Lithuania might just end up with the best collection of guys (with Serbia and Croatia probably most likely to compete, and Spain catching up rapidly). And with Lithuania, it all starts with...
Arvydas Sabonis (b. 1964), 7-3, C.
<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0QhoHoAIIaU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0QhoHoAIIaU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
This is the one guy I honestly believe would have been a flat-out superstar, a Top 50 of all time type of player, had he been in the NBA sooner. Even with the injuries he suffered (feet, knees, etc), he could have been a very great player. He was roughly the contemporary of David Robinson, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon, and I do not believe he took a back seat to any of them. Go ahead and read that again: he was as good as or better than any of them.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing--apart from his injuries--is that after playing for Zalgiris Kaunas, Sabonis was allowed by the then-Soviet Union to come to the U.S. to play in 1989, but he chose to sign with Forum Valladolid, then Real Madrid, prior to finally joining the Blazers in 1995 as a 31-year-old with a history of injuries.
Sabonis had everything: he was enormous, but was surprisingly mobile and agile. He was brilliantly skilled. And he saw the game in that clear way that only a very select few do: Magic, Bird, MJ, etc. He was one of the best passers of his generation, regardless of position. And considering that skill was coming from an immense, immensely talented post player, it created unique threats. I believe a Blazers team with Sabonis when he had rejected the chance to join the NBA--1989 and onward--would have won multiple NBA titles, even against MJ's Bulls. Remember, this was a Rick Adelman team with that beautiful offense. If you recall Vlade Divac being particularly effective as its center (in Sacramento in the early 00s), that was nothing compared to what Sabonis might have done. And paired with Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Danny Ainge, Jerome Kersey, Cliff Robinson, Buck Williams ... it would have been beautiful. Sheer artistry.