish big man Omer Asik -- who could be phenomenal in the right system -- either has signed or is about to sign a massive deal in his native country, and shouldn't be picked before #31 either. Nikola Pekovic of Serbia, Ante Tomic of Croatia, and Goran Dragic of Slovenia -- all lesser prospects, but good enough to be drafted -- are in similar situations.
It wouldn't be surprising to see all five of these internationals go within the first 10 picks of the second round. While the Euro Revolution has stalled, there should be enough of Luis Scola bump to lead some teams with full rosters to lock up these prospects' rights.
