Scouting Europe's Best: U18 EuroBasket 2024's Top NBA Draft Prospects
Breaking Down the Performances from Nolan Traore, Noa Essengue, Hugo Gonzalez and Ben Saraf at the U18 EuroBasket
The U18 EuroBasket 2024 is the premier event for international scouts, media, and draft enthusiasts, renowned for showcasing Europe's top prospects as they transition from junior to senior-level basketball, coinciding with their eligibility for the 2025 NBA draft.
My first live scouting experience at the U18s was in 2019, where I witnessed future NBA players like Alperen Şengün, Santi Aldama, Usman Garuba, Moussa Diabate, and Franz Wagner in Volos, Greece.
This year, French prospects Nolan Traore and Noa Essengue, along with Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez, entered the FIBA U18 EuroBasket in Tampere, Finland, as the most highly-touted NBA prospects in the tournament, with all three ranked as potential lottery picks in the 2025 NBA Draft according to several scouts.
While each had their moments and lived up to expectations, none of them made the All-Star Five, underscoring the high level of talent emerging from the international ranks, which could significantly impact future NBA drafts. Israel’s Ben Saraf emerged as the breakout star of the tournament, posting multiple 40-point performances and likely skyrocketing up draft boards in the coming weeks.
International competitions featuring national teams provide exciting scouting opportunities, yet it's crucial not to overreact to standout or subpar performances. For instance, Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr, the top two picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, averaged just 7.4 points at last summer’s FIBA U19 World Cup for France, which was led in scoring by Melvin Ajinca’s 19.3 points per game. Ajinca, selected No. 51 by the New York Knicks and traded to the Dallas Mavericks, will spend the 2024-25 season stashed with LDLC ASVEL in France's top league.
Similarly, in 2019, Aleksej Pokusevski averaged 14 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 6 blocks in his first two games, leading NBA scouts to make the long 30-minute trek up and down the mountains between two ridiculously hot gyms to track his every move. Poku rode the wave from his strong performance into the first round of the 2020 draft, but as of today, he is an unsigned free agent looking for his next opportunity after spending the majority of his career in the G League with the Oklahoma City Blue and Greensboro Swarm.
Turning our attention back to the present, here are my thoughts on how the top projected NBA prospects fared at the tournament with more insights coming this week on NBA Big Board Global, my new scouting service for college coaches tracking the top international prospects from 2025 and beyond.
Nolan Traore
Traore, projected to be a top 10 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, aims to become France’s third consecutive lottery pick, following in the footsteps of Victor Wembanyama, Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, and Tidjane Saluan. He is expected to continue the trend of French-born prospects invading the top half of the NBA draft, as seen this June when the first two picks and three of the top six picks were from France.
Traore's spring performances solidified his status as a potential top 10 pick in what is expected to be a deep draft next summer. At the Nike Hoop Summit in April, he impressed a crowd of NBA scouts by scoring 18 points, dishing out four assists, and grabbing two rebounds while shooting 8-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.