The 2025 NBA Draft has an exciting international class with a ton of potential first-round picks. Last year we saw six guys that were playing overseas become first-round draft selections. Those players were Zaccharie Risacher, Alex Sarr, Tidjane Salaun, Nikola Topic, AJ Johnson and Pacome Dadiet.

Let’s dive into six prospects in this year’s draft that have the potential to be taken in round one.

A 6-foot-5 point guard out of France, Traore is the consensus top international prospect in this year’s draft. He shows many great signs that suggest he has superstar potential. He’s a very shifty lead guard who has great speed, burst and does a great job of knowing how to play with pace and change of speeds.

Traore is a walking paint touch and does a great job of generating open shots for himself and his teammates. His ability to consistently create open shots for his teammates is a testament to how good his court vision, creativity and feel for the game is. Traore is a potential top-three pick and the best lead guard in this year’s draft.

The massive 7-foot-3 Australian is another top prospect who is one of the biggest prospects in this year’s draft. Obviously he is massive when on the floor physically, but he also has legit NBA-level skills that make him a highly coveted prospect. Zikarsky is an elite rim protector mostly due to his wingspan which is 7-foot-6, his great positioning on defense and his great awareness.

He can comfortably anchor a defense and does a great job of altering a ton of shots at the rim. Zikarsky has the potential to be one of the best paint defenders in the NBA. On offense, he will never be a star or a top scoring option, but he does a great job of excelling at the simple things. He’s an effective lob threat, finisher and screener. As of right now, he’s a projected lottery pick in this year’s draft which would make it six straight years of a prospect being drafted out of the NBL.

A 6-foot-6 wing out of Spain is another potential lottery pick in this year’s upcoming draft, but he also has a different skill set compared to the other two prospects. Hugo Gonzalez is a great athlete and was clearly one of the top athletes at the FIBA U18. He possesses great bounce, strength, positional size, explosiveness and acceleration. Gonzalez does a great job of attacking and finishing at the rim.

He’s able to have above-the-rim finishes, but can also finish through contact on tough layup attempts. Gonzalez has a chance to be a star on the defensive end as he has special tools on that end. He’s already a very disruptive defender and he will continue to improve on that end of the floor. If a team drafts him in the lottery then they are really betting on Gonzalez to be a high-level two-way player.

Another talented French prospect is Noa Essengue. France has been bringing in many high-level prospects over the last couple of drafts, and Essengue will play a big role in France’s come-up. The 6-foot-10 forward has great physical and athletic tools. He’s also quite mobile and fluid for his size. What really pops when watching the toolsy forward is that he’s a very exciting finisher around the rim. He has the ability to serve as a high-level lob threat that can convert above-the-rim finishes. 

Outside of his impressive finishing ability, he also shows some upside as an occasional ball-handler which could unlock a lot of stuff for him on the offensive end. Defensively he has great tools and is a pretty sound defender. Essengue has the potential to be a versatile defender that can really change the course of a game on that end of the floor. The 6-foot-10 forward has so much potential, but is still raw at this stage. If he continues to fill out his frame and get better then we could very well see Essengue be selected in the lottery.

Essengue’s teammate, Ben Saraf is another talented prospect who has been gaining a ton of draft traction ever since his FIBA U18 showing. Saraf is a 6-foot-5 guard who is very creative and crafty with the ball in his hands. He’s a smooth lefty who can initiate an offense with his great feel for the game and high basketball IQ. Saraf can consistently create space and get to the rim off the dribble due to his deceptive handle, ability to change speeds and good burst.

He’s a very good scorer, but he also is a great playmaker. Saraf has advanced vision and can make any pass in the book. All of his value comes on the offensive end as he has already put up a double-double in points and assists for Ratiopharm Ulm a couple of games ago. Saraf will need to improve his ability to play without the ball, but with how talented he is there’s a good chance a team will draft him in the first round.

A 6-foot-10 big man out of Croatia is one of the most underrated international prospects in this year’s draft. Michael Ruzic is a very skilled offensive big man who possesses a ton of offensive versatility. He’s able to stretch the floor out as he has very good shot mechanics, great touch and deep range. Ruzic excels as a spot-up shooter and if he ever plays minutes at the center position he’s able to bring rim protectors out of the paint.

Outside of his impressive stretch-big ability, he also has good ball skills. The Croatian big man has a good feel for the game and is able to make simple yet effective passing reads. All of his value really comes on the offensive end as he’s still a work in progress on the defensive end but if he’s able to put it all together for Joventut Badalona then he could end up hearing his name called in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.

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