Players to Watch at the 2022-23 Australian NBL

Rayan Rupert headlines another class of young talent from the NBL, a league that has become a scouting destination for NBA teams in recent years.

Despite being the foreign country who has produced the third-most players in NBA history (trailing only Canada and France and being tied with Serbia), the Australian NBL wasn’t really a destination for NBA scouts less than a decade ago. Since then, the league has done an excellent job of both retaining Australian young talent and attracting potential NBA prospects from overseas. As such, there has been at least one NBL player selected in the lottery in each of the last three NBA Drafts.

This season, the NBL might not have the depth of young talent that it had in previous years, but there’s certainly potential NBA talent to watch. Here are some names that NBA scouts will be keeping in sight during the NBL 2022-23 season.

Tier 1: Projected NBA Picks

Rayan Rupert

18.3 years old | 6’6” Wing | New Zealand Breakers

Rupert’s ascent to NBA consideration has been slow but steady. He stood out very early in his career playing for INSEP, the state-operated sports institute located in the outskirts of Paris, as a promising-but-raw wing with intriguing tools. Since then he has impressed more and more with each performance at youth events.

Rupert has exceptional length, with a reported 7-foot-3 wingspan that he utilizes to make an impact on the defensive end of the floor, making plays on and off-the-ball, forcing deflections and turnovers, contesting shots and collaborating as a defensive rebounder.

Rupert combines his defensive impact with his moments as an on-ball creator for himself and others. While he’s not a powerful downhill slasher, Rupert has a fluid handling ability which allows him to get by defenders in the perimeter. His ability to change directions on the move and his impressive length allow him to keep a low dribble to avoid defenders in traffic and to finish with good extension at the rim.

While he’s not a primary initiator at this point, he has improved as a passer, He's able to not only find teammates with simple drive-and-kick reads, but also by manipulating defenders with his handle and operating as a pick-and-roll handler, finding teammates through traffic with slightly advanced reads.

The main question mark for Rupert has been his consistency as a shooter. He shows tremendous flashes of self-creation where he’s able to convert tough jumpers off-movement, creating space with his dribbling ability, but the percentages haven’t been as impressive, as he made just 24% of his shots from beyond the arc in the 2021-22 season, between INSEP and the U18 French National Team.

Going beyond the stat sheet, his evaluation as a shooter could be taken as an interesting case study on how much shot aesthetics and bad misses should be taken as indicators of poor aim or just overall lack of touch, because when Rupert misses he misses badly: airballs and shots that miss the rim by a ton are fairly common occurrences in his games.

Overall, Rupert has all the tools to thrive as an NBA wing and his moments of on-ball creation, both for himself and others, are certainly impressive, but developing as a shooter is truly the swing that could place Rupert at any side of the wall that separates NBA players from non-NBA prospects.

Impressive game from Rayan Rupert 🇫🇷 (2004) yesterday, putting up 18pts, 3reb, 3stl & 2ast. Rupert has been one of the key players for PFBB, scoring in double digits in all but one of his games this season.

📊 via @InStatBasket pic.twitter.com/XjGStZF9eI

— Ignacio Rissotto (@eyreball) November 3, 2021

Tier 2: Potential NBA Prospects

Ariel Hukporti

20.5 years old | 7’0” Big | Melbourne United

Hukporti has been considered as a potential NBA prospect for the past two drafts due to his massive size and interior scoring ability. Standing at 7-feet and with a strong upper body, Hukporti uses his size, as well as his coordination and soft touch below the rim to convert catch-and-finish opportunities with efficiency. On defense, the center is not the most versatile prospect when it comes to switching in the perimeter, but he’s able to make an impact at the rim by blocking shots and by dominating the glass.

Hukporti will reportedly miss the entire 2022-23 season after suffering an achilles tear during a preseason game, but he’s a prospect whose development and recovery from injury will be interesting to track down for future drafts, as someone who can make an impact on both ends of the floor with his optimal physical tools.

Ariel Hukporti 🇩🇪 (2002) was extremely productive yesterday against Siauliai with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Hukporti is showing an impressive interior self-creation arsenal, which he complements with flashes of an outside game. pic.twitter.com/cqZUqyp577

— Ignacio Rissotto (@eyreball) May 11, 2021

Tier 3: More Names to Follow

Owen Foxwell

19.1 years old | 6’2” Guard | South East Melbourne Phoenix

Foxwell is a combo guard who handles the ball with an excellent level of speed and deceleration, which allows him to get to his spots on the floor and to beat defenders consistently in the perimeter. He’s also a threat as a jump shooter, showing the ability to hit shots off-movement and with little time and space. Foxwell will need to grow more into his body since the lack of strength can limit his impact as a defender and at times also as a scorer, but he’s an interesting long-term prospect due to the multi-level scoring potential and his ability to pass on the move.

Jaylin Galloway

19.8 years old | 6’6” Wing | Sydney Kings

Galloway is a toolsy Wing who utilizes his impressive ability to move laterally and his above average wingspan to make plays defensively, staying in front of opponents and being effective at contesting and blocking shots. Offensively, Galloway is able to attack defenders in the perimeter and finish at the rim with his combination of size, length and speed with the ball in his hands. If the flashes of catch-and-shoot ability he showed in previous events (such as the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup) translate to the NBL level with consistency, he could find himself on draft radars as an interesting 3-and-D Wing prospect with optimal tools.

David Okwera

20.2 years old | 6’10” Forward | Melbourne United

Standing at 6-foot-10, Okwera possesses an impressive level of coordination and ball-handling ability for his size, which he uses to attack mismatches and closeouts in the perimeter. In the paint, he lacks an elite level of strength to make his presence fully felt, but he uses his size, length and agility to come up with offensive boards at a good rate. After seeing little playing time in his rookie NBL season, Okwera should be expected to take the leap this year at Melbourne. His combination of size and handling ability is interesting, but we’re yet to see how those tools and skills translate at a high level of competition.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.