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2015 NBA Mock Draft Update: Kristaps Porzingis Declares, Could Leapfrog Several Big Men

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A 19-year-old seven-foot power forward from Latvia declared for the NBA Draft and could leapfrog some of college basketball's best big men.

Andy Miller, the agent of Kristaps Porzingis, confirmed to ESPN his client declared for the NBA Draft next month. Evaluators do not think he will be selected before centers Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor, but he may be taken before the likes of Willie Cauley-Stein, Myles Turner and Frank Kaminsky.

Porzingis, 19, is listed at six feet and 11 inches tall, weighing 220 pounds, but ESPN's evaluators like his ability to shoot from within and beyond the three-point arc. He is also exceptionally quick and athletic for a player his size. He may not be quite the shooter Kaminsky is, but ESPN called Porzingis a "good defender" and an "excellent shot blocker."

"He's an athletic, super-skilled 7-footer who can do everything well," an unnamed GM told ESPN. "I was watching him warm up and had flashbacks to when I saw Pau Gasol take the floor for the first time in Spain, only this kid is much more athletic than Gasol but plays with that same fluidity. I've been asking my team since then: Are you sure he's not the No. 1 guy? Are these guys in college really better than him?"

While ESPN's Chad Ford ranked Porzingis fifth overall, Draft Express projected him being drafted eighth overall, in both cases making him a top-five big man.

"He's my favorite player in this draft," an unnamed international basketball scout told ESPN. "I keep telling my staff: This one is not like other international players. He's the real deal. He's special in all the ways a player can be special. He just needs to get stronger. That's it. He's going to be a big-time pro."

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