Assessing Deividas Sirvydis

April 15, 2019

I decided to take the time to watch Lietuvos Rytas’ 6-8, 2000-born swingman, Deividas Sirvydis, as he is a prospect that has recently declared to enter the 2019 NBA Draft, and he could end up being selected in the second round this year. There was not a whole lot of extensive game footage on him playing in basketball games this season, so I opted to watch two games to get a better feel for what he can do on the basketball court. I managed to watch him play in a January 5th match against BC Juventus with thanks to YouTube via Full Basketball Games, as well as in a December 23rd game against Lietkabelis with thanks to YouTube via LKL TV. Here are my thoughts on how Sirvydis fared in both games, as well as how he may stack up as a prospect for the NBA.

Deividas Sirvydis is a mobile, skilled swingman that has versatile scoring skills, and he also can help teams as a facilitator and defender as well. Siyrvydis is a fairly good shooter that can knock down quick spot up threes off the catch, as he especially excelled at making them from the corner to space the floor for his team on offense. However, he struggled more to score on pull-up threes, as he would tend to miss when attempting to make jumpers off the dribble.

Also, Sirvydis is an energetic player that can score on hustle plays. He runs the floor hard as he can knock down shots from long distance in transition as well as score on layups on the break. He also showed that he has the ability to get scores off the dribble. He also can draw free throws on aggressive drives to the hoop, and he tends to favor going to his left when doing so. Also, he will look to score on backdoor cuts, even though he would not get the basketball on those types of plays. He did miss on a fadeaway jumper on a drive in transition though, after trying to go coast to coast off of a defensive rebound, and sometimes he can struggle to score in traffic when he is not able to get foul calls.

He also displayed adequate playmaking skills. He is a good passer that sees the floor well, and he tended to throw solid interior passes to set up scores for his teammates. He has an adequate first step to the hoop, and he also passes well off the dribble as he can aptly find teammates on the move. He also is an unselfish player that will look to find the open man, but did struggle to handle a trap on one play as he appeared to fumble the ball a bit, and struggled to handle it when faced with heaving ball pressure. On the other hand, Sirvydis was able to throw a solid pass to a roll men to get his teammate the basketball. He also was able to set a screen that enabled a teammate to get an open look to shoot the ball. Sirvydis did drop a pass once, but an opponent then deflected the ball out of bounds. In this game, Sirvydis showed a good willingness to move off the ball, but he also would tend to stand out on the corner quite often, and there would be stretches where he would not get touches on offense.

Also, Sirvydis displayed an adequate ability to rebound the basketball. He was able to leap up to get a defensive board, and he also tipped a ball to a teammate to help his team get another. Sirvydis was quite active at crashing the glass, and he would look to get boards on both ends of the floor. Plus, he also played adequate defense. He is a high motor that will actively look to guard his man, and he has fairly good footwork when defending out on the perimeter. Sirvydis can poke balls away to jar balls loose, and he can help his team come up with steals. He also was able to force a miss when defending in the post despite getting backed down. He also will fight hard through screens, and he does a good job of hustling back on defense to try to cut off penetration and get stops for his team. On one play, he fought through a screen, and stayed with his opponent to contest a pull-up, mid-range jumper to force a miss.

However, there was one play where he didn’t communicate that a screen was coming, as his teammate was blindsided, and his team ended up allowing a score to a roll man. But there was also another play where he bit on a pump fake, and got beat off the dribble, which caused him to commit a foul on a drive to the hoop. In general, Deividas Sirvydis is an intriguing prospect, as he is a skilled swingman that can shoot and pass the basketball, and he also was active defensively. He is an above average athlete that runs the floor hard on both ends of the floor, and he has played well in his role in international basketball. Right now, he may be a second round prospect that may have an outside chance to crack the first round for the upcoming draft. While the limited amount of game footage may make it difficult to evaluate his skills as a whole, Sirvydas seemed to show a variety of solid skills that could allow him to thrive as a 3 and D type of role player in the NBA.

Other Notes:

Lietuvos Rytas’ 6-9, 1997-born forward, Martynas Echodas is a mobile big man that can score on hustle plays, he rebounds the ball well, and he is an above average athlete that may be able to create his own shot, even if it is in a rather limited capacity. Echodas excels at scoring on hustle plays. He would often score on rolls to the rim, as he would often set on-ball screens, roll to the basket, and he also would score on strong dunks, off the glass, and he also scored on a runner after getting the ball on the move another time. He also has some low post scoring skills, and he was able to run to get the ball in the post once before scoring on a quick jump hook. Also, he has a surprisingly good first step to the hoop, and he was able to take a slower player off the dribble as he used a quick crossover to draw free throws on an aggressive drive to the basket.

However, he will need to improve his jump shot, as he took one mid-range jumper, but ended up missing on a pick and pop play. Echodas also didn’t look for his own shot too often, as a majority of his scores came on rolls to the rim. He also displayed decent playmaking skills. Echodas is a fairly good passer that makes solid reads on the floor, and he was able to find a cutter when doubled in the post to get an assist. He also handles the ball fairly well for a player his size, and he also will set on-ball screens to help get his teammates open looks to shoot the basketball. However, he also can be turnover prone, as he ended up losing the ball once after dribbling in from the post. Also, he was called for a traveling violation when attempting to hoist up a pull-up, mid-range jumper due to taking one too many steps.

Echodas is a very good rebounder that has a knack for leaping to haul in numerous defensive boards when he is on the floor. He is a fundamentally sound big man that will box out his opponents to try to get rebounds, and he also will tip balls to his teammates as well as chase down balls to help his team get additional boards. There was one play where he was called for a push off when going for an offensive rebound, but generally he showed a solid ability to get rebounds in both games.

He also played adequate defense. Echodas is an active help defender that can make plays on and off the ball. He was able to switch on a screen to guard an opposing ball handler on a drive, and he managed to block a shot out of bounds due to possessing good timing and footwork that time. He also can deflect passes and poke balls away to help his team get steals and deflections. He also will aggressively hedge out on screens, as he can get back to his man in time quite often. He also will contest shots in the post as well as mid-range jumpers to force misses. But sometimes, he may over-rotate on drives, which can lead to scrambling situations. He also can be late on his rotations, and he also can be too aggressive in trying to contest shots at times, which can lead him to commit some fouls.

Overall, Martynas Echodas is an energetic big man that can score on off-ball motion plays, and he also is a very good rebounder that can haul in plenty of boards. He also seemed to play fairly good position defense when he was on the court. On the down side, he will still need to improve his face-up game, and he may not be an elite shot blocker, as he did not swat shots very often. But still, he is a mobile, high-motor player that could potentially find a niche role in the NBA due to his ability to compete on both ends of the floor, and he could end up being a similar player to former Phoenix Suns’ big man, Lou Amundson in the association.

I also was able to watch Lietuvos Rytas’ 6-11, 2001-born center Marek Blazevic play, but he was not on the floor very often. He mainly only played in mop-up duty, and he was not able to do much on offense. He was able to set an on-ball screen. On the defensive end, he was able to hedge out onto an opposing ball handler when defending a screen and then he was able to get back to his man. Blazevic seems to be a mobile big man that will need to add strength, but there was not enough game footage of him on the floor in either of these games to make a significant determination of what he can do when he is on the court.