In the past few years, there have been more and more international players being drafted. This year proved to be quite a shocker in terms of international players going so high. In the NBA, there are many international players that have proven that even though they didn’t play in college in the US, they can still play like all-stars. For example, Ginobilli from Argentina, Parker from France, and Nowitzki from Germany. However, it seems that more and more get drafted every year, usually in later rounds. In 2011, six out of the first ten were from other countries. In fact, one-third of the first round that year were international players. In 2013, over a third of the first round were international players (13). There seems to be a trend going on here.
International NBA Players
Surprises
However this year there was one big surprise by the name of Bruno. Bruno Caboclo of Brazil was drafted 20th overall by the Raptors. It seemed like a waste and an utter shock, but he was taken very high. Giannis Antetokounmpo was a nobody until a few months before the draft. A second division player in Greece going to the NBA. It’s almost like a D2 or D3 player going in the top 20 in the draft. Bruno is a young man with talent that could make an impact, in many years to come. In the summer league, Bruno didn’t have the most amazing performance, however in the next few years he could be a pretty good playmaker. For now, he’s rather unathletic and needs to build up strength to compete with players in this league to survive. Ginobilli wasn’t drafted until the late-late second round, and he’s got a Hall of Fame career so far.
High Picks, Minus College Hoops
This past draft’s biggest international player who didn’t play a second of college ball was Dante Exum of Australia. Exum played in the FIBA U17 and U19 World Championships and made a name for himself in front of scouts. He was drafted and signed by the Utah Jazz. His summer league wasn’t the greatest either, but he’s one of the youngest guys in league right now. He’s got a massive wingspan, he’s quick, athletic and has a relatively decent shot. Exum not playing any professional ball or playing in college made him seem more of a risk, but the potential is there. He could make a name for himself, or he could be bust, hopefully not the latter. Even next year, there are two players that are not from the US to be top ten picks. Mario Hezonja of Croatia and Kristaps Porzingis of Latvia. Both of these players have tremendous talent and potential, but the risk is pretty high in terms of taking them. They could get hurt, or feel homesick and go home. They may not play as much as they did in Europe and long for that star position like they did back in their previous leagues. Hezonja currently plays for Barcelona in Spain. Doesn’t start or get too much playing time, but is very well liked amongst fans. Porzingis got nearly 7 points per game while playing for Sevilla in Spain, not too bad for a 19 year old big man. Darko Miličić was the second pick in the 2003 draft. His career obviously was a flop, which can put fears into any NBA scout or GM who’s looking at an international player for a top 5 pick. He was the start of the distrust of taking international picks so high due to his lackluster career.
Bargnani was the first player who was drafted one overall and not playing a college game before. His career has been pretty lackluster in terms of what he was expected to do. He had a pretty bad season for the Knicks, even though the team’s season was pretty bad in general, but he didn’t put up the 20+ PPG like he was expected to. Another problem is that sometimes they just don’t go to the NBA or don’t stay long. For example, Juan Carlos Navarro had a great season with the Grizzlies when he first came over from Spain. However, he left after one year in the NBA to return to Spain. He could’ve have a great career here, but decided to return to his homeland. Dario Saric won’t be in the NBA next season due to going to play professionally in Turkey. He’s been on the radar for a while and seems to be NBA ready, but is still staying in Europe for the time being. He plays like Nikola Pekovic with a decent jumper. The only issue is that he’s not with the 76ers currently. The risk is there in terms of drafting an international player high, but sometimes it can pay off. For example, Dirk Nowitzki was drafted very high when he entered the NBA and now he’s a future Hall of Famer. They can be picks for the future, if they succeed in Europe, they might succeed in the NBA and a team could have rights to them. They don’t have to worry about fighting other teams for the player.
College Internationals
The past two seasons, there have been two Canadian players taken at number one overall, both by the same team too. Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins were selected by the Cavs at #1. This past year, Joel Embiid from Cameroon was taken at 3rd overall out of Kansas. Canadian Nik Stauskas played at Michigan, while Tyler Ennis played at Syracuse; both relatively high picks. Last year, Olynyk was taken out of Gonzaga by the Celtics, and in 2011, Canadian Tristan Thompson was taken at 4th overall by the Cavs. Alex Len was taken in the top five in 2013 out of Maryland. Even though these players might not be playing professionally in Europe or their home countries, they still get picked very highly mainly due to playing here in the states.
Big Question
The trend seems to be growing. Basketball is growing more and more around the world. Will they overtake US players in the NBA; highly doubtful. However, it seems like this is the second biggest global sport in terms of diversity in players next to soccer. Soccer is more diverse due to being the number one sport in most countries, but basketball is creeping in. Africa, Europe, there just seems to be more and more prospects coming out those regions where soccer is extremely popular.
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