With the 40th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn Nets selected Rodions Kurucs. Here are three reasons that he was a good selection.

The Brooklyn Nets came out of the 2018 NBA Draft quite well. With their first selection, No. 29, they got a potential steal in Bosnian wing Dzanan Musa. With No. 40, they got another upside-laden prospect in Latvian forward Rodions Kurucs.

Kurucs, 20, has the makings of a modern-day combo forward. I don’t like to box players into positions in this modern NBA, but at 6’9″ and 220 pounds, Kurucs seems destined as a stretch-4 with enough defensive tools to slide up to the wing if necessary.

In calling him a stretch-4 with defensive tools, I have basically outlined his major keys to becoming a quality NBA player. He has shown flashes as both a sniper and a quality defender, but merely flashes. He is very raw to this point, as evidenced by him playing the majority of last season in Spain’s second division for FC Barcelona II.

His desire to come over immediately, then, became quite surprising. He will command a $4 million NBA buyout, which is surprisingly high for a player of his rawness. This price tag, combined with his intent to come over for next season, shoved him down draft boards across the league. Most general managers don’t want to use a guaranteed contract plus $4 million on an unproven international player.

This made it quite easy for the Nets to purloin him at 40th. Because second round picks don’t have fully guaranteed contracts, all Brooklyn had to worry about was the buyout price. Although Kurucs won’t provide immediate return, the controllability of a player of his upside past 2018-19 is the real prize.

After all, the long game is what the Nets have in mind. That, along with these basketball-driven reasons, is why he is was a solid selection by the front office.