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Brooklyn Nets: Dzanan Musa an upside pick at No. 29

By Phil Watson

PALA RUFFINI, TURIN, ITALY - 2017/11/15: Dzanan Musa (Cedevita Zagreb) during the Eurocup basketball match: Fiat Torino Auxilium vs Cedevita Zagreb. Torino loses 65-87 at Pala Ruffini in Turin, Italy 15th november 2017. (Photo by Alberto Gandolfo/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
PALA RUFFINI, TURIN, ITALY - 2017/11/15: Dzanan Musa (Cedevita Zagreb) during the Eurocup basketball match: Fiat Torino Auxilium vs Cedevita Zagreb. Torino loses 65-87 at Pala Ruffini in Turin, Italy 15th november 2017. (Photo by Alberto Gandolfo/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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The Brooklyn Nets selected 6-foot-9 wing Dzanan Musa from Bosnia-Herzegovina with the 29th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, an upside pick at age 19.

The Brooklyn Nets went for upside with the 29th overall pick Thursday night, taking Bosnian wing Dzanan Musa in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Musa, 19, has played the last three seasons for Cedevita in Croatia, playing in 71 games last season across the Croatian A-1 Liga, the Adriatic League and the Eurocup.

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In those games, Musa started 14 times and averaged 12.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals in 23.1 minutes per game on a slash line of .470/.313/.804.

He’s listed at 6-foot-9 and 195 pounds, but at his age the thinking has to be he will fill out with time (don’t we all?).

He doesn’t have a great deal of length, with a wingspan of 6-foot-8½ at EuroCamp 2017, according to Draft Express.

NBADraft.net compared him to a former Brooklyn Net, Bojan Bogdanovic. He’s one of those natural scorers with an instinct for the basket and a deceptive athleticism that has, at least at the level he’s been at, allowed him to blow by defenders and get to the rim.

Musa has been a professional since he was 16 and is used to a great deal of scrutiny, so adjusting to the New York media may not be as big an issue as it could be for some young players coming in.

Musa could fit the bill for wing depth, something the team could use, but the question will be how close he is to being ready to actually contribute at the NBA level at this point.

On its draft broadcast, ESPN reported that Musa has a $1 million buyout in his contract with Cedevita and wants to come to the NBA this season.

That could mean Musa could be on the bounce between Brooklyn and Uniondale as he may need to go to the G League’s Long Island Nets to get minutes outside of garbage time.

His defense should be a concern — if guys are blowing by him off the bounce in Zagreb, the chances of him staying in front of NBA-level athletes are slim.

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Still, there is solid upside there and teams can’t have enough scoring in today’s NBA. Musa is a risk at No. 29, but that is a point in the first round where there are seldom risk-free choices to be made.