The continued growth of international NBA players is rapidly increasing and usually missed by fans. Every year teams stash players overseas, so here’s a look at some international prospects for the 2018 NBA Draft.
According to NBA.com, at the start of the season, every NBA roster had at least one international player. International players totaled out at 108 on opening night rosters. In fact, some of the most successful regular season teams started the season with almost half of their roster hailing from outside of the United States. This list includes the Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, who all had at least six international players to start the season.
A handful of international prospects come over from their professional club overseas immediately. However, a majority of these prospects stay with their professional team even after being selected by an NBA team. This tactic is known as “draft and stash.”
Over the past few seasons, international players have found success with both routes. Players like Kristaps Porzingis and Rudy Gobert came over right away and have enjoyed success in the NBA. Others like Nikola Jokic, Dario Saric and emerging wings like Cedi Osman and Alex Abrines stayed overseas for at least one year.
With the international game and its players becoming such a large part of the NBA, it’s time to introduce you to the international prospects for the 2018 NBA Draft. This will be the first of two installments where I will break down each international prospect with in-depth scouting reports.
Unfortunately, the “Wonder Boy” Luka Doncic is not one of the prospects I will cover here. However, this international class has other prospects that will definitely become future NBA players.