G League Ignite Prospects Shine in NBA Rising Stars Challenge
As NBA All-Star festivities in Indianapolis take place this weekend, the premier event on Friday night was the Rising Stars Challenge. This was a showcase of the best rookies and sophomores in the league, but also included a team of G League players. On this seven-man team were three prospects in the Ignite system with the talent to be selected in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
In this two-round event between four teams, the G League squad advanced past Victor Wembanyama and his talented team comprised of legitimate NBA talent. From there, they fell short, but certainly made their mark on the event and earned the attention of the opposition and fans around the world.
"They were great tonight,' said Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren after winning the championship game over the G League squad. "They came out from the jump and were hungry. You could tell they wanted to win. It showed out there. Shoutout to them, a bunch of good players over there."
For obvious reasons, the G League players leveraged this opportunity as a chance to showcase their upside on the big stage. This was something that increased the level of competition, as Thunder wing Jalen Williams described.
"They have a lot of deep talent over there. I think it actually made the game better when they play as hard as they did," Williams said postgame. "They were running plays and defensive coverages. They were rebounding and running lanes. It made us play hard."
The three Ignite prospects to take the floor on Friday night included Matas Buzelis, Tyler Smith and Izan Almansa. Ron Holland is arguably the best NBA prospect in this system, but sat this event out due to injury.
When Friday night's festivities ended, Draft Digest caught up with all three of these players.
Matas Buzelis
A jumbo wing, Matas Buzelis has the chance to be a walking mismatch offensively at the next level. Despite struggling somewhat from beyond the arc this season in the G League, the fact that he's playing with an NBA ball and shooting from NBA distance for an entire year ahead of the draft could be a significant advantage,
Tyler Smith
It's been an impressive season with Ignite for Tyler Smith, who has proven he can score with ease as a professional player. He has a chip on his shoulder and has continued to grow over the past few years which has resulted in possessing a wing skillset despite being 6-foot-10.
Izan Almansa
His numbers haven't been what many expected this season, but there's no question that Izan Almansa is a first-round talent in this upcoming draft class. He does a little bit of everything on both ends and has great basketball IQ.
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