It’s early October which means international basketball leagues are (mostly) back. After previewing the NBA prospects on five of the top leagues from overseas, now it’s time to see how some of them are performing, highlighting the prospects who are standing out in the early international season.
A Look Into the Future With Bassala Bagayoko
Mali-born Bassala Bagayoko had made history back in 2021, becoming the youngest player ever in the Spanish ACB at just 14 years and 225 days old, when he played nine minutes for Fuenlabrada in a loss against Real Madrid.
A year and a half later, Bagayoko has done something even more significant for his projection as a potential NBA player. Just a few weeks after turning 16 years old, he started and played 25 minutes in Fuenlabrada’s ACB opener, and he did it extremely well for his role as a defensive big, putting up six points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Bagayoko is extremely mobile and agile for his 6-foot-9 size, which allows him to defend multiple positions and switch in the perimeter against smaller guards. Offensively he plays mostly in an energy big role where he is able to finish pick-and-roll and other catch-and-finish type of plays, but he shows a really good level of coordination and flexibility as a finisher, as well as some flashes of putting the ball on the floor in the open court.
ACB big and forward prospects who derive most of their value through their defense have been in a bit of a rough stretch as of late. Usman Garuba did not have the most auspicious rookie season for the Houston Rockets, while Yannick Nzosa fell from the projected top ten pick to the back end of the second round in the 2022 Draft. Two situations which can be attributed to some degree to a lack of offensive development.
Tracking how much Bagayoko is able to do on the offensive side of the floor will be one of the keys for him going into the draft. He won’t be eligible until 2025, so he has plenty of time to continue to develop. For now, the future looks extremely bright for him.
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Lower League Performance of the Week: Marcus Marion
6-foot-8 forward Marqus Marion is coming off a productive summer where he led Denmark to a second place finish at the FIBA U18 European Championships Division B, and in his season opener at the Danish Basketligaen he looks like he’s not slowing down at all after putting up 28 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals in a BMS Herlev Wolfpack win against Holbaek-Stenhus.
The Danish league is not exactly the highest level of competition, but there are things in Marion’s game that should translate immediately, like the combination of size, strength, fluidity and shooting touch, which should allow him to become a versatile perimeter forward at a higher level of competition.
Born in 2004, Marion is a recruit in the high school class of 2023 who holds offers from George Washington, Montana State, San Jose State and has received interest from about a dozen other D1 programs. If he continues to dominate like he has done in his season opener for BMS Herlev, I expect to see even more teams being interested.
Victor Wembanyama: Week 1 Update
Victor Wembanyama’s highly-anticipated season started last weekend and through the first three games the biggest takeaway is something I anticipated in my French LNB preview a couple of weeks ago: opposite to his previous season at ASVEL, where he was in a supporting role, this year he’s front and center at Boulogne-Levallois, as he’s leading the team in scoring and shot attempts.
This has allowed Wembanyama to be more assertive in the early season. He was never hesitant to shoot in junior levels, but he was certainly more contained at ASVEL, playing for a team that had LNB title aspirations. At his new team, however, he has the utmost green light to get any shot he wants both in the post and in the perimeter.
For a player who is projected to be taken high in the draft and will be expected to contribute offensively from day one at the NBA level, having that experience as the number one option in his pre-NBA season could prove to be extremely valuable once Wembanyama makes his way to the States for his rookie season.
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