By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The NBA G-League isn’t ‘swarming’ with players from Europe but there’s still quite a bit of talent among them and some have already started getting their chance in the NBA while some need to take a step to the next level.
To avoid confusion, the list consists of all players regardless of the type of contract as long as they have enough playing time in the league. Also, although some of them have NBA experience, it’s at most in the early stages or without a real impact and they spend much more time on the floor in the G-League.
Without further ado, here are the best European players in the G-League:
Luka Samanic
Luka Samanic started his professional career in Spain with Barcelona’s reserve team showing a glimpse of his potential from time to time. He then moved on to join Petrol Olimpija where the team counted him more as the season went by and he used the chance show off his talent, especially in Basketball Champions Leauge. It was enough to catch the eye of NBA scouts and he then further impressed the teams with his performance at the NBA Draft Combine. His rank on mock Drafts improved drastically, and in the end, he got selected 19th by the San Antonio Spurs.
They assigned him to the Austin Spurs in the G-League and the 19-year-old Croatian forward has averaged 12.9 points, 7.2 boards, and 1.4 assists so far over 19 games. Samanic’s best performance was against the Windy City Bulls when he logged 26 points on 11-17 shooting (4-8 threes), ten boards, two blocks, one steal, and one assist.
Alen Smailagic
Another 19-year-old on the list in Alen Smailagic has been having a great season in the G-League so far for the Santa Cruz Warriors averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.2 steals. He’s the team’s leading scorer. Smailagic started his career with the Serbian club Beko where he spent one season before moving to the US. He was selected 4th at the 2018 G-League Draft by the South Bay Lakers but traded to the Warriors and became the youngest player in the history of G-League. After a solid season, Smailagic got drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans as the 39th pick but the Warriors gave up draft rights to two future second-round picks along with cash to get him.
The Warriors, who’ve been having an unlucky year with injuries, recalled him multiple times this season and he even got to make his NBA debut and play four games. He logged four points, one board, and one block in under five minutes on the floor in his debut vs the Phoenix Suns. Meanwhile, his best performance in the G-League was against Agua Caliente Clippers with 29 points on 12-18 shooting (5-9 threes), six boards, three steals, and two blocks. It remains to be seen if coach Steve Kerr will count on him in the future as well and bring him in on a regular basis.
Sekou Doumbouya
After INSEP academy and playing for its CFBB team in the third French League, then 15 years old prospect moved to the second tier with Poitiers, slowly gaining experience and climbing the ladder.
Two years later, he made it to the first tier in France signing with Limoges where he also got some 7DAYS EuroCup experience. He had solid playing time every season in France and he showed more than enough to grab some spotlight from the NBA teams. Doumbouya ended up being the first-picked European prospect at the 2019 NBA Draft as the Detroit Pistons got him with the 15th pick.
He did get a chance in the NBA but with a limited playtime of around three minutes over eight games. He did, however, play 27 minutes in the Pistons‘ last game, against the Clippers, and notched a double-double ten points and 11 rebounds. As with Smailagic, we’ll still count him as a ‘G-Leaguer’ until he becomes a regular on the NBA roster.
In the G-League, however, Dombouya’s got it all figured out posting 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and one steal per game. He had some strong games but his best would probably be the one against College Park Skyhawks when he logged 27 points on 10-17 shooting including 5-10 from deep while adding eight rebounds, three steals, one assist, and one block.