Washout no longer? Czech Republic's Jan Vesely intrigues scouts once again

By
MARK WOODS via <a href="http://espn.go.com/" title="ESPN" class="espn_sc_byline">ESPN </a>
via
September 18, 2015, 8:52 PM ET
3 min read

— -- LILLE, France -- The EuroBasket 2015 All-Star Five, as FIBA now insists we call the All-Tournament Team, will be unveiled Sunday in Lille. And despite a deep amount of competition at the center and power forward positions, it's certain Jan Vesely will get a little love, at the very least, from the voting panel after leading an unheralded Czech Republic as far as the quarterfinals and into next year's Olympic Qualifying Tournament after stuffing Latvia 97-70 in Friday's playoff game.

Yes, Wizards fans, that Jan Vesely, who was chosen with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft -- five spots ahead of Klay Thompson and nine in front of Kawhi Leonard -- and who spent almost three relatively unproductive seasons in D.C. before being shipped off with few regrets to the Denver Nuggets.

Despite pre-draft comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki, Vesely never remotely lived up to the hype in the NBA, departing with averages of 3.6 points and 3.5 rebounds before coming back to Europe to sign with Turkish power Fenerbahce.

Now, with confidence restored and his abilities trusted, you can see why the 25-year-old was once regarded as a prodigy.

"I've got more experience from playing at Fenerbahce," Vesely told ESPN.com. "We did a great job here. And I'm playing my own game. That's why I left the NBA, to go to a team where I can play. I'm happy with how things are going right now."

He was a huge factor in Fenerbahce's run to the semifinals of last season's Euroleague. And at EuroBasket, through eight games, he has averaged 18.8 points and a tournament-best 9.5 rebounds while shooting 61.5 percent from the field.

"He's still the same talent that he was at the EuroBasket two years ago in Slovenia, but I think his game has matured," notes Czech teammate Jiri Welsch, whose four-year NBA stint included stops in Boston and Golden State. "He's our best threat in the low post. Two years ago, he was unbelievable. But it was more running and cutting. Now he's refined his post game and he's matured as a person."

With European bigs still in favor among NBA front offices, that could earn Vesely a recall across the Atlantic when he is a free agent again next summer. However, once bitten, twice shy -- it is an option he is hesitant to commit to.

"I'm not even thinking about the NBA now," he says. "This season I will be in Turkey. That's as far as I look."

But Welsch, who has seen Vesely up close for the past two months, has few doubts he could deliver on his promise with a second go-round.

"He was ready before," he added. "But in the NBA, and I know from my experience, you have to be in the right place at the right time. In those three years, he wasn't in the right place. If he chooses to go there again, and I hope he does, I think he will show he belongs."