Sergey Karasev: Top-Seven Talent?

Did the Nets get a steal in Sergey Karasev, the 20-year old forward acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the three-team deal that also netted Jarrett Jack? Fran Fraschilla thinks so.

Deep in a Wall Street Journal piece by Alex Raskin about the Nets foreign-born players, Frischilla, ESPN’s draft expert, said that, Karasev, the 19th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, is a talented player, and if he would have been a member of the 2014 draft class, he would’ve been a “top-seven pick.”

"I see him as a skilled off-guard who can handle the ball," Fraschilla said of Karasev. "He's a coach's son, so he understands the game and makes the right plays." 

"As crazy as it sounds," Fraschilla continued, "he'd have been a top-five, top-six, top-seven pick this year. He's very talented. I don't know if the situation in Cleveland was dysfunctional or not, but I also would tell you that at 19, he was not ready for the NBA last year."

Remember, the top 7 of the draft consisted of Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Aaron Gordon, Dante Exum, Marcus Smart, and Julius Randle, all highly heralded young guys with most expected to make an immediate impact for their new teams.

Frischila is correct in saying that Karasev wasn’t ready for the NBA last season as he split time between the Cavaliers and their D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge. Karasev played only 22 games with parent franchise, he averaged a paltry 1.7 points per game. He fared much better with Canton, averaging 13.5 points per game on 45% shooting and 42% from three.

If Karasev is indeed a “top-seven talent”, as deemed by Frischilla, that would be a huge benefit for the Nets, a team that does not own its own first round pick in the draft until 2019. Young talent is always needed in the NBA, and the Nets may have gotten a keeper in Sergey Karasev.
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