Alexey Shved Scouting Report

Alexey Shved
6'6 PG/SG
CSKA Moscow
DOB: 12/16/88

Now that the Nic Batum situation is squared away and he gets to keep enjoying his Stumptown coffee at Albina Press for the next few years, Minnesota fans can focus their attention on another Euro, Alexey Shved.

Shved was one of the top NBA free agents prospect in Europe. For the second year in a row, Minnesota brings over one of the top young playmakers from Europe.

Many teams made the mistake of passing on him two years ago in the 2010 draft, but then it worked out better for Shved since he got to pick his preferred team.

Shved is a rangy combo guard (with a dash of flash) who spent the last two years playing for arguably the most talented team outside the NBA, CSKA Moscow.

Shved was a key contributor on CSKA, and the 23-year-old found a way to be the third-best scorer (behind A. Kirilenko & N. Krstic) on a loaded roster.

Shved possesses good athleticism that should help his game translate well to the NBA. Great size for a PG and can slide over to the 2-guard in a pinch.

Definitely needs to bulk up. Listed in the 180-190 lb. range. Though not sure he has the frame to handle much more weight.

In 21 Euroleague games, Alexey averaged 10.6 ppg, 3.1 apg, 2.6 rpg, 1.7 TOpg and 48.7% shooting in 21 minutes per game. His numbers were similar in Russian and United League (VTB) play.

He shot a terrific 49% from behind the arc in EL play (39% in Russia, 34% in VTB). H'se definitely improved his jumper over the last few years, but think these numbers might overstate his shooting prowess.

Hit only 32% of his 3PA in Russian League play in '10-'11. In general, he's a solid shooter, but don't think he's a great as this year's numbers suggest.

Would not call his shooting mechanics ideal. He tends to drift too much and his legs often splay out (right leg kicks out).

This past season, Shved would often play in the backcourt with Milos Teodosic, one of the best PGs in Europe. They would split ballhandling duties and Shved was given a lot of responsibilities on the offensive end.

Shved is a handful in pick-n-roll, where he can hit pull-ups going both ways, get all the way to rim or drop sweet dishes to his teammates. Simply a great pick-n-roll player.

A terrific passer with impeccable timing and accuracy. Not quite as masterful as his new teammate, Ricky Rubio, but he's close.

Shows good patience by sucking extra defenders toward him and letting better passing angles develop. Fast with the ball and can really push the ball in transition.

Very good handle and keeps his dribble low. Very shifty--his use of hesitation and crossover moves is superb. Has the ability to stop on a dime with his dribble and change direction.

He's very adept at going away from ball screens as well. Doesn't always need a ball screen to get into the lane and thanks to his ball skills should fare decently in iso action in the NBA.

Handles well with both hands. Can drive the ball both ways, but seems to prefer to drive the ball left. Adept at hitting floaters or runners.

Pretty good finisher with both hands, but not great. Uses jump-stop at the rim well, which fakes out defenders to create space. Could do a better job getting a bit more air under the ball on some of his close-in attempts.

When looking to score in pick-n-roll, heavily preferred pulling-up as opposed to taking it to the rim. Of Shved's 187 scoring attempts in pick/roll action recorded by Synergy Sports Technology, he attempted 119 jumpers.

Has an element of carelessness to his game. His sometimes casual approach reminds you of Vince Carter--it seems like he's playing pickup basketball. It appears sometimes he's not too concerned with his mistakes.

Will fling up some dubious runners or off-balance jumpers haphazardly. His shot selection is questionable sometimes. Also expect some forced passes into traffic on occasion.

Rightfully so, there are some questions about how he will fare defensively in the NBA.

For what it's worth, he did grade out very well in iso situations. According to Synergy Sports, held his opponent to 17.6% shooting and forced turnovers on 15% of the iso possessions.

But these numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt as he was often aided by the timely backline help of the likes of Kirilenko, Khryapa, Krstic or Kaun. There were enough instances where he got blown-by to give you pause. Just tends to react slowly.

Though, his defensive stance is not bad and contests shots well. He does tend to do a nice job of shading his man toward help.

Shved will be running the point for Team Russia at the Olympics and played solid ball at the recent Pre-Olympic tourney. Averaged 10.5 ppg, 5 apg over four games, and kept his TOs to a minimum. But he threw up a fair amount of dicey shots which played a part in him shooting 34% overall.

Imagine the TWolves see him as a reserve combo guard this season. But will be interesting to see how much ball-handling he does with Ridnour and Barea currently on the roster.

Shved's talents allow for flexible lineups. Could play him next to Rubio, which makes for an intriguing combo. Could play him with Barea or Ridnour. Could play him with Brandon Roy in the backcourt.

Given Shved's mix of size, athleticism, ball-handling ability, deft passing and solid shooting, would not surprise if he becomes a solid starter in the NBA in the future.

At worst, Minnesota acquired a nice rotation player with great versatility and some flash to excite the crowd.