Karim Lopez on His Debut NBL Season and What He Wants NBA Teams To Know About Him

Alex Toohey, a likely late-first or early second-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, captured the Australian NBL’s Next Generation award last week, becoming the first NBL Next Star to win it. The likely winner of the award next season is another Next Star, Karim Lopez. The 17-year-old Mexican wing turned heads when he left Joventut Badalona - the estimable Spanish club that helped develop Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernandez, and others - last summer for a Next Star’s deal with the New Zealand Breakers.

“I had a lot of options,” Lopez told Draft Digest. “But I think what made me choose the next house program was just, mean, first of all, the dynamic they've had, like, last couple years. A lot of young players have been successful here and have made the transition to the NBA. But also how they really wanted me. I could feel like they really believed in me. That's a big thing for me.”

Lopez was a huge recruit for the Next Star program and a strong endorsement of Europe’s declining ability to develop young talent compared to the NBL and NIL deals in college basketball. But Lopez still spent time in Badalona’s youth setup and grew as a player while he was there, too.

“I think both these programs have helped me a lot throughout my journey,” Lopez said. “At Badalona, I learned a lot of stuff that has helped me. Also, in the NBL, I feel like this program is really cool because they really believe in young players like me, and they really give us an opportunity to showcase our talents.”

Other young prospects have seen their draft stock take a hit due to a lack of opportunity in Europe. Spanish wing Hugo Gonzalez stuck with Real Madrid this season and has largely been resigned to a bench role and has seen his draft stock dip because of that. Lopez, on the other hand, finished the season averaging 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.9 blocks per game on 46/31/72 shooting splits. He shot 43 percent from deep in the last 11 games of the season on 35 attempts. This was notable as Lopez battled an injury to his shooting wrist to start the season.

“For a couple of games, my shot was not feeling alright,” Lopez said. “It might sound funny, but I literally completely, like, forgot how to shoot for a second. I couldn't, like, even hit the rim. But then, you know, was working really, really, really hard, like, get it back to where it used to be. I just worked twice as hard, and the shot started feeling way better. I mean, I finished the season shooting a really high clip from three, so like, just work and get my confidence back after that injury.”

Lopez found his form throughout the season, something that regularly happens to rookies as they adjust to playing at the professional level for the first time in their careers.

“I think it took me a couple games to grow into the league,” Lopez said. “Like playing with pros and all that stuff. But I got used to it really quickly. And I mean, after that, it was just like, improving, you know, I put so much work in every single day, like every aspect of my game. I feel like the work translated, and I was getting more comfortable out there.”

Lopez is continuing to work on his game and is currently the best international prospect for the 2026 NBA Draft and could easily land in the top 10 in next season’s loaded draft. He primarily wants to carry his strong shooting from last season into the next and build on it.

“Obviously, I'm trying to work on everything every single day. But if I'm really being specific, I mean, as we said before, my shot,” Lopez said. “I'm a really good shooter. I mean, I ended the season shooting really, really good from three, like really good percentages and higher volume. Now, I'm just trying to keep it consistent.”

Lopez is more than a shooter, though, and more than what shows up in his stat sheet. “I'm a really high-motor guy. I'm gonna be fighting for 50/50 balls and offensive rebounds. I'm a winning player. I make winning plays time and time again.”

One thing that stands out about Lopez is what he means for the future of Mexican basketball. The country’s first love is still soccer, but former big man Gustavo Ayon spent a few seasons in the NBA and captured two EuroLeague titles with Real Madrid. Juan Toscano-Anderson has bounced around the fringes of the NBA. Lopez is the country’s greatest prospect of all time and could help them capitalize on their successes at the FIBA America Games over a decade ago.

“That is really an honor to me [the pressure], and I’m just trying to help my country grow, help my country get better, and I think we can do some really big stuff in the future.”

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