Mexican wing Lopez, 19, spent two years as an NBL Next Star for the New Zealand Breakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n He is a projected lottery pick, with the latest mock draft<\/a> sending him to the Charlotte Hornets<\/a>, where Australian Boomers\u2019 guard Josh Green<\/a> plays, at pick 14.<\/p>\n When Lopez is selected in the 2026 NBA Draft, the NBL Next Stars program will have produced 15 NBA draftees from 22 alumni \u2013 a success rate of 68.2%.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dream has always been to make the NBA, since I can remember, honestly,” Lopez told Yahoo! Sports NBA.<\/a><\/p>\n “Since I’m a baby, probably, since I have views of my brain.<\/p>\n “My dad used to play pro in Mexico, play with the national team, so that’s how I kind of got into basketball.”<\/p>\n “Ever since I was really young, I watched the NBA. <\/p>\n \u201cLike every hooper in the world, you dream about making it one day.”<\/p>\n Player AJ Johnson2023-242024Round 1No. 23<\/p>\n Alexandre Sarr2023-242024Round 1No. 2<\/p>\n Alex Toohey2023-252025Round 2No. 52<\/p>\n Ariel Hukporti2022-242024Round 2No. 58<\/p>\n Bobi Klintman2023-242024Round 2No. 37<\/p>\n Didi Louzada2019-212019Round 2No. 35<\/p>\n Josh Giddey2020-212021Round 1No. 6<\/p>\n Justinian Jessup2020-222020Round 2No. 51<\/p>\n LaMelo Ball2019-202020Round 1No. 3<\/p>\n Mojave King2020-222023Round 2No. 47<\/p>\n Ousmane Dieng2021-222022Round 1No. 11<\/p>\n Rayan Rupert2022-232023Round 2No. 43<\/p>\n RJ Hampton2019-202020Round 1No. 24<\/p>\n Rocco Zikarsky2023-252025Round 1No. 45<\/p>\n Total Lopez is expected to be the Mexican-born player taken in the first round of the NBA draft, and he revealed that joining the Next Stars Program<\/a> and competing against grown men in the NBL only reinforced his belief that he could compete at the next level.<\/p>\n “Going into year one with the Breakers, I didn’t necessarily know what to expect,” he admitted.<\/p>\n “You’re going into a whole new environment. <\/p>\n \u201cAs a 17-year-old kid, I was super skinny, going against people that are 30, people that have been pros for 10-plus years.<\/p>\n “At first, I was just trying to adapt, but I knew in the back of my mind I was ready for it.<\/p>\n “I really always knew that I was ready for it, and I was gonna make an impact, and I was gonna be good in there.<\/p>\n “I feel like it took me a couple of games, but I adapted pretty quick.<\/p>\n “Coming into Year 2, I knew the team, I knew the league, I knew the pro life.<\/p>\n “I was much more confident.<\/p>\n “I was way better. I was faster, I was stronger, I was bigger. I was just better overall.<\/p>\n “I had more experience, so I feel like I improved way too much across the board.<\/p>\n “I got the ball a bit more in the second year.”<\/p>\n Date Karim Lopez \u2014 NBL26 game-by-game<\/p>\n Feb 1924.81536.475.062-11226 2025-26 average 2024-25 average Lopez didn\u2019t just improve in his two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers \u2013 he transformed from a promising teenage prospect into one of the most complete players to come through the NBL Next Stars program.<\/p>\n As a 17-year-old in NBL25, Lopez averaged 9.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 22.9 minutes per game while shooting 45.7% from the field. <\/p>\n By NBL26, he had taken a significant leap.<\/p>\n Lopez increased his production across almost every major category, averaging 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.2 steals in 25.6 minutes per game while lifting his field goal percentage to 49.4% and maintaining a strong 73.9% from the free throw line.<\/p>\n The growth wasn\u2019t just statistical.<\/p>\n He became more comfortable creating offence with the ball in his hands, showed improved playmaking and emerged as a legitimate two-way weapon.<\/p>\n But he has declared there is much more to come, especially shooting the basketball.<\/p>\n “I think that’s something I’ve always been good at, developing throughout the years,” he said.<\/p>\n “I’m a really confident shooter, and I think if you watch the film, you can see it.<\/p>\n “The shots I was taking, I was not hesitant at all.<\/p>\n “I was letting it fly, even from behind the arc, even with a contest.<\/p>\n “I’m really confident as a shooter.”<\/p>\n “I had the opportunity to show it a little bit more this last year than the first one.<\/p>\n “A lot of other stuff that I haven’t maybe fully shown, or maybe I’ve shown flashes, but I haven’t consistently shown, that I know I can do and that I know I will do at the NBA level as years go by and I improve.<\/p>\n “You guys haven’t seen it all. Definitely not.<\/p>\n “It’s something I really feel good about, my abilities to do that.<\/p>\n “That Dirk fadeaway, if you can call it like that, I feel like it’s a shot that I’m pretty good at, that I’ve always been pretty good at.<\/p>\n “I’ll continue to show it more, show more of my skills and my talent.”<\/p>\n In the meantime, another NBL Next Star will graduate to the NBA.<\/p>\n Next up: Dash Daniels<\/a>, Luke Paul<\/a> and Malique Lewis<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Karim Lopez is set to become the NBL Next Stars program’s 15th NBA Draft pick after starring in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-739148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNext Stars Seasons
\nNBA Draft Year
\nPick
\nOverall<\/p>\n
\n2019-2025
\n\u2014
\n14 Drafted
\n22 Alumni<\/p>\n
\nMins
\nPTS
\nFG%
\nFT%
\nREB
\nAST
\nBLK
\nSTL
\nTO
\nPF
\nSC<\/p>\n
\nFeb 129.0616.7100.04-213113
\nJan 3029.83284.675.082211251
\nJan 2336.02153.860.01121-4236
\nJan 2130.71128.670.082-2-529
\nJan 1727.01646.275.0112-13433
\nJan 1131.41650.066.746-51345
\nJan 926.41155.60.0523-3323
\nJan 429.71155.60.07322-336
\nDec 2632.11355.675.041111323
\nDec 2216.010.050.01221-515
\nDec 1926.0740.0100.03–22212
\nDec 1325.9820.0100.07–1-318
\nDec 629.01560.050.04-113319
\nDec 332.01866.70.064214233
\nNov 2220.31575.0100.031112322
\nNov 1525.5413.30.01022–324
\nNov 1224.81362.50.065121336
\nNov 922.1857.10.083-12321
\nNov 629.31150.050.06111-125
\nOct 3121.61485.750.085121139
\nOct 2318.2750.00.031–1410
\nOct 1925.2860.050.091221229
\nOct 1724.0940.00.0711-1319
\nOct 1219.8440.00.0521-418
\nOct 824.01650.0100.092142140
\nOct 419.01050.0100.011-11314
\nSep 2728.21633.385.7711-3422
\nSep 2120.41475.00.0611–225
\nSep 1918.1640.0100.052111319<\/p>\n
\n25.6
\n11.9
\n49.4
\n73.9
\n6.1
\n1.9
\n1.0
\n1.2
\n1.5
\n2.9
\n–<\/p>\n
\n22.9
\n9.6
\n45.7
\n74.1
\n4.7
\n1.2
\n0.9
\n0.6
\n1.4
\n2.8
\n–<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/6a308af9d7858f104371d0eb_GettyImages-2275194835.jpg\")
Karim Lopez participates in the vertical jump drill during the 2026 NBA Draft Combine at Wintrust Arena on May 12, 2026 (AEDT) in Chicago, Illinois. The Mexican forward spent two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers as part of the NBL Next Stars program, improving his scoring, rebounding and all-around game to emerge as a projected NBA lottery pick. Photo: Melissa Tamez\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n