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2011 NBA Draft Prospects: Valanciunas Looks Great According To Basketball Prospectus' Projections

Lithuanian big man Jonas Valanciunas is one of the prospects most-linked to the Rockets at this point. He's got some gaudy European stats, but exactly how does that translate to the NBA?  Surprisingly well, according to Kevin Pelton at Basketball Prospectus. Their formula compares his statistics to some players you may be familiar with:

8 Jonas Valanciunas Lietuvos Rytas C Dwight Howard 90.3
In this case, because Valanciunas is so young, the pool of potential matches is very small. Take out age as a factor and Tyson Chandler pops up repeatedly, which is why we used him for Sebastian Pruiti's breakdown

Wow, now there's a pair of helpful players for the Rockets. It would be extremely interesting to see how the media dealt with a European Dwight Howard. Even if he's only Tyson Chandler, who the Rockets nearly acquired last offseason, that would definitely be a) right in line with what the Rockets should be looking for and b) a blow to the stereotype of the soft European big man.

Either way, Valanciunas looks like an ideal fit for Houston if they can move up and snag him. 

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