Looking at the Future: Standouts from L'Hospitalet Junior Tournament
Already in its 43rd edition, the Ciutat de L’Hospitalet Junior Tournament is a staple in the European scouting circuit. This under-18 competition, which takes place in the city of L’Hospitalet just a few miles outside of Barcelona, has seen its fair share of young talent through the years as evidenced by a list of former tournament MVPs that includes Josh Giddey, Jonas Valanciunas, Nikola Mirotic and Josh Smith, among others.
In this year’s edition, a number of international prospects started making a case for themselves as potential NBA Draft prospects for 2024 and 2025. Here’s a rundown of some of the top performers in the competition.
Dame Sarr
6’6” Wing | Team: Barcelona | Nationality: Italy | Born in 2006
Sarr stood out in the tournament with his optimal size and tools for the wing position and his ability to run pick-and-rolls as a ball handler, delivering passes to teammates with timing and accuracy. His calling card, however, was his shooting, as he converted 39% of the shots he took from beyond the arc on over eight attempts per game: an incredible volume considering his age.
An All-Tournament selection, Sarr showed one of the most enticing skillsets from an NBA standpoint. At his current pace of development, his name should be mentioned as one of the top international prospects available once the 2025 NBA Draft cycle rolls around.
Egor Demin
6’8” Wing | Team: Real Madrid | Nationality: Russia | Born in 2006
Demin is a 6-foot-8 wing who showed versatility in his offensive profile, as he's able to shoot from the perimeter with a good level of touch in difficult attempts, while also being a threat to slash to the basket, thanks to his combination of size and body control. Demin has also made a tremendous improvement as a passer, being able to react to defenders and find the open man with consistency.
Playing one year up in age, Demin has made strides in terms of both physical and skill development during the past 18 months. Despite not being selected for the All-Tournament Team, Demin was one the prospect who impressed me the most in the tournament and has positioned himself as one of the players to follow closely ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.
Aleksandr Savkov
6’8” Wing | Team: Fundacion 5+11 | Nationality: Russia | Born in 2005
Savkov comes from a basketball family, as his older brother Pavel (born in 2002) is one of the top young players for Spanish ACB side Baskonia. Aleksandr has an interesting profile as a lanky wing with great positional size and length, who makes an impact offensively with his impressive shooting ability. At his age, Savkov is already able to convert jumpers off the dribble with tremendous range. Savkov is also a fluid ball-handler, which makes him comfortable dribbling the ball in traffic and attracting multiple defenders as a driver, which he exploits consistently by finding open teammates.
Savkov is an interesting bet as a tall wing with dribble, pass and shoot upside; an archetype that is extremely valuable from an NBA standpoint. If Savkov is able to continue with his physical development (i.e. becoming physically stronger), he could be in the conversation as an NBA prospect once the 2024 NBA Draft rolls around.
Hugo Gonzalez
6’6” Wing | Team: Real Madrid | Nationality: Spain | Born in 2006
Gonzalez is a versatile wing who plays at a different speed than his competition, having a quick first step to beat defenders in the perimeter and the ability to change speeds and directions on his way to the rim. Gonzalez’s quickness is not just physical, it’s also in his ability to read the floor, as he finds teammates on the move with consistency. Gonzalez’s jumper has always been his main area for improvement, but he showed compact mechanics in his off-the-catch attempts, as he converted 33% of his 3 point attempts in the competition.
Gonzalez has been considered as one of the top European prospects born in 2006 for the past few years and his performance at L’Hospitalet, despite not being dominant from a statistical standpoint, lived up to his reputation and made him earn MVP honors in the tournament.
General Notes of the Tournament:
- The four players I mentioned so far were Wings but there were also a number of other versatile players at the position who also stood out at the tournament such as Vit Hrabar (Fundacion 5+11), Mitar Bosnjakovic (Real Madrid), Arnau Rosa (L’Hospitalet), Dayan Nessah (Barcelona), Mario Saint-Supery and Ruben Vicente (Unicaja)
- Guard prospects also stood out at the tournament, such as scoring champion Conrad Martinez (Joventut), floor general Roger Fabrega (Barcelona) and undersized scoring guards Hugo Vazquez (Unicaja) and Brayan Jesus Gonzalez (Betis).
- In what is yet another stacked Real Madrid junior roster, some highly-touted prospects such as Swiss guard Kaya Mutambirwa, Polish wing Szymon Nowicki and Slovenian scoring wing Jan Vide weren’t as productive as they have been in previous tournaments. Their talent, as undeniable as it is, appeared mostly in flashes in the competition.
- Bigs were able to make an impact in the tournament and three of them in particular had impressive physical profiles in Seydina Limamoulaye (Fundacion 5+11), Ismaila Diagne and Amadou Traore (both from Real Madrid). Despite not showing the level of statistical dominance you would expect from someone of their size at this level of competition, they are interesting prospects to track down for the future.
- The only downside of the tournament? The absence of Portuguese forward Ruben Prey, one of the top international prospects for the 2024 NBA Draft, who didn’t suit up for Joventut due to an ankle injury.
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