Toronto Raptors Linas Kleiza: One of NBA's Many Unknown Gems

If anybody watched the 2010 FIBA World Championships, aside from Kevin Durant, it could have been argued that Linas Kleiza played the best in that tournament.

Kleiza has been an unknown player pretty much his whole life. When you are playing behind Carmelo Anthony, you are going to be seen as nothing more than a backup.

Kleiza decided the best thing for his career was to leave the NBA and play in Greece, but has now agreed to play for the Toronto Raptors.

He is an exceptional talent. Kleiza is a great shooter, can take it to the rim with his physical strength, and is a gritty defender and rebounder.

He's exactly what the Raptors needed, especially after trading Hedo Turkoglu.

After starring for Greece and seeming nearly unstoppable, it seems as though the Raptors may have found a legitimate starting small forward.

At age 25, Kleiza is still young and has room to grow.

It seems that the case could be that Kleiza left and just became exceptionally better overseas, or he was just a hidden talent on the Nuggets, and now they are regretting losing him.

Sure, the level of play in the "worlds" isn't as high as in the NBA, but that doesn't mean Kwame Brown would be scoring 30-plus points every game.

I'm not saying that I expect Kleiza to fill the void left by Chris Bosh, but will he do better than Hedo Turkoglu? Probably.

The Raptors are filled with many unknown, capable players.

Sonny Weems, Jarrett Jack, Amir Johnson, DeMar DeRozan, and now Kleiza are all great players that go practically unnoticed.

With Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon, and Linas Kleiza leading the way, the Raptors will surprise many people this season, and if they play to their potential, they can actually compete.

And I expect them to.

Linas Kleiza stats prediction: 15.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.3 APG