The late evening hours of Friday, May 28, brought an overseas confirmation of 2021 NBA draft eligibility for yet another Croatian player, 21-year old forward Filip Vranješ who over last season performed admirably for KK Samobor of the Croatian A1 League.
Vranjes’ name was included by the NBA on the list of international candidates who are ‘automatically eligible’ (e.g. turning 22-years in the year of the draft) for the event, which will take place on July 29, in the home of the Brooklyn Nets, the Barclays Center.
The high-flying forward which led the Croatian HKS A1 league competition with 1.4 blocked shots per game, and can successfully guard all five positions, was born on September 26, 1999. Being 6’9” tall (207 cm (in sneakers)), having a huge 7’0” wingspan (214 cm), together with his leaping ability, makes him an intriguing draft prospect.
Over the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, Vranješ also starred in the CroHoops amateur league (Zagreb, Croatia), where he dominated the competition. Over the 2019-20 campaign, playing for the rejuvenated Rude Boys squad, he averaged 20.9 points, 13.4 rebounds, and led the league with 3.0 blocked shots per game.
His most memorable performance of that season came in a marquee match-up with the two-time champions Jankomir Transformers. While galvanizing the young team with his unstoppable frontcourt performance, and leading it to a memorable OT win, Vranjes delivered career-high 36 points, along with 22 rebounds!
The first player ever in the Crohoops league history to make himself available for the draft, he found himself arm-by-arm with the other four Croatian representatives at the event – Roko Prkačin, Boris Tišma, Karlo Matković, and Danko Branković.
Exclusively for Crohoops.com Vranjes confirmed that he does not intend to withdraw his NBA draft application prior the event. Also, he is interested, if his agent receives an invitation, to attend a predraft try-out in the USA.
