Get to Know the 2025 NBA Draft International Class
The International Class for the previous class cycle was fun, but didn't have the top end talent of this years class. Today I am going to breakdown some of the top players for this cycle.
It has been a little under a month since my last article, and for that, I apologize. I kinda needed a bit of a basketball detox, and I took some time to relax a bit, work at my summer internship, and watch my glorious Dodgers. All that being said, I have still been keeping up with the Olympics and FIBA Junior play this summer, so you may or may not get an article later this week about the Olympics, but I think I might scrap it if I end up not liking where I take it, so no promises. Once again thank you to the few of you who continue to read my work, and you can begin to expect some more regular work about this coming 2025 Draft cycle that has me very, VERY excited. Let’s jump into some international basketball players!
From Europe to Stateside
This year’s class has quite a few players who have traveled from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean to compete in what I would consider America’s equivalent to the tribalism of European Football, college sports. Every year there are Europeans who come to try their hand in the NCAA, with guys in years past like Domantas Sabonis, Ajay Mitchell, Lauri Markannen, and the Wagner brothers coming to mind. This year we have a fairly large group of native Europeans or Africans competing in college basketball across the country. These are always some of my favorite players to watch, as seeing them in the college game that tends to throw so many different wacky matchups at them can be fun to see.
The most high profile of any of these is likely Khaman Maluach. The South Sudan product was already a member of their National Team, competing in both the World Cup and the Olympics the last two summers. Maluach decided to take his talents to Duke, in a move that made large headlines, as at that point Maluach was considered the 3rd best prospect in the 2024 High School class, which meant Duke had landed the number 1 and 3 players in the class. As events such as the Nike Hoop Summit and The Jordan Brand Classic came and went, Dylan Harper firmly cemented himself above Maluach in the ranking and on mock drafts, along with other standouts such as VJ Edgecombe and Tre Johnson also placing themselves higher than Maluach on the rankings.
Maluach’s game oozes potential. The 7’2” big man has incredible length and shot-blocking ability at the rim. He has massive hands and is a fluid mover for someone of his size. Someone a lot higher on Maluach as a prospect could draw comparisons to a young Joel Embiid. The two even share the ability to shoot the 3-ball, with Maluach sharing the same forced-looking jumper Joel had in college. To me, this is where the comparisons end. At this age, Joel was a much more polished scorer, both from inside and outside the post. If you go back and watch the Kansas product’s tape you see incredible footwork and balance as a scorer, which is something that he has now perfected in the NBA. Maluach lacks a lot of this right now. His center of gravity looks off, whether that be due to poor overall strength in his lower half and core or just a lack of coordination in his feet.
Maluach also lacks some awareness on the defensive end, and he frequently looks sped up and outprocessed on the court. There are plenty of outcomes for Maluach this season, and I hope by the end of this cycle we are talking about him in the vein of a Joel Embiid, and a top 5 pick.
Another major recruit landed in the Big 12, with Russian prospect Egor Demin committing to BYU to play for new head coach Kevin Young, who has more than 15 years coaching at the NBA and G League level. Demin spent the last couple of years playing for Real Madrid’s junior program, where he would show off his skills.
Demin is one of if not the most interesting prospect in this entire class. It is not unreasonable to call him a 6’8” point guard, and Demin truly does measure in at 6’8”. Some outlets even have the Russian at 6’9”. He has a very long wingspan as well, and some real physical ability. He doesn't have immense vertical pop or anything along those lines, but his feel for the game and ability to play with pace are beyond his years. Demin absolutely dominated the lower levels in the open court, often using his length and feel to jump passing lanes and take it to the hole and score. He knows how to finish over smaller players using his length and take alternative paths to the basket to score around big men. His feel for ball screens is quality as well, knowing both how to score and pass.
The phrase “seeing over the defense” tends to get thrown around a lot, but this applies to Demin. He isn’t a guy where you can go watch highlights and see him throw all sorts of crazy passes, but sitting down and watching the tape illustrates his processing ability. He is a good mover of the ball as well along with operating well spotting up. Demin knows how to attack a closeout quite well, and slithers through the often packed FIBA paint well.
On the defensive end, he slides his feet well and uses his aforementioned length to a T. The feel shows up there as well, and he is rarely late to close out or rotation. He rebounds the ball exceptionally well, using both his size and position to either highpoint the ball or properly box out an opponent. I am excited to see Demin this season in Provo, Utah, as this is a big year for the Cougars. If Demin’s season goes well, don’t be shocked to see the potential best prospect in the world AJ Dybansta commit to BYU, as he recently named them in his top 7, and will be spending his senior season in the state of Utah.
The final major international recruit going to college basketball this season is someone friends of mine have heard me wax poetic about for the last 4 months. This man in question is Kasparas Jakucionis, a Lithuanian youngster who will be spending his collegiate time in Illini playing in Champaign, Illinois. Those who know me also know as a Nebraska fan I was a hater of the Illini last season, but this season I will be announcing that I am switching up due to the presence of Kasparas on this roster. Like Demin, the Lithuanian spent his time at the junior levels playing for a major powerhouse in both the Spanish League and EuroLeague in Barcelona, with Jakucionis putting up arguably more impressive numbers this previous year.
Kasparas is another larger point guard, but unlike Demin, he plays a more ball-dominant style. The Illini freshman is a point guard through and through, and his passing vocabulary is just outright fun. He throws insane, downright daring whip passes behind his head to shooters you don’t even know are open. He reads more than just the primary helper, Kasparas reads the entire defense at every moment. When driving he absorbs contact well and doesn’t struggle to finish at the rim. His jumper is good off the catch, but right now he offers little to none in terms of pull-up 3pt shooting gravity. He was fantastic at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket this summer, which was highlighted by a 37-7 performance from Kasparas in a loss against France in the 5th place game.
My biggest concern with the Lithuanian is the situation he will be walking into. Illinois brought in a loaded recruiting class this past year, having four players who could potentially spend a mere one season in Champaign, along with bringing in former 5-star recruit Kylan Boswell via the portal, who at any moment could live up to the 5-star billing and become a true NBA prospect. There isn’t just a lot of talent, it is a lot of talent at the guard position, and Jakucionis likely needs the ball in his hands to be successful. I would like to see Head Coach Brad Underwood let Jakucionis rock when on the court, but there are plenty of mouths that need to be fed. It isn’t unlikely that Kasparas will struggle in his first couple of games in a stacked non-conference slate, and ends up seeing a limited bench role. Hopefully, this will not be the case and Jakucionis succeeds.
The Stateside Returnees
Many of the major international players to try their hands at the college game last season had middling success, with only two international freshmen being drafted in Kyshawn George and Johnny Furphy, both of which were party crashers who were seen as multi-year prospects.
UCLA brought in a loaded international class last year, and ultimately 3 of the 4 European products transferred to other schools. The one who remained was Aday Mara, the most accomplished and highly rated of the Europeans coach Mick Cronin brought to Westwood.
Mara is a massive, 7’3” big man who showcases some near-elite vision as a passer. He can throw passes over defenders that are always smaller than him, or throw incredible bounce passes to cutters. He has good length to contest at the rim, but he often struggled with physicality. Mara often admitted this himself this past year and went and played in FIBA’s U20 EuroBasket, where his home country of Spain was seen as the favorite, but eventually fell to both Lithuania and France, the latter of which won the entire tournament. Mara played a backup big man role behind Izan Almansa, the most decorated junior European since Jonas Valanciunas. Mara looked a little better than he did last season at UCLA, but it didn’t appear that he put on much size. Spain did dominate the tournament defensively, and their offensive struggles were not a product of Mara. Hopefully, Mara comes out of the gates in the Big Ten with a vengeance this season, the Bruins are going to need it.
Another one of UCLA’s recruits who sought success elsewhere is Berke Buyuktuncel. Anyone who knows me just rolled their eyes at me writing this, as I don’t think I have stopped talking about Berke since he made the FIBA U19 World Cup All-Tournament team last summer, and he was the freshman prospect that struggling hurt me the most personally. Now consider my joy when the Turk transferred to you guessed it, my school of Nebraska. When I heard this news a day or two early via my job in broadcast production in the athletic department, I actually jumped up in our offices and had to go get water. That aside let’s talk about his game.
As I mentioned earlier last year’s U19 World Cup was Berke’s coming-out party to many in the NBA Draft scene. He helped lead a Turkey team to a Bronze medal they had no business being near and was one of the 3-5 best players at the tournament. He struggled at UCLA but backed up his potential and game with more great performances this summer in U20 EuroBasket. This time Turkey didn’t reach the heights they had the previous year, but Berke arguably looked better.
The main concern with Buyuktencel’s game last summer and in his time at UCLA was just the efficiency. To keep it simple he struggled to put the ball in the hole at times. Even at the World Cup, he still shot below 40%, which continued at UCLA. That changed this summer at FIBA. Berke shot over 50% from the field and from beyond the arc, and if that didn’t convince you he backed it up by being 90% at the charity stripe. Buyuktencel looked good both on and off the ball. As a spacer, he knocked down plenty of catch-and-shoot 3s, along with getting inside the lane and using his frame, fluidity, and quality touch to score at the rim.
On the defensive end, Berke was often tasked with operating as a weakside helper, even seeing minutes at the small-5 in some lineups. He often made great rotations and played textbook defense. He rarely overcommitted and sure that doesn’t come with elite defensive playmaking, but he was a reliable force on that end and let the game come to him, still averaging 2.6 stocks throughout the tournament. I am beyond excited for Buyuctencel at my school of Nebraska, and I hope not only for myself but his prospects as an NBA player he has success this season. Go Big Red!
Now that I got all that potential bias and homerism out of the way, lets talk about the final returnee I am excited about. Motiejus Krivas is another Lithuanian who played last season at Arizona. The reportedly 7’3” big man played reserve minutes behind Oumar Ballo last season and will return to Tuscon this season to take over the mantle of starting big.
While Krivas played limited minutes last year, he stuffed the stat sheet in advanced numbers, managing a near +30 Net Rating last season, limiting teams to a mere 95.3 offensive rating while he was on the court. Krivas is much too large for many college basketball players to deal with and takes up an immense amount of space on the interior. This summer he was another player who competed in the U20 EuroBasket for his homeland of Lithuania, where he would lead the entire tournament in blocks and points per contest, PER, and points per minute. To top it all off Krivas finished 11th in DRating-On, which marked him the 3rd highest non-Spainiard. I am not sure how much voters take into account team performance, but I found it alarming that Krivas was left off the All-Tournament team, as I considered him the best player throughout the whole event.
He has good footwork and awareness on the defense end and good hands that allow him to finish nearly anything at any point. Krivas looks to carry this moment into a quality season at Arizona, and I would consider him to have one of the highest floors in this entire class at this point.
Staying in Their Homeland
This year the class of International products staying overseas is quite deep as well. This crop of players begins with none other than Frenchman Nolan Traore. The guard looks to continue the recent trend of French products being taken within the Draft’s top picks, as Traore is currently slated anywhere from 2-6th on many draft boards. I am going to come out with a bold prediction and say that Traore WILL be taken within the top 5 on draft night. His game is incredibly smooth, and he was one of the best players at the event.
Traore was an incredible point guard at not only this event but the Nike Hoop Summit as well, where Traore broke out as a potential top 5 pick. After the event, VJ Edgecombe said to Krysten Peek, "Nolan Traore is the best point guard I've ever played with." This domination as a playmaker continued at the U18s where Traore would dominate the tournament as a passer, averaging over 9 assists a game, which led the event. Traore is a very reactive playmaker who responds to the defense in milliseconds to make the right read and can throw impressive live dribble passes off of either his left or right hand. He dominated in transition and was very quick on the court while remaining controlled. He consistently got inside a poorly spaced paint for paint touch after paint touch and displayed an ability to finish with either hand. He shows an ability to contort and bend his body when scoring. This trait is almost reminiscent of an elite edge rusher in the NFL, where they can bend their body to get around the elite tackles while remaining upright.
The Frenchman’s jump shot looked great as well. He was over 40% for the entirety of the tournament, but this is the first sample of him truly impacting the game as a shooter. Even up to Hoop Summit people were unsure of his jump shot, so I will be on the lookout for his numbers in this upcoming season playing for Saint-Quentin in the French A League.
On the defensive side of the ball, he slid his feet well and showed defensive willingness despite the heavy offensive load. He got over screens well and showed good reaction time, but his defensive stance is a little upright for my liking.
There is a lot to like with Traore. As I said earlier I expect him to be taken within the top 5 of this class. It isn’t super common for someone of his age to possess the processing, speed, and scoring prowess he has.
Traore’s teammate at the tournament was fellow Frenchman Noa Essengue, who led the Les Bleus in scoring and rebounds. Essengue is a long, fluid wing-forward who stands at 6’9”. Essengue is the ever more common archetype of a skilled, big perimeter player who unfortunately offers little as a shooter right now. Essengue plays for Ratiopharm Ulm of the German League and EuroLeague, which produced Juan Nunez and Pacome Dadiet this last season, Essengue mainly spent his time with the junior team last year, where he dominated the game.
Essengue left his mark on the Dubai Adidas Next Gen Tournament, where he would bully players on the inside as a driver and interior scorer, leading to a whopping 10+ free throws attempted per game. Essengue continued this style of play in U18s this summer, where he threw his skinny but sneakily strong frame around. This trait of his reminds me of Chet Holmgren, where despite the lack of visible muscle, neither player hides from contact. He already has an advanced finishing profile, with some hooks and floaters he can go to when teams pack the paint to stop him from getting regular layups. He struggles to shoot the ball at all right now from 3 or the free throw line, and it will be a significant hindrance to his ability to be viewed as a 2025 prospect or later. Despite not being afraid of contact, Essengue still is skinny and can get knocked off balance easily.
On defense, there is a lot to love. He is very switchable and can use his length to contain quicker perimeter players while being just big enough to guard some centers. He is quality inside passing lanes as well and can impact the game there as well.
Another name to watch is someone that some across Europe have dubbed “Spain’s best prospect since Ricky Rubio.” Hugo Gonzalez is this man’s name, and Gonzalez is an aggressive slasher who lines up on the wing. Gonzalez has spent his junior career with Real Madrid’s junior program, leading them to multiple Adidas Next Gen Tournament titles.
Gonzalez is someone who I have struggled with for a while now. He is an incredibly high-profile name in the space, and if you watch him play, it often feels like he knows he has the weight of a country on his shoulders. He is an impressive scorer inside the arc. He often just blows by people with his speed at 6’6” to score, but if he is contained he can go to some crossovers he has to counter basic defense.
Gonzalez is incredibly athletic, physical, and most importantly intense. He does not shy away from any challenge, and while that can be impressive at times, it can unfortunately lead to the Spaniard looking out of control on the court. More often than I would like Gonzalez forces shots or looks out of control when driving to the rim, leading to turnovers and loose balls. This looked worse than it ever has at this year’s U18, with Gonzalez finishing near the bottom of the event in Assist/Turnover and averaging a full turnover more than he did assists.
Gonzalez also has struggled to consistently shoot the ball through his entire youth career. When the shot falls, he looks like an athletic wing with a jumper similar to a European Cam Whitmore. Gonzalez will go through stretches where he can’t buy a bucket and often gets flustered.
Gonzalez brings this same intensity to the defensive end, always being active and trying to block shots, get in passing lanes, or just take balls from his opponents. This will lead him to foul trouble at times, but when it looks good it looks GOOD. Gonzalez has a lot to prove this year, and we could be looking at the next great Spanish superstar or a star that burned bright young and died out over time.
The final player I will talk about today will be the U18 EuroBasket MVP hailing from Israel, Ben Saraf. I will admit I didn’t even know who Saraf was before this tournament, so consider me surprised when I woke up looking for games to watch on the first day of the event and saw Saraf put up this stat line in his first game against Latvia. 31 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. I was FLOORED.
I turned on the tape and I was in awe at what I was watching; Saraf mainly dominated the game in the open floor. He is an incredible athlete with some real hang time and explosiveness. He had a handful of impressive dunks in the open floor, some over defenders. Saraf followed this impressive performance with two more 40-point performances that left me even more shocked than this one. He has a real ability to separate in the halfcourt, with a bag that made me question whether or not I was watching someone over the age of 18 play against young men. You name it and Saraf has it. Hesitations? Got it. Constantly flipping defenders’ hips? Got it. Crossovers? Got it. Spin move in traffic? Got it. Left hand? Borderline unstoppable. Pull up middy game? Got it. Long footwork and Euros with balance? Got it.
I think you get the point by now. Saraf made people look silly all tournament in both transition and isolation. His long ball looks good as well, shooting 36% during the event on impressive volume. His passing leaves me with some concerns. He racked up some solid assist numbers and can throw live dribble passes, but he often forced the ball into very tight windows with no second thought. Some of these passes worked but didn’t look repeatable, so I doubt his ability to pass at high level.
Saraf dominated the defense end of the court as well, averaging a staggering 4 steals per game. Many of these were him just outhustling and working opponents, and most of these steals led to scores in the open floor.
Saraf will be an exciting watch this season, as he joins Noa Essengue playing for Ratiopharm Ulm. As for a projection for him? I don’t know right now. From what he showed at U18s he would be a lottery pick, but I am not sure how much of that event was just Saraf going on a scoring tear. I am excited to find out.
Wrap Up
Well, that was a lot. I think this is my longest article along with my 2nd round and UDFA article. It is good to write again and as I mentioned earlier expect more work soon. I will be returning to University, so once I get my workflow figured out I will find a more regular release schedule for work. I also have a podcast in the works that will also be focusing on the draft, He Got Game. It was supposed to be a last-season thing but some other things came up and we scrapped the first 3 episodes we recorded. I will have more information on that coming soon. I am excited about this year’s 2025 class and will have a preview coming soon on the rest of the names to watch that are taking their talents to the land down under in the NBL. Happy scouting!