I've always like Casspi dating back to last year when I really thought he would keep his name in the draft--thought he had a guarantee by the Spurs with their late 1st round pick, and there were Hedo Turkoglu comparisons bandied about with him. This year, with a deep draft he's pushed back a little and probably is a 2nd rounder, so he could potentially be a steal. Either way, he'd probably be one of the BPAs found in the 2nd round, so he'd be a sound investment for a team drafting between #30 and #40.
Casspi is fairly productive, but his intangibles take him over the top--he's energetic, tough, plays well off the ball and in addition has the mismatch combination and athleticism to also get him a leg up. The guy is a pretty good scorer in the EuroLeagues--he's 2nd on his team in points per 48, and he's fairly efficient with a 58% TS--he diversifies his offense by slashing to the basket and hitting threes every now and then, and does them well in general (among the top in his team in pts/play and pts/possession). He aggressive asserts himself in scoring--he's among the top in his team in field goal attempts/possession and uses up quite a few possessions. With his athleticism and aggressiveness, it's reasonable to believe that his entire offensive package should translate well to the next level, although his unrefined jumper and limited ballhandling might limit him in a slight degree.
Casspi's athletic markers are sound--he's a solid rebounder (and a good offensive rebounder) and a good stealer within his team. The only real red flag for him statistically is assists--the guy rarely looks to pass and has limited court vision, and is one of the worst passers on his own team right now. It's probably a minor issue in the NBA (it can be corrected as he starts to play more within the team concept), but it would definitely help his transition to SF more. To his credit he keeps his turnovers down.
Overall the guy will be a valuable role player in the NBA--he had one of the highest PERs in the EuroLeague despite playing <20 minutes per game, and his combination of aggressiveness, athleticism, and versatile scoring skills will easily endear himself to any team in the league, not to mention that he could be stashed in Europe if a team's roster is full for some reason. I think he's NBA ready, though, and while we don't exactly need a player of his prototype (we don't really need an athletic SF, he's not that great a defender, and he sort of reminds me of Andres Nocioni) he would be useful to any other team. But a potential 2nd round steal if he falls, and I arguably think he's better than Sam Young (who's a supposed 1st round pick)--statistically they're very similar, but Casspi is far younger and I like his youthful aggressiveness over Young's meat-and-potatoes work--I think Casspi is much more potential than Young does.
