Pete Mickeal

At the tender age of 31, Pete Mickael may be having the best year of his career, as he finally appears to have broken into the elite category of American players in Europe, and is having an absolute stellar season in the Euroleague in particular. Mickeal is a well-built, athletic and ultra tough small forward who operates as a sort of Paul Pierce of European basketball. He can take his man down to the block and convert shots with great efficiency, but he’s also skilled enough to face up from the perimeter and take his man off the dribble and get to the free throw line. Moreover, he’s finally become a consistent 3-point shooter, at least to the point that he needs to be respected from beyond the arc. He offers quite a bit with his defense and excellent rebounding as well, and has really blossomed into a versatile team player who is willing to do all the little things to help his team come away with a win.

Normally Pete Mickael wouldn’t show up on a list of this nature, he’s after all, already 31 years old and thus one of just two players (along with Terrell McIntyre) over 30 amongst our top 50 overseas free agent prospects. Mickeal is a bit different than your average American player, though, as he seems to have peaked a bit later on his career than most and was still expressing NBA sentiments this past summer in his
Hoopshype blog.

It’s not out of the question that Mickeal could draw interest in free agency from a playoff team looking to add a tough, experienced veteran to bolster their rotation, and considering his status as one of the top small forwards in European basketball, coupled with his NBA friendly profile, he could emerge as quite a valuable asset.