Is Luka Krajnovic Gonzaga's point guard of the future?
For all of the talent Mark Few landed in the offseason via the transfer portal and late commitments, the addition of Croatian guard Luka Krajnovic was quietly one of Gonzaga's most important acquisitions.
After top international prospect Alex Toohey (NBL in Australia) and four-star freshman Marcus Adams Jr. (BYU) decommitted, the lack of backcourt depth was becoming apparent as the offseason went along. The Zags had already lost last season's starting shooting guard Rasir Bolton (graduation) and sixth man Malachi Smith (NBA) before former top recruits Hunter Sallis (Wake Forest) and Dominick Harris (LMU) also departed in search of greener pastures.
So, when the Zags landed Krajnovic on Aug. 12, it wasn't a surprise to hear Few's plans of utilizing the 6-foot-5 guard's skillset right away
"Luka is a guard that can really help us," said Few. "He is versatile and has decent size. He also had good experiences playing against older guys back home in Croatia."
With Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman projected to start, Krajnovic's patient style and experience make him an ideal candidate to be the floor general that leads the second unit off the bench. He has the size and shooting ability to play off the ball as a "2" guard, but given the Zags' personnel, he'll be asked to handle the rock as well.
Krajnovic plays with a combination of patience and assertiveness as a point guard who isn't the most flashy but is still effective at creating shots for himself and others. A majority of the offense he ran at the U18 Next Generation tournament was predicated on pick-and-roll sets, which showcased Krajnovic's ability to read and react to the defense. And in most cases, he excelled at making the right basketball play based on what the defense showed, whether it was through pull-up jumpers in space, drives to the rim or dump-off passes to the roll man.
He won't jump off the page athletically, though Krajnovic does have a sneaky-quick first step when going to his right. If there's nothing to make out of a pick-and-roll, he has a sharp right-to-left crossover to create separation for a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line. He likely won't bulldoze his way to the paint, but he creates driving lanes to the rim with the use of angles and change of speed with the ball.
Most important to Krajnovic's impact with Gonzaga is the international experience he brings at just 19 years old. Against much older competition, he was named the Croatia-Premijer Liga Most Valuable Player of Year after he averaged 17.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season for Bosco Zagreb. Shooting 52.7% from the field, including 35.4% from deep, Krajnovic was ranked in the top 10 for efficiency as well.
Since 2019, Krajnovic has represented his home country at the U16 Euro Championships, U18 Euro Challengers and most recently the U18 Euro Championship A, where he averaged 13.1 points in seven games for Croatia.
Not only does Krajnovic fill a position of need for Gonzaga, but more importantly his style of play reflects the skillset Few covets out of his point guards. Likely coming off the bench as a freshman, Krajnovic has the potential to develop into the Zags' next standout floor general for as long as he sticks around Spokane.
