Juhann Begarin

Juhann Begarin, Boston Celtics – 45^th overall

Begarin, originally from Guadeloupe, is an incredibly athletic wing who played for Paris last season. The Celtics confirmed after the draft that Begarin will continue to play in Europe this upcoming season, taking a similar approach to Yam Madar last season. With more playing time in Europe, Begarin is more likely to develop his raw offensive skillset and become more prepared for a potential jump to the NBA.

As Len Schoormann was sick and could not attend the event, Juhann was clearly out of competition among guards thanks to his god given athletic abilities. French player displays special explosiveness and is an absolute killer in open court. He possibly attempted more dunks (including some nasty plays in traffic) than normal shots in 5 on 5 setting. He couldn’t be guarded by anyone and sometimes didn’t even have to use his full burst to get downhill where he presented couple notable non dunk finishes as well. It was hard to evaluate progression of his stroke (why to take threes if you can just explode and make another highlight reel play). As great as he looked here you need to take under consideration the pick up like environment and that the better dribbling and stroke is the bigger are his chances down the road. Anyway Juhann looks poised and very determined to become the best version of himself and his drive can take him to the highest level possible one day. Reportedly set to leave INSEP.

Juhann Begarin emerged past summer as arguably the most gifted guard from 2002 generation in Europe. Tournament in Kaunas was great opportunity to see him live outside of France for the first time after half a year which is solid time period for U17 player to visibly improve his game especially for someone who has been in good development spot for just less than two seasons. It was really up and down showing for French prospect. While he is on completely another level in terms of athleticism and plays with rare poise, his fundamentals and skill level leave really a lot to be desired. Most of the damage Begarin is able to cause from slashing to the rim. He gained a lot of muscle mass and was ultra aggressive in playing through contact with the ball in his hands. However he lacks finishing flair and relies very heavily on his bounce and tremendous tools to play bully ball on youth level which allowed him to make some huge dunks or simply put back his own missed layups. His hands are somewhat stiff in general which causes too strong, effortful jumpshots (3/22 from behind the arc in tournament, 25/126 in the season) and makes his dribbling look very mechanical. Feel for the game is not perfect either. He tends to stand and observe passively far away from the rim and does a lot of things lazy way especially passing which led to horrible TO numbers (24 in 4 ANGT games). Also defensively despite having potential to be specialist he gambles way too much. It seems like he possess mindset of a scoring guard while skillset and profile predisposes him to more of simple slashing, energizing and locking down opponents. He may stand at very average 6’5 if we consider him for 3 position but definitely plays bigger with his nearby 7 foot wingspan. From physical profile Begarin is clearly NBA prospect but event in Lithuania showed how much work he needs to put all the things together and become legitimate guard capable of at least one crucial skill: playmaking or shooting.