NBA Draft

Overseas Round-Up: The Mid-Season Checkpoint

As overseas basketball leagues reach the halfway point of their seasons, we take stock of nine international prospects ahead of the 2023 NBA Draft.
Ignacio Rissotto|
Overseas Round-Up: The Mid-Season Checkpoint
Overseas Round-Up: The Mid-Season Checkpoint

With the international basketball leagues reaching the halfway point of their respective seasons, some of the top draft prospects playing outside of the States have started to solidify their spots ahead of the 2023 NBA Draft. In this edition of Overseas Round-Up, we follow-up on nine different international prospects and analyze their draft stock as they enter the second half of their 2022-23 campaigns.

Victor Wembanyama

Coming into the season as one of the most anticipated prospects ever, Wembanyama has lived up to the hype and more. His performance during the current year has done nothing but solidify his spot as the clear-cut best prospect in the draft as he is averaging 18.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in 32 minutes per game since January 1st. Wembanyama’s stock is through the roof and it will remain that way until draft night.

Trend: Stable

Rayan Rupert

After missing nearly two months due to a wrist injury, Rupert’s return to the court has gone as well as it could be expected. Rupert is still prone to have the occasional off night such as his 0-for-5 shooting performance against Brisbane over the weekend, but his tools, athleticism, defensive profile and flashes of self-creation both on drives and jumpers make him stand out immediately on film. Rupert is an intriguing prospect who, despite subpar percentages from 3-point range, seems to be a consensus first rounder at this point thanks to his profile as an athletic wing with optimal size for the position.

Trend: Stable to Slightly Rising

James Nnaji

Efficiency has been the name of the game for Nnaji who, despite playing limited minutes due to Barcelona’s stacked roster, seems to always make the most of his playing time, as evidenced by his tremendous scoring efficiency (82.3 TS% in 2023). While Nnaji has shown some above average fluidity and footwork to selectively create his own shot a few feet away from the paint, his calling card as a prospect is his profile as a strong 6-foot-10 big who can contribute from day one at the NBA level on a limited-but-efficient role as a rim protector, rebounder and interior play finisher.

Trend: Rising

Nikola Djurisic

Productivity hasn’t been an issue for Djurisic, who has taken advantage of the ample playing time he receives at Mega by averaging 13.2 points and 4.7 assists on 30 minutes per game during 2023. On the other hand, his shooting continues to be a highly debated element in his draft profile, as he’s currently averaging 18.8% from 3 point range during the season. While Djurisic can contribute offensively with his fluid handling ability and his vision and instincts to make plays for others, his inconsistency, proneness to cold stretches and lack of elite touch in other areas of the floor (shot just 35% in layups and floaters at the rim according to InStat) are some of the several question marks about his projection as a shooter at the NBA level.

Trend: Stable to Slightly Declining

Juan Nuñez

After starting the season on a cold stretch of shooting, making just 3 of his first 22 3-point attempts, Nuñez has seemingly turned things around and is playing his best basketball of the season, averaging 7.5 points, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals, shooting 38.9% from beyond the arc. Nuñez is one of the most creative passers in this draft class, but it can be hard to create value at the NBA level as a passing specialist without some level of scoring ability. If his late season rise is taken as an indicator, Nuñez has shown the potential to put the ball in the basket, despite lacking elite size and explosiveness.

Trend: (Should be) Rising

Tristan Vukcevic

Vukcevic has been a steady offensive presence for Partizan all throughout the season and should contribute from day one at the NBA level with his shooting ability, not only due to his percentages (37% from beyond the arc during the season), but also due the difficulty of the attempts he takes; it’s rare to find a prospect at his size who is able to drain pull-up jumpers with his level of touch and footwork. Despite not offering much as a rim protector even at his 6-foot-10 size, Vukcevic can be valuable at the NBA level as a stretch big with above average ball-handling ability for his size.

Trend: Rising

Ousmane Ndiaye

One of the wildcards in the international class, Ndiaye is also playing his best basketball of the season during 2023, averaging 9.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game since January 1st, while shooting 41.2% from beyond the arc. Ndiaye’s combination of fluidity with the ball, shooting touch, size and length is rare and should entice NBA teams looking for upside bets late in the second round to overlook his lack of elite experience overseas, as he’s currently playing in Spain’s third-tier league.

Trend: Stable

Bilal Coulibaly

Coulibaly, who I included as a player to watch in my pre-season French LNB preview, has started seeing minutes with Metropolitans’ first team, thanks to his consistent performances in the French U21 league and after an injury to Armel Traore opened up minutes for him. Coulibaly has done well in a supporting role as an off-ball athletic wing who makes an impact with catch-and-shoot jumpers, attacking closeouts and playing defense in the perimeter. It’s still early but the tools are there and Coulibaly could develop into an interesting 3-and-D prospect down the line.

Trend: Stable

Roko Prkacin

After starting his season with a number of inefficient performances, Prkacin has reinvented his game, transitioning from a jumbo wing role to now playing as a throwback Power Forward who finishes plays at the rim and is able to put the ball on the floor sporadically. While his productivity and efficiency have certainly improved since making the switch (he’s averaging 8.5 points per game on 66.4 TS% in 2023), it’s hard to be enticed by his archetype from an NBA standpoint, considering that his contributions as rim protector and floor-spacer at the Spanish ACB have been virtually non-existent this year.

Trend: Falling

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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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