Biggest Breakout Stars from 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup
The United States added another gold medal to its trophy case after a 129-92 victory over Serbia on Sunday at the FIBA World Cup in Spain.ย
It was Team USA's 63rd consecutive win during international play and a steadfast reminder that the rest of the world still has a ways to go before the Americans start checking their rearview mirror. On the heels of a tournament in which the U.S. closed the door on the very notion of tightly contested games, hoops fans were better served using the games as a platform for individual performances.
If you want overtime action, the NBA playoffs still have the market cornered on sheer entertainment value.
But the World Cup became a prime opportunity for emerging talent to cement their star credentials on the global stage.ย
Based on an assessment of who raised his international profile the most during tournament play, here's a look at five up-and-comers (and some honorable mentions) who turned heads this summer.
Honorable Mentions
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Milos Teodosic, Serbia
The 6'5" point guard made the most of Serbia's unexpected trip to the finals. The 27-year-old averaged 13.6 points and 4.4 assists through nine tournament games.
More importantly, he made his most notable impacts when they were needed. Teodosic dropped 23 points on Brazil in the quarterfinals and another 24 on France during the semifinals, helping lead his club to an unlikely silver medal.
Prior to the final game, ESPN.com's Marc Stein tweeted, "Mr. Teodosic could play in the NBA if he chose to. But word is he wants $3-plus mil annually to make jump."ย
He also noted, "ESPN sources say [Memphis Grizzlies], LAST summer, were latest NBA team to lobby him hard."
Any previously existing NBA interest in Teodosic almost certainly increased on account of his performance at the FIBA World Cup.
Hamed Haddadi, Iran
The Iranians didn't last beyond group play, but that wasn't Haddadi's fault. The center averaged an impressive 18.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per contest in five games. He was one of only three Iranians to average double-figure points throughout the tournament.
The 29-year-old currently plays in China, but he's had NBA stints with the Memphis Grizzlies andโas recently as 2013โthe Phoenix Suns.ย
Haddadi's FIBA play probably won't guarantee him a return to NBA circles, but teams desperate for some interior size could certainly do worse.
Gustavo Ayon, Mexico
Mexico survived group play after tallying wins against Angola and Korea, but was no match for the United States in the round of 16.
Ayon did his part, however, posting 25 points and eight rebounds against the Americans and a vaunted frontline anchored by Anthony Davis. For the tournament, the 29-year-old averaged 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds in six games.
The Mexican center has had NBA stints with the then-New Orleans Hornets, Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks andโmost recentlyโthe Atlanta Hawks.ย
At the moment, his future is somewhat murky. Earlier this month, one report suggested he had already agreed to terms with Spanish club Real Madrid. But there's been a more recent indication that the San Antonio Spurs remain interested in potentially bringing Ayon back to the NBA.
In any event, Ayon is a wanted manโand all the more so after his performance on the world stage.
5. Gorgui Dieng, Senegal
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Senegal's Gorgui Dieng really began his ascendance late last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In his first campaign out of Louisville, the 24-year-old averaged 8.6 points and 8.3 rebounds in March. Those numbers rose even more to 11.9 points, 10.7 rebounds and two blocks per contest through nine games in April.
Just in case you weren't convinced by the limited sample size, Dieng sustained his emergence in summer league play to the tune of 11.5 points and 10.2 rebounds through six games.
Summer league coach David Adelman was impressed by what he saw.
"He's going to be a work in progress, but every day he gets better," Adelman explained in July, per Pro Basketball Talk'sย Kurt Helin. "We're trying to teach him a lot of little nuances, just playing off the ball, scoring on the block, things like that."
"What (the coaches and I) discussed is that in the summer is the time the players got better, so I've been in the gym working with them a lot," Dieng added at the time. "Just learning the game overall. They cannot tell you what to do exactly, but you've got to have a good feeling for yourself, to learn the game."
By now, then, it should come as no surprise that Dieng was exceptional for Senegal during FIBA World Cup action.
Over the course of six tournament games, the young big man averaged 16 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.5 blocks per contest. Though Senegal won just two of its six tournament games, the team did make it to the round of 16โwhere it summarily lost by a final score of 89-56 to Spain.
As Fox Sports North's Phil Ervin notes, "Minnesota's big man of the futureโand, to a lesser but significant extent, the presentโled a low-rated group to the world championships' knockout round for the first time since the tourney moved to a single group stage."
Senegal still has a ways to go, and so does Dieng. But this season with the Timberwolves should be a golden opportunity for Dieng to build upon his recent success and establish himself as a significant contributor in head coach Flip Saunders' rotation.
4. Andray Blatche, Philippines
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Can a nine-year NBA veteran really qualify as a breakout star?
When Andray Blatche enters the equation, anything is possibleโincluding an alley-oop to himself while being double-teamed by Greece. Sure, a little traveling got in the way of the bucket actually counting, but it was vintage Blatche all the same.
Unencumbered by the constraints of fitting in with an NBA game plan, the 28-year-old showed his true colors at FIBA World Cup with theย Philippines.
As CBSSports.com's James Herbert put it, "On this team, he's the star player, and they want him to basically play point center. Blatche is free to indulge every whim, which means you'll see him creating plays from behind the three-point line and dribbling coast-to-coast."
Unfortunately, the Blatche experiment was hardly enough to get this team going. Theย Philippines finished tournament play with just one win and four losses.
But their big man did his part. Blatche averaged an impressive 21.2 points and 13.8 rebounds per contest, putting up numbers that certainly couldn't hurt his pursuit of a new home on the NBA's free-agent market. Indeed, Blatche was the only member of the squad to average double figures in points or rebounds.
The 6'11" center is coming off his second season with the Brooklyn Nets, a campaign in which he averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds while primarily coming off the bench.
The questions haunting Blatche have never been about his talent or ability to produce. They've had more to do with his effort and focus, the kinds of things often measured on the defensive end.
That led Grantland's Rafe Bartholomew to observe, "Wizards and Nets fans who followed Blatche in the NBA may find this hard to believe, butย Blatche has played his ass offย for Team Philippines."
So perhaps the real breakthrough here has less to do with Blatche proving his ability and more to do with the leadership and commitment he's demonstrated as the focal point of his team. That won't necessarily translate into identical results this season in the NBA, but it suggests there's more to Blatche than we might have known.
3. Klay Thompson, United States
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Golden State Warriors fans already know plenty about shooting guard Klay Thompson, but the 24-year-old's global reputation has reached new levels after a standout performance with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup.
Thompson averaged 12.7 points per contest during the tournament, while making 52.3 percent of his field-goal attempts, including 41.5 percent of his attempts from beyond the three-point arc.
But more than any set of numbers, Thompson has added some exceptional defense to a resume that's thus far been characterized primarily by lethal spot-up shooting.
Thompson himself explained as much in a journal entry published in theย San Francisco Chronicle courtesy of Rusty Simmons.ย Thompson wrote in August:
"I thought I was competing for a spot on the team from the beginning, because there were so many good wing players.
I think I earned it by the way I showed up every day. I think my shooting ability helped โ especially being able to stretch the floor in the international game โ but I think my defense was the key. I've competed on every possession and proven that I can guard multiple positions.
"
Thompson had already begun to show flashes of his two-way ability with the Warriors, but his defensive chops have become more of a calling card this summer.
And when heย does make a mistake, he's eager to make up for it on the other end.
Yahoo Sports' Kelly Dwyer observed as much after Team USA's semifinal matchup, noting,ย "Klay Thompson's defensive indifference ushered Lithuanian forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas in for an easy putback dunk at one point, and an obviously bothered Thompson made up for it by calling for the ball on the other end and scoring to keep the opponentโs momentum at bay."ย
That kind of leadership wasn't expected from Thompson, not on a team replete with more established names.ย
But between the gruesome broken leg Paul George suffered during a U.S. scrimmage and Kevin Durant's decision to withdraw from FIBA play, there were ample opportunities for Thompson to show off his scoring prowess.ย
Despite coming off the bench for head coach Mikeย Krzyzewski, the three-year veteran remained confident and steadyโoutperforming some of the squad's starters in the process.
2. Bojan Bogdanovic, Croatia
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Croatian swingman Bojan Bogdanovic emerged tied as the FIBA World Cup's second-leading scorer after six games in the tournament.ย
The 25-year-old averaged 21.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest, dropping 27 points on France in a losing effort during the opening knockout round. He made 50 percent of his field-goal attempts in the process, including 36.1 percent of his attempts from beyond the three-point arc.
After an overseas career that included four years with Real Madrid,ย Bogdanovic inked a three-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets this summer. The Miami Heat originally selected him with the No. 31 overall pick in 2011.
Bogdanovic won't put up FIBA-like numbers with the Nets, but these are encouraging signs nevertheless.
"I think he's got great size, [and] he's also got great speed and quickness," Nets head coach Lionel Hollins told ESPN New York's Mike Mazzeo this summer (via SBNation's Daniel LoGiudice).ย "He can shoot the ball, but also put the ball on the floor. He can post up. I'm looking for players. Players that have multiple skills and are not just one-dimensional."
With forward Paul Pierce taking his talents to the Washington Wizards this summer, Hollins will likely look to Bogdanovic for some meaningful minutes on the wing.ย
If his World Cup play has proven anything, it's that he's perhaps more ready for those minutes than some had expected.
1. Kenneth Faried, United States
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Coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 13.7 points per contest with the Denver Nuggets, Kenneth Faried's selection to Team USA's 12-man roster wasn't exactly aย total surprise.
Without elite power forwards such as Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge participating in the FIBA World Cup, Faried had the opportunity to prove he belongs. And thanks to a nonstop motor, he's made the most of that opportunity.
Faried averaged 12.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game during tournament play, including 3.9 offensive reboundsโa rate that can only be attributed to relentlessly hard work.
That kind of production hasn't been about hustle alone. It clearly requires some talent to go along with it.
But there's little doubt Faried's pride and resilience have helped get him this far.
USA Today's Sam Amick explains that:
"The 22nd pick of the 2011 draft faced a litany of questions about his game coming out of Morehead State in Kentucky โ too small (both him and his Ohio Valley Conference school), too one-dimensional (rebounder and defender only, some alleged) โ but has become not only a high-level NBA talent but a major impact player for Team USA.
"
Beyond proving himself, a genuine passion for the game has undoubtedly played a part in the recent success as well.
"I just love to play basketball," Faried told reporters after Team USA's victory over Turkey. "Every time I step on the basketball court, you never know it could be your last game, so I like to play my hardest in every game. When you love the game like that, it tends to reward you back."
It helps that Faried's effort was so frequently rewarded in the United States' up-tempo attack. Thanks to his ability and willingness to run the floor, Faried has turned more than a few lobs into highlight-reel material.
And he helped turn the United States into an unstoppable force in the process.
The strong performance couldn't have come at a better time for Faried. The Nuggets have until Oct. 31 to sign him to a contract extension. Otherwise, Faried will become a restricted free agent next summerโpotentially inflating his value even further.
Faried's FIBA play proves he's worth a hefty raise over the $2,249,768ย he's scheduled to make this season. Just how much he cashes in on will depend on negotiations between his agent and the front office, but it would be surprising to see Faried make anything less than eight figures starting in 2015-16.
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