An Early Look: BCL Prospects
An overview and what to expect from the most intriguing Draft prospects playing in the Basketball Champions League this season.
An early look at the international NBA Draft prospects, playing in the Basketball Champions League this year makes me believe that it seems the league has more talent than it’s been offering usually, in fact, than ever. Since the Champions League started in 2016-17 season, gradually over time, the league has been raising the quality of its product.
Players like Frank Ntilikina, Vlatko Cancar, Luka Samanic, Vit Krejci (currently with the Hawks), Yannick Nzosa, all got drafted after they played in BCL in the respective draft year. After being picked sixth overall in the 2024 NBA Draft, Tidjane Salaun is now the highest drafted prospect who played in the Basketball Champions League. Previously the record was being held by another Frenchman, Frank Ntilikina who played in BCL with Strasbourg in 2017 and was picked 8th that year.
Could the French sensation, Nolan Traore break the record and keep it in France? Let’s take an early look at the BCL’s pool of Draft prospects and see why more and more NBA scouts and personnel should be seen attending BCL games this season.
Tier One - Lottery Bound
Nolan Traore – it’s not going to be a secret nor a fascinating discovery if we say that this early in the season Nolan Traore looks like a strong candidate to be the prospect, playing in the BCL this season who seems to be a surefire first-rounder in the 2025 NBA Draft, a lottery pick, if everything goes as expected.
The 6’4” French point guard met the expectations in his debut in the tournament; indeed, he had a monstrous game, recording the eye-popping 27 points, five dimes and zero turnovers in 27 minutes on the floor. Traore showed on a full display his high upside as a pick-and-roll facilitator, a trait that makes him so valuable in this year’s draft. If he keeps honing that aspect of his game, he could be elite there.
Given team’s vision and his output, the Frenchman is expected to keep getting north than 20 minutes a game in the tournament, orchestrating the offense of Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball. That would help him gain great experience, facing different team coverages and type of defenders over the season. I will be curious to follow how he will exploit his long +4 wingspan and how effective will be on that end of the floor, an end which usually doesn’t draw that much attention to a regular fan of the game. His ability to guard handlers in pick and roll plays is intriguing, while on the ball I expect him to only get better with time and developed body.
A capable 3-level scorer, last but not least Traore’s shooting will be fully dissected by international scouts throughout the season as he’s expected to lead his team by taken shots per game (more than 10 FGs). NBA scouts and personnel should be pleased by the huge role given to Nolan Traore this season by Sain-Quentin, as they will have plenty of time and opportunities to inspect every aspect of his game and track how his game progresses over the season.
Tier Two - Potential Draft Picks
Johann Gruenloh – Another international Draft prospect who is expected to receive a large role on a BCL team (Rasta Vechta) this season and has a really good set up to showcase his talent. The German 6-foot-11 rejected several offers from high-major schools this past summer, staying true to the team he started playing basketball at – Rasta Vechta. It doesn’t look like a bad decision from basketball standpoint given the uncertainties and misfits some prospects face going to college, especially in their Year 1 (for example the decreased stock of Aday Mara last year). At Vechta Gruenloh seems to be in the right situation to show us on a full display his intriguing rebounding activity to go along with a promising potential as a roller in P & R plays and improving stretch-5 game.
Gruenloh showed flashes of all that in his debut where he logged 12 points, five boards and two dimes in a solid and efficient performance, being perfect from long distance (2-of-2). His overall game and energy/presence remind me of Isaiah Hartenstein, another German who came out of Vechta’s youth program and has been having successful NBA career. Now it’s up to Gruenloh to keep working and polish his touch close to the basket and see if he could eventually develop a lethal runner, similar to that of Hartenstein.
Mouhamed Faye – similar to Gruenloh, Faye seems destined to play an important role on a BCL team, Reggio Emilia this campaign. Faye, a 6-foot-10 physically gifted and athletic rim-running big man is expected to receive more than 20 minutes a game this year after he established himself as one of the promising young centers, playing solid minutes (18.1 mpg) at the men’s level in the last season. The Senegalese big will provide Reggio Emilia with force within the paint, a lob threat and rim protector thanks to a great blend of physical tools (an eye-popping +7 wingspan) and instincts.
Could he develop a shot from long range? Could he develop some kind of face-up game or a trustworthy post-up game? Would that be needed from him in order to get drafted? Answers to all these questions we should receive throughout the season.
Tier Three - The Sleepers
Mohamed Diawara – A versatile and lengthy combo forward, standing at 6-foot-9, Diawara looks to bounce back after a rocky season in which he was initially expected to get a role and play on the first team of Paris Basketball but eventually ended up playing at Poitiers Basket in the second division in France.
Do not sleep on him as he can do a bit of everything on the floor - can bring the ball up the floor, initiate half-court sets, create for himself, shoot from outside, get low and defend multiple positions. Thanks to his solid physical tools (size, length, mobility) and promising versatile skill set, he should definitely draw attention in the upcoming draft.
2026 Prospects
Mario Saint-Supery – A little bit of a different case here, the Spanish point guard is not a new to the Basketball Champions League as this is the fourth consecutive year in which he logs minutes in the tournament. If in his first two seasons with Unicaja he played few garbage minutes, last season he played close to 15 minutes, starting in all of his five games for Unicaja. This season he is expected to have more responsibilities and get a significant role on his new team BAXI Manresa, which could earn him close to 20 minutes per contest.
Saint-Supery shined with Manresa in his first game in the BCL, putting up 13 points and six dimes (0 turnovers) in 18 minutes of playing action. Despite his promising start, I just don’t expect him to be able to help that much his stock to convince NBA teams to draft him in this campaign. I know it’s pretty early in the season, but similarly to another Spanish point guard’s Draft case, Juan Nunez, I would see him more being drafted after a consistent second year at the pro level in Europe.
However, it would be interesting to follow how Saint-Supery handles the bigger role on a team, playing in the best domestic league (Liga Endesa) and competing in the BCL. His advanced court vision and feel for the game are there, his passing touch is promising while shooting and defensive performance would be some of the aspects to keep tabs on during the season.
Neoklis Avdalas - Another international Draft prospect whose participation in the Basketball Champions League should serve greatly to NBA teams in order to evaluate him properly, seeing him against grown men in different types of situations on the court. In Avdalas’ case I’d be more than curious to keep track on his shot selection and decision making throughout the season and generally what’s going to be his role on the team.
Could the Greek talent get selected in the upcoming Draft? I doubt that, as I expect, he would need to extremely overperform in his time on the floor, showing consistency at shooting the ball and decision making. Could that be a stepping-stone type of year for Avdalas? Totally yes.
Mohamed Diakite is another name which should be followed despite the expectations for limited time and role on Sain-Quentin’s roster. A tall and long forward, Diakite is in his first pro year. On paper he seems to have perfect tools to be an effective 3-and-D guy and switchable lengthy forward at the next stage. How his progress will be looking is something we will keep track on.
Whether and how many of the above-mentioned expectations/predictions would happen is unclear and yet to be seen. One thing is guaranteed though, Basketball Champions League seems ready to provide us with enough valuable live action data/prove on several intriguing international NBA Draft prospects.