EuroLeague Rising Star: Gabriele Procida
The 2022 draft had some surprising picks, one of the most surprising was Detroit’s pick, as part of the Grant trade, the Pistons got a pick swap from the Blazers moving from No. 46 to No. 36 and selecting Gabriele Procida (20 years old). And as good news never comes alone, Fortitudo Bologna’s Italian was transferred by a Euroleague team, Alba Berlin.
The debut in the Euroleague was a dream, he managed 12 points, 3 rebounds, and one assist in just 13 minutes against Partizan, with 3/3 of 2 points and 2/4 of 3 points. Unfortunately, Alba Berlin has a season far below expectations in the Euroleague and this can be seen in the evolutions of the young Italian, he has matches with 12 points against Maccabi, 13 points against Real or a season-high 16 points against Monaco but also matches with 0 points or with 1 point. On average in this Euroleague debut season in 14:43 minutes, he has 6 points, with 59.6% at 2 points and 25.4% on 3-pointers. The biggest question mark is over his 3-point shooting, in Italy having 40%.
On the wing Procida has nice length, he has the ability to jump off both feet, and he has shown the ability to relocate when a teammate is handling the ball. Although this debut season is not a very good one in terms of shooting, he is a threat shooting off the dribble, his quick trigger helps him get easy shots and has a nice jump shot over smaller defenders. He needs to improve his handle and get stronger for physical duels.
Procida represented Italy at the 2018 FIBA U16 European Championship in Serbia, averaging 10.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, having 28 points and 7 rebounds in the match against Georgia in the Group Phase. The 2019 FIBA U18 European Championship in Greece followed, where he averaged 13.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He made his Italian senior national team debut, playing five minutes against Estonia on 19 February 2021.
If he improves his physical qualities, there are chances that Procida will become a good player for most Euroleague teams.
Valentin Petruta
Photo credit: EuroLeague
