Filip Petrusev

Filip Petrušev, Philadelphia 76ers – 50^th overall

Despite being the ABA League MVP, Petrušev was selected towards the end of the 2^nd round. He has been considered one of the best European prospects in his age category for a while and has become a regular for the Serbian national team this season. Petrušev is a skilled interior scorer who has expanded his range this season after leaving Gonzaga. What might have contributed to his slide is his lack of rim protection. He has the talent to make an impact in the NBA and deserved to get drafted higher. Considering the 76ers already have Joel Embiid, are contenders, and drafted another center in Charles Bassey, there is a chance Petrušev ends up playing in Europe next season. He is expected to take part in Summer League and will have a chip on his shoulder.   

Filip Petrušev is coming from a great season at Gonzaga where he averaged 17.5 points and 8 rebounds per game in a little less than 26 minutes. He also showed in the preparation matches for Mega that he should be amongst the best players of the team and that big things are expected from him. 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks vs Crvena Zvezda, 25 points and 9 rebounds vs Cluj, 28 points and 6 rebounds vs Mornar, 20 points and 8 rebounds vs Sloboda Užice, 22 points vs Zlatibor, 11 points and 12 rebounds vs Borac are the stat lines from Petrušev in the preparation matches so far. He is strong and mobile, has good footwork and can move bodies on low post. Reads the situations and game very well, makes good decisions on post ups and can find open teammates. Worked a lot on his shot from distance during the summer and is slowly adding three point shot to his offensive arsenal. On the defensive end, he has a strong stance and not moved easily on post ups while he also has the footwork to guard on perimeter and is a very good pick & roll defender. He could be one of the best bigs in the upcoming season and he is, in my opinion, the main favorite to win this award.

Filip Petrusev (Gonzaga) : Another European Gonzaga big, Petrusev is set to have a breakout this season playing alongside Killian Tillie. He only logged in 11 minutes per game last season and that can only increase if he stays away from injury trouble. His physical profile and basketball IQ makes him such an interesting prospect to watch. His jumper is getting there and it will be important to see him score with consistently at a higher clip.

FILIP PETRUSEV (GONZAGA) – Zags are recruiting hard and with a huge success all the best European bigs lately. Careers of Karnowski, Sabonis or now Tillie definitely helped to pave the way for next commits. Petrusev had great FIBA U18 where he won gold medal with Serbia. He was more of a role player in stacked Montverde but reminded the scouts that he can possibly be more. He is so (more than) solid in all areas from physical profile to basketball IQ that if his jumper gets consistent again I am optimistic about Draft chances in 2-3 years. Due to Jacob Larsen problems he may have more minutes right away that previously expected.

Heavily recruited High Major Serbian frontcourt prospect Filip Petrusev just committed to Gonzaga. Filip was hearing from extremely long list of schools and turned down many power conferences offers.

Almost one year ago (October 24th), Filip committed to Hartford where he was supposed to join another intriguing Serbian prospect – Luka Vasic who was his teammate in Avon High School in Connecticut last season. After coach Ivo Simovic accepted Assistant opportunity to former All-Star Mark Price in University of North Carolina in Charlotte, both of them decommitted from the school which was clearly below their level. Vasic reunited with Simovic in 49ers which Filip was also expected for some time to do as he took there his first visit.  

Petrusev made amazing progress in Baskonia youth program and since few years is considered one of the best European talents not only from his generation. He missed FIBA U16s last summer and his departure to USA right away after them was a bit unexpected. He was supposed to land in Canada first but joined Avon HS as mentioned above. This season he is spending in widely renowned Montverde Academy.

Finally healthy, Filip made a tremendous defensive job and protected the rim successfully (however how translatable that is for NBA in his case?) during the European U18 Championship past summer where Serbia won the gold. He was able to make immediate impact after stepping on the court in well balanced Serbian team with depth. He proved himself as a good rebounder with advanced post-up game. Petrusev is really skilled player who provides a lot also in terms of facing up with the ball. But what makes him stand out from other prospects is his IQ and flexxibility. He can be main contributor but remains extremely efficient even as a 2nd or 3rd offensive option.

On August Filip was one of the best campers at Basketball without Border in Israel which introduced him to some of the executives from NBA world. He made an All-Star team and will most likely participate in Global version of BWB during NBA ALL-Star Weekend. As he claimed to us in interview few weeks ago he believes that being a part of the best league in the world is the realistic goal for him. Many Zags bigs (also European) paved the way for him last years. Suffice to mention Kelly Olynyk or Domantas Sabonis. Petrusev can very well become the next one and reminisce the quote below with smile after he makes it.

“Maybe it is still too early to say, I think I have the potential to play in the NBA, but I will have to work extremely hard and keep developing all aspects of my game and bring them to whole another level in order to play in the best league in the world. Anyway that is my goal and that is what I’m working for.”