The low-post game has become a rarity in the basketball world, especially when we’re talking about bigs. Omer Yurtseven, who recently signed a two-year deal with EuroLeague defending champions Panathinaikos, can be labeled as a traditional big man with a twist in his game.
The Turkish big was a massive talent, starting his professional career with Fenerbahce in 2013. He made his debut in the EuroLeague during the 2015-16 season under head coach Zeljko Obradovic and later moved to the United States, playing for NC State and Georgetown University.
Due to his time playing professionally in Turkey, Yurtseven was forced to sit for nine games during his first season of his collegiate career and donate $1,000 to a charity of his choosing. He immediately started to hone his skill as a center in NC State, but his time in Georgetown was pivotal, morphing him into a low-post beast at the collegiate level.
In his final season at Georgetown, he had the highest USG% rate of his collegiate career and TS% of 57% while averaging 15.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He became eligible for the 2020 NBA Draft but went undrafted, as the NBA teams are rarely on the lookout for bigs with Yurtseven’s skillset.
He was part of the OKC Thunder G League affiliate in his first NBA season. His stint in OKC helped him secure a spot on the Miami Heat roster working under Erik Spoelstra. Yurtseven’s willingness to learn and grow under big-time head coaches is a main theme in his basketball career.
Spoelstra, who cultivated the well-known Heat Culture after the end of the Big Three era, helped Yurtseven to expand his game. Yurtseven elevated his game in Miami, where he expanded his range and found starter minutes as Miami was dealing with some serious injuries during the first part of the 2021-22 season.
Spoelstra found Yurtseven’s tools intriguing, and he even tried to slot him alongside Bam Adebayo for stretches. Yurtseven made just 1 of 12 three-pointers in his first 63 NBA games, but worked the whole summer, but was a massive presence in the paint, gobbling double-double after double-double.
His rebounding numbers were out of this world during the first 56 games of his NBA career, having a DRB% of 33.6 percent. He backed up those numbers with 8 double-doubles despite averaging only 12.6 minutes per contest.
Yurtseven: A rebounding beast in the EuroLeague
Yurtseven’s rebounding ability will translate well in the EuroLeague. His has a great feel for positioning himself in the right place at the right time, while he’s capable of pushing his opponents away. His long arms give an advantage in the defensive rebounding department, while on the offensive end, he can finish with a variety of ways around the basket.
He can finish with a hook or a floater over the opponent, while he’s not a great passer, having under 1.0 assists in all three of the last NBA campaigns with the Heat and Jazz. Yurtseven proved that he can thrive under the right guidance, and the fact that he will work under Ergin Ataman will help him show and expand his skills.
I don’t see Yurtseven as a potential replacement for Mathias Lessort in the starting lineup, but he can become a top-tier Euroleague center in the future. Standing at 7’00 (2.13 m) and a wingspan of 7’1 (2.16 m) (2.16 m), keeping his mobility intact will help him remain playable even against more mobile centers.
In reality, the Turkish international signed a two-year deal with Panathinaikos, hoping to get a starting role at some point, as Mathias Lessort has already received interest from NBA teams this season. The Frenchman could be the next center to move from the EuroLeague to the NBA next summer, considering that he has not signed an extension for his current deal that concludes at the end of the upcoming season.
Yurtseven might be the insurance Panathinaikos need in case Mathias Lessort decides to move to the NBA next summer. This is another factor in the decision to sign Yurtseven, as Panathinaikos hopes that he can be a reliable backup behind Lessort this season.
As for his ability to stretch the floor, it remains a work in progress. His efficiency in three-point shooting remains bleak in his game, but the EuroLeague environment might help him to move away from the mindset that he needs to make shots from beyond the arc to remain on the floor.
Also, we will have to see if he will have enough breathing room to even shoot in that case, considering that the EuroLeague spacing is much stingier and defenses are looking to take advantage of every inch on the floor. In any case, Panathinaikos has a huge weapon at its hands, and if Ergin Ataman can use him creatively, he can become a massive asset in their mission to defend the EuroLeague title.
