The most recent top pick from the program was Alex Sarr in 2024, taken at pick two by the Washington Wizards after a strong year with the Perth Wildcats. <\/p>\n
After some adjustment in his rookie season, the French big man produced an outstanding sophomore campaign and established himself as one of the premier defensive bigs in the league.<\/p>\n
Lopez is set to join that elite company following two seasons with New Zealand, where he quickly became an integral piece of the Breakers\u2019 program as a teenager. <\/p>\n
He put the exclamation mark on his NBL season in Round 19, leading an undermanned New Zealand side to an unlikely win over Melbourne United. <\/p>\n
He finished with 32 points and eight rebounds, including 14 in the final quarter, in a two-point victory.<\/p>\n
While first-round picks secure guaranteed NBA contracts, several Next Stars selected in the second round have quickly earned the same security. <\/p>\n
Ariel Hukporti, who just won an NBA championship with New York, was taken with pick 58 in the 2024 Draft. After his rights were traded to the Knicks, he signed a two-way contract before earning a standard NBA deal as part of the eventual championship run. <\/p>\n
The 2024 Draft was a strong one for the program overall, with AJ Johnson (pick 23) and Bobi Klintman (pick 37) also selected.<\/p>\n
Next Stars drafted to the NBA<\/p>\n
LaMelo Ball – Pick 3, 2020 (Charlotte Hornets) – via Illawarra Hawks
RJ Hampton – Pick 24, 2020 (Milwaukee Bucks, traded to Denver) – via New Zealand Breakers
Justinian Jessup – Pick 51, 2020 (Golden State Warriors) – via Illawarra Hawks
Josh Giddey – Pick 6, 2021 (Oklahoma City Thunder) – via Adelaide 36ers
Ousmane Dieng – Pick 11, 2022 (New York Knicks, traded to OKC) – via New Zealand Breakers
Mojave King – Pick 47, 2023 (LA Lakers, traded to Indiana) – via Cairns Taipans, Adelaide 36ers and G League Ignite
Rayan Rupert – Pick 43, 2023 (Portland Trail Blazers) – via New Zealand Breakers
Alex Sarr – Pick 2, 2024 (Washington Wizards) – via Perth Wildcats
AJ Johnson – Pick 23, 2024 (Milwaukee Bucks) – via Illawarra Hawks
Bobi Klintman – Pick 37, 2024 – via Cairns Taipans
Ariel Hukporti – Pick 58, 2024 (New York Knicks) – via Melbourne United
Rocco Zikarsky – Pick 45, 2025 (Minnesota Timberwolves) – via Brisbane Bullets
Alex Toohey – Pick 52, 2025 (Phoenix Suns, traded to Golden State) – via Sydney Kings<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Next Star program has continued to prove itself as a leading pathway for young professionals looking to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":746124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-746123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746123","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=746123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}