The FIBA U18 European Championship has a great tradition of showcasing future NBA prospects, averaging more than four first-round picks per year among participants between 2011 and 2021.
Players like Lauri Markkanen, Domantas Sabonis, Rudy Gobert, Ricky Rubio and many others burst onto the NBA scene with outstanding performances, while players such as Bilal Coulibaly, Alperen Sengun and Franz Wagner, showed glimpses of talent that proved to be far more significant in hindsight.
This year’s A Division competition in Nis, Serbia, was well-attended by NBA scouts and college basketball coaches, despite a multitude of organizational issues from unsafe playing conditions to a viral outbreak that shrouded the event in controversy from the opening tip.
Serbia defeated Spain in front of a raucous home crowd in the championship game of the A Division, while Latvia took down Belgium in the finals of the B Division.
Here’s who we thought were the top 10 NBA prospects in attendance at both events.
1. Hugo Gonzalez | SF | Spain | Age: 17.4
Despite playing up a year as a 2006-born prospect, Gonzalez emerged as one of the most productive players at the event, leading silver-medalists Spain in scoring while displaying notable improvement from last summer. Gonzalez looked the part of a future lottery pick with his excellent size, shredded frame and long arms, and showed he isn’t afraid to put that to good use, playing with a physical and aggressive style you don’t often see from 17-year-olds. He shows ability in every area you’d like to see from a player at his position, from creating his own shot to finding teammates on the move with a strong feel for the game. He also puts pressure on opponents in the open floor, shooting with his feet set or off the dribble, guarding the other team’s best player, and showing excellent activity crashing the glass and rotating off the ball.
Everything he does is with maximum intensity, which is why you can look past some of the lapses he shows at times with his decision-making, streaky shooting, and still-developing ballhandling ability. He demonstrated significant character and toughness all tournament, and looks to have considerable room to grow into long-term, despite already being the best player most times he stepped on the floor. Gonzalez will continue developing with Real Madrid, where he made his ACB debut as a 16-year-old.
2. Aday Mara | C | Spain | Age: 18.3
Mara was a dominant figure in the group stage but struggled in the medal rounds, having a nightmare outing in the championship game versus Serbia (12 points and seven rebounds in 38 minutes) that revealed serious red flags. At 7-foot-3, with a 7-7 wingspan and an exceptionally high skill level and feel for the game, Mara is a devastating pick-and-roll and low-post target. He has polished footwork and mesmerizing passing ability, can finish above the rim while barely jumping and shows outstanding touch with either hand.
However, his lack of toughness dealing with physicality on both ends of the floor was glaring and he looked completely inept defending pick-and-roll, as he’s extremely upright on the perimeter, isn’t as instinctual a rebounder or shot-blocker, and too often just stands around watching with a disappointing lack of hustle and grit. He was likely asked to play too many minutes in this tournament, leading to fatigue, but the way Serbia, France and Turkey repeatedly challenged him successfully in the paint indicated he has a lot of work to do to translate his significant talent at UCLA, where a lot more will be demanded of him under coach Mick Cronin. There’s nothing holding back Mara from being a very high draft pick, possibly this upcoming June, but this tournament showed he needs to get stronger and find more consistency with his approach.
3. Tidjane Salaun | SF/PF | France | Age: 17.9
Salaun’s upward trajectory continued in Nis, where he looked every bit the part of a future first-round pick. At 6-10 with a 7-2 wingspan and 9-foot standing reach, Salaun has the dimensions of a small-ball center but spent most of his time at small forward, where his strong feel for the game, improved perimeter shooting, quickness getting off his feet and ability to defend all over the floor stood out. Salaun plays an intelligent, mistake-free style, and had some “wow” moments demonstrating dynamic shot-making prowess and range along with non-stop activity crashing the glass and rotating off the ball defensively.
The next steps in his development are improving his ballhandling and playing with more physicality and assertiveness. After spending last season in the French U21 Espoirs league while finishing high school, Salaun will be promoted full-time to Cholet’s pro team next season where he’s expected to play a significant role and potentially break out as the next rising star in a long line of French players to hear his name called by NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
4. Nikola Topic | PG | Serbia | Age: 17.9
The MVP of the event after leading host Serbia to the gold medal, Topic saved his best for the championship game, a masterful 24-point, eight-assist performance in a victory over Spain.
The son of 1996 Olympic silver medalist and EuroLeague power forward Milenko Topic, Nikola is a pure point guard with tremendous size and length (6-7, 7-foot wingspan) who shows rare and coveted vision and creativity operating out of pick-and-roll. He’s capable of beating opponents off the dribble with or without a ball screen, and going both directions as a driver and finisher. Topic makes every read possible without hesitation, while also being a handful for opponents to deal with in the lane by getting himself downhill with his strength and ability to get low to the ground. The game comes naturally for him accelerating out of crossovers and hesitation moves, making pocket passes, assisting off a live dribble, finishing skillfully around the basket and even posting up smaller guards.
Shooting just 2-for-21 from beyond the arc at this event — but converting 76% of his free throws in Nis and 36% of his 3-pointers on solid volume in the Serbian league this past season — Topic has some things to prove as a shooter, especially projecting to the NBA. He has a bit of a strained release, with quite a bit of backspin, but shows the type of touch, range and confidence that leave room for optimism long-term, something that will be critical for his NBA projection.
Defensively, Topic’s outlook is murkier, as he looks hunched and lethargic on this end, standing straight up off the ball, getting beaten off the bounce too easily and half-heartedly closing out on the perimeter. Even when his energy level ramped up in the championship game, he was targeted in the post. He showed an unconvincing stance on the perimeter but did demonstrate strong instincts all tournament long sniffing out steals for easy baskets. Despite his seemingly long-measured wingspan, he’s only generated one block in his 1400+ minute career, a red flag that hints at serious athletic limitations.
Moving on loan to prospect-factory Mega MIS in the Adriatic league this season, Topic should have a significant platform to showcase his talent and make a run for the NBA draft as early as next June if his performance in Nis translates against men.
5. Mario Saint-Supery | PG | Spain | Age: 17.2
The MVP of last summer’s FIBA U16 European Championship, Saint-Supery played a relatively minor role, but still showed flashes of what makes him such an intriguing prospect, despite playing up a year during the competition. The 17-year-old is still growing into his body, but has real juice pushing in the open court, attacking closeouts and dicing up opponents with creative ballhandling moves to get to the rim and finish skillfully. He’s still finding consistency with his defense, ability to absorb contact in the lane, and decision-making.
However, he had some outstanding moments when he was playing with confidence, whipping the ball all over the floor off a live dribble, and pushing off the defensive glass. It will be interesting to see how much the budding guard grows and fills out in the years to come, but there’s a lot to like about the scoring instincts, playmaking ability and moxie he shows at this early stage.
6. Dame Sarr | SG | Italy | Age: 18.1
Playing up a year as a recently-turned 17-year-old, Sarr confirmed his status as one of the best shot-making prospects in Europe, converting 41% of 3-pointers on significant volume after hitting 39% of his attempts at the U16s a year ago. The thin-framed, long-armed 6-6 wing has some tools finishing around the basket with a runway, makes shots from all over the floor with his feet set and off the dribble, and brings strong activity crashing the glass, running the floor and pressuring the ball defensively, doing everything with a high activity level.
NBA teams will want to see Sarr make progress with his ballhandling, passing, decision-making and awareness defensively as his career moves forward. He can be mistake-prone at times on both ends of the floor, perhaps not surprising considering his youth and the significant aggressiveness he demonstrates with everything he does. He shot just 41% inside the arc at this event, struggling to create his own shot effectively and not having the strength to finish around the basket. He moved to Barcelona in Spain last year and already made his ACB debut last season, to much fanfare.
7. Ivan Kharchenkov | SG/SF | Germany | Age: 16.8
One of a handful of 16-year-olds to play a prominent role at the U18s, Kharchenkov led Germany in scoring at 17.1 points per game while finishing second in the tournament with a 33% usage rate. Despite struggling at various points of the tournament with scoring efficiency, Kharchenkov never lost confidence and made some back-breaking shots down the stretch of the third-place game to help deliver Germany its first medal at this event since 1964, showing real character in the process.
More physically mature than your average 16-year-old, Kharchenkov will need to tone his frame, find more consistency with his perimeter shooting and reel in his decision-making, but it’s hard not to be impressed by the creativity, confidence and skill level he displays already at his age. He made several spectacular reads operating out of pick-and-roll, finding teammates on the move with outstanding vision, while making shots from all over the floor and showing impressive shot-creation prowess in isolation as well. While he isn’t the most fast-moving wing around, his feel for the game, strength and competitiveness allowed him to have some solid moments defensively as well, something he can continue to build off.
Kharchenkov may have turned off some traditionalists by shooting 10-for-35 with three assists and nine turnovers in the semifinals and third-place games against Serbia and France. But the extreme confidence and tough-minded approach he displayed are rare and intriguing qualities not often found in a player his age, giving him significant potential to grow into long-term when combined with his scoring instincts and feel for the game. He already made his German BBL debut with Bayern Munich, dropping 13 points in 18 minutes against a playoff team in one notable outing, and is slated to continue as a full EuroLeague squad member on the first-team roster this season, showing just how highly the organization thinks of his future.
8. Nolan Traore | PG | France | Age: 17.1
Traore, playing up as a 2006-born prospect, struggled with efficiency (42% TS%) at the U18s, but has clear NBA upside stemming from his excellent size (6-4), slick ballhandling ability and blazing speed. He makes it difficult for defenders to prevent him from accelerating, delivers a significant potential to reject ball screens with his lightning-quick first step and shows passing prowess and a soft touch around the rim. Traore is still growing into his narrow frame, bails out defenders too easily avoiding contact at the rim, and is still finding the right balance between facilitating for others and looking for his own offense — which is not especially surprising considering his age and lack of experience.
His defensive engagement, shooting consistency and body language could use some fine-tuning as well, but NBA teams will be happy to play the long game with a prospect with his type of shot-creation talent and overall scoring instincts.
9. Alex Samodurov | PF | Greece | Age: 18.2
A near 7-footer who can handle, pass, shoot, is quick off his feet and demonstrates impressive defensive versatility guarding on the perimeter, Samodurov is more prospect than player at this stage, but deserves mention due to the significant long-term potential he clearly possesses. Rail thin at just 190 pounds, and not having made significant progress in several key facets since we first saw him at this same event a year ago, there are reasons to be skeptical about Samodurov’s NBA outlook due to the poor track record of Greek prospects historically and the lack of toughness he shows.
Nevertheless, it’s difficult not to be enamored with the scoring instincts and fluidity Samodurov shows creating from the perimeter with either hand, passing off the dribble and finishing with touch shots around the lane — rare and coveted skills from a player his size for whom the game clearly comes easily for. He shows the ability to consistently make 3-pointers with clean mechanics, is a career 72% free throw shooter, and generated an impressive 2.3 blocks and 2.0 steals at this event (rivaling only Aleksej Pokusevski in the past 20 years of this competition’s history), in line with his per-minute averages in every setting he’s played in.
The hope is that Samodurov can add bulk to his frame, find another level of intensity and grit, and translate his mostly theoretical qualities into playing a more winning style of basketball in the next few years. That won’t be easy at pressure-packed Panathinaikos, a traditional European powerhouse who are trying to find the road back to EuroLeague glory after several disappointing and tumultuous seasons in a row.
10. Mohamed Diawara | PF | France | Age: 18.2
Diawara doesn’t share the same upside as some of the prospects on this list, but fits a clear NBA mold as a solidly built 6-9 power forward with a 7-3 wingspan. He can make an open 3-pointer (6-for-16 in seven U18 games), pass the ball unselfishly (19 assists, seven turnovers) and defend multiple positions while bringing energy pressuring the ball and crashing the glass. He isn’t blessed with exceptional explosiveness, doesn’t have much in the way of ballhandling ability, is a streaky perimeter shooter historically (29% 3P% on 362 attempts), and shows shaky decision-making and awareness at times that raises questions about the extent of his skill level and overall talent. There’s a clear market for glue-guy role-players in this mold though, provided his perimeter shooting, feel for the game and all-around consistency continue to evolve.
Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and international teams.