The Next Anthony Parker

One of the better moves made by likely NBA Exec of the Year Bryan Colangelo was to head over to Europe to grab a stud shooting guard in Anthony Parker. What made the move unique and bold is that Parker is a US player who attended Bradley, was drafted by the Nets, and set adrift to find his way overseas. Far too often, Europe is only embraced as a source of European talent, which ignores some of the American players who really find the range while playing in a hostile, competitive environment. Anthony Parker was a star for Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv and now he is one of the best players on the Toronto Raptors. Since the NBA is all about following new trends, I would expect that teams have been paying close attention to the Euroleague playoffs, in hopes that they will find the Next Anthony Parker.

Unfortunately for those hungry GMs, the next Parker is likely already in the Detroit Pistons' pocket. Alex Acker, a former Mighty Wave of Pepperdine, has spent this year in Athens, becoming one of the best American players overseas while playing for Olympiacos. Joining a team that featured the likes of Scoonie Penn and Sofoklis "Baby Shaq" Schortsanitis, Acker quickly became the best player on the roster and one of the top players in the entire Euroleague. But this isn't exactly great news for most GMs, as the Pistons retain the rights to Acker for the next two years.

However, according to this article on the Pistons website, there are a variety of teams interested in Acker and might be looking to trade for his rights. This makes sense considering the success he is having in a very tough league. He finished in the top 20 in a variety of key statistical categories, including scoring (10th), rebounding (17th), assists (19th), steals (10th), and player rating (13th). Not only that, but he outdueled Tiago Splitter of Tau Ceramica in a recent playoff game.

If you want to get a look at Acker, you can see highlights of that game against Tau here (watch for a guy that appears to be named Pecker and also for former Net Zoran Plananic getting worked), some more highlights (and comedy) here, and a sweet dunk here.