Dalibor Ilic

He is basically inside outside 4 man with elite physical profile, elite rebounding ability who thrives through contact. Ilic has the best body you can find. He stands at 6’9, possess very good wingspan, big palms and wide frame. He is long and well proportioned overall but what intrigues the most may be his strength. His muscles are simply tuned to their optimal characteristic for basketball player. He is lean, has room to grow even more while being already as strong as a regular bulked up guy who doesn’t leave the weight room at all.

Igokea’s product feels the most natural close to the basket or mid post area. He is great in early offense deep sealing (if any of his teammates was capable of throwing entry or lob passes he could probably score 10 points per game more here). His post moves or footwork are nothing special but he can go reverse and has a reach to finish from difficult angle. Moreover generates force which pushes defenders away & allow him to collect his own misses. Also his step is quick and long enough to turn it face up and go around or drive through with his body.

Another big asset is rebounding ability. Ilic has a nose for the ball, quick jump off on foot and his length helps to snatch the ball. He can initiate the offense after that but is far from being coast to coast threat. Speaking of that let’s try to explore how big of a missmatch guy he is outside of the paint.

Dalibor’s ball handling is unfortunately very mechanical. It’s loose, he avoids left hand and simple telegraphed in & out is the only move he presented. He is also still not there as a passer (shows some glimpses but imprecise in general). His catch and go is not coordinated yet as he often starts with travelling. He is not a quick decision maker after catch but never hesitates to make a big tomahawk jam if lane is opened. Also will punish defenses at times by straight line drive but mostly thanks to ability to withstand the contact.

However biggest problem at the moment may be his shot. It is extremely slow and don’t let small ABA Liga sample (9/20 3pt) confuse you. He needs HUGE work in this regard and maybe even partial reconstruction of the mechanics.

Defensively it was very easy for him on that level. He contains everything with his body and is just extremely rangy to recover with minimum effort. From what it looks like he is maybe more suited for switching onto small ball 5s than athletic slashers or quick guards. While Ilic moves up & down well and fluidly he is not that exceptionally light on his fit or quick laterally. Anyway he is intriguing on that end given how he maintains position, challenges a lot at the rim and makes his opponent need a lot of space to get the shot off.

Seems like Ilic didn’t make a big jump past two years in Igokea. Mega can work well for him and it would probably be good option for his further development to stay there for next season as well. He needs a shooting coach and increasing on ball skills to be much more intriguing option for NBA executives. For now there is not enough flashes but if he improves and produces in ABA Liga then may be drafted in 2nd round as you can’t find many guys with his profile and decent athleticism who knows how to use the tools.