Evaluating Vincent Valerio-Bodon in a Hungarian NB I/A Game
June 7th, 2023
By Alan Lu
With all of the pull outs and withdrawals that have happened from previous early entrants that were in the 2023 NBA Draft, it allowed some of the more unheralded prospects and upperclassmen to rise up in the rankings. As a result, ESPN ranked one such player in their newest top 100 big board rankings, a little-known Hungarian forward named Vincent Valerio-Bodon, who is a 3 and D role player in his current league in the NB I/A, which is the top professional league in Hungary. I decided to watch him play in a March 4th game for Sopron KC against Alba Fehervar, with thanks to YouTube via 6th Man Basketball Agency. Here are my thoughts on how he fared in that game, as well as how he may stack up as a prospect for the NBA.
Valerio-Bodon is an agile, skilled sharpshooting swingman that excels at knocking down outside shots, especially from deep. He did a good job of knocking down open, spot-up threes off the catch. He also was able to dribble around for a while and managed to pull up to knock down a three-pointer another time.
He also did an adequate job of scoring off the dribble. He would tend to draw fouls on straight line drives to the hoop, and he would lean in to do so in order to get to the free throw line. Plus, Valerio-Bodon was active in looking to make hustle plays, and he was able to score on a quick put back off of an offensive rebound. On the other hand, there was one play where he got a running start to get the ball, but after driving hard to his right, he missed in traffic another time.
He also showcased adequate playmaking skills. Valerio-Bodon is an unselfish player that will make the extra pass, and he also can handle the basketball on the break. He was able to throw a quick interior pass to a roll man to help set up a score for his team, and he also drove up court and threw a no-look pass to find a teammate in transition another time. He will quickly move the ball to find the open man. On one play though, he threw a high inaccurate pass from the backcourt that ended up getting dropped and intercepted.
Also, Valerio-Bodon did a good job of rebounding the basketball. He has a solid motor that will enable him to chase down balls to get offensive boards, and he also will get defensive boards and push the ball quickly up the floor afterwards.
He also played adequate defense in this game. Valerio-Bodon was able to run in to jump on a loose ball to get a steal, and he also would close out on three-point shooters and on jump shots to force misses. However, he would tend to struggle to guard quicker players, and he would get beat off the dribble, which would lead him to commit fouls and allow scores. However, he would sometimes be late on his rotations and slow to react on plays. Other times, would sometimes play too aggressively, which would lead him to wind up out of position on the defensive end.
Overall, Vincent Valerio-Bodon is a fairly athletic, energetic forward that has thrived in a 3 and D role in Hungary, and he projects into a similar role at the NBA level. He is a good spot-up shooter that can move the basketball, and he also has solid size to go along with having above average athletic gifts. On the other hand, he is a low usage role player that doesn’t take many shots on offense, and he didn’t have a strong track record as a shooter prior to this year. Still, he is a player that could project well into a 3 and D role at the NBA level, and he could be a player that may be worth a flyer in the late second round of the 2023 draft.
Other Notes:
For Alba Fehervar, Hungarian guard, Adam Somogyi threw down a really nice, athletic dunk on the break midway through this game, and he is an athletic combo guard that showed some playmaking and defensive skills. However, he went undrafted in the 2022 draft and thus is not a draft prospect for the 2023 draft. There are a lot of skilled guards so he’d be facing a crowded field if he aims to make it to the NBA someday, but if he can establish a reliable outside shot and work on being a lockdown defender, he could end up making his way to an NBA summer league team someday.
All in all, those are my notes on how Vincent Valerio-Bodon played and fared in this game. Thanks for reading.