NBA Draft

Overseas Round-Up: Prospects at the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Window

A number of NBA Draft prospects made an impact for their national teams in the final qualifying window for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Ignacio Rissotto|
Overseas Round-Up: Prospects at the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Window
Overseas Round-Up: Prospects at the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Window

With 66 different games taking place over a five-day span, the sixth and final qualifying window for the 2023 FIBA World Cup is on the books. With the 32-team field all set and the World Cup just a few months away, it’s time to take a look at the NBA Draft prospects who made an impact for their national teams over the final qualifying window.

Victor Wembanyama: Productivity vs. Virality

Let’s start with the best prospect in the world. Victor Wembanya led France in scoring on consecutive wins against Lithuania and the Czech Republic, finishing with 15 points on 5-for-10 from the field against the former and putting on a masterclass against the latter: 22 points, 17 rebounds, four steals and six blocks in 29 minutes of play.

However, the most widely shared moment of his qualifying window performance was the moment where he couldn’t contain 7-foot-1 Czech big man Ondrej Balvin in the post, as Balvin was able to finish over Wembanyama with a powerful two-hand dunk.

Despite the virality and the wild takes that circulated on social media about this single possession, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise as it’s one of his known limitations as a prospect. As I wrote back in december for this site, it should be expected that Wembanyama won’t be able to keep opponents from establishing deep position in the post given his lack of strength and high center of gravity.

This possession doesn’t change a single thing about Wembanyama’s profile, it’s not the “gotcha moment” some people on social media think it is. If we learned anything new from Wembanyama in these two games, it’s that his statistical dominance extends beyond the limits of the French LNB.

Babacar Sane explodes for Senegal

Sane saw extended minutes for the first time in this qualifying window and it paid off for Senegal, as Sane put up a clinic against Cameroon with 30 points, 9 rebounds and a block on 12-for-18 from the field.

Sane, who joined G League Ignite at the start of the 2022-23 season, made an impact on multiple areas of the game, knocking down 3 pointers, making plays on defense and, especially, driving and finishing with power at the rim, an area in which he becomes hard to stop for defenders with his combination of 6-foot-8 size, speed and explosiveness.

Sane has had an impressive first season at the G League level, contributing for Ignite with his two-way versatility, albeit in a low-usage role. This performance bodes well not only for his draft stock ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft, but for his potential position as the future of the Senegalese national team.

Risers from the European Qualifiers

Netherland’s Yannick Kraag was one of the biggest risers of this qualifying window, with a couple of really strong performances: 23 points and nine rebounds in a game against Georgia and 16 points, eight rebounds and three steals versus Ukraine.

Kraag, who is mostly seeing garbage minutes for Joventut Badalona in the Spanish ACB, showed an intriguing skillset for his 6-foot-8 size, making an impact as a transition target and knocking down jumpers both in spot-ups and pull-up situations. A player to track for the next few drafts considering his combination of size and versatile scoring potential.

The breakout performer of the window, however, was Noam Yaacov. The 18-year-old Israeli guard was productive in his national team debut with a 12-point performance against Finland and then completely exploded in the final game of the qualifiers against Slovenia: 18 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and two steals.

Showing an impressive level of self-creation, mostly via pull-up jumpers, while also being a creative passer who can find open teammates, Yaacov certainly put himself on NBA radars with his performance in these two games.

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Ignacio Rissotto
IGNACIO RISSOTTO

Ignacio is a basketball scout currently based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Since 2017 he has worked for multiple outlets (Pro Insight, The Stepien and ID Prospects) covering High School and International prospects.

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