What Brad Stevens Saw on a Tuesday Night in Ulm

Boston Celtics General Manager Brad Stevens made the trip to Ulm, Germany to watch a EuroCup clash between Ratiopharm Ulm and Joventut Badalona where three - Ben Saraf, Noa Essengue, Michael Ruzic - potential 2025 NBA Draft prospects shared the court.

Jan 7, 2023; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens in the crowd during the game against the UConn Huskies and Creighton Bluejays at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The NBA season is still about two weeks away but that didn’t stop Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics General Manager, from finding his fix for some competitive hoops. Stevens was in attendance on Tuesday, Oct. 1 for a Round 2 EuroCup matchup between Ratiopharm Ulm and Joventut Badalona. It’s unlikely he’s the only NBA front-office executive who attends an Ulm game this season. This matchup featured three 2025 NBA Draft prospects: Ben Saraf and Noa Essengue from Ratiopharm Ulm and Michael Ruzic from Joventut Badalona. Here’s what Stevens saw. 

Ulm ended up capturing victory, 87-83, on the night and was in control for most of the game thanks to impressive play from Saraf and Essengue. Saraf finished with 15 points and two assists on 6-of-13 shooting and Essengue finished with eight points and four rebounds, while also being matched up with Ruzic most of the time who he thoroughly outplayed. Ruzic finished with five points and three rebounds but struggled in his matchup against Essengue who was simply faster, longer, and a step ahead the whole night. The young Croatian still had some flashes in this one.

For the second week in a row, Noa Essengue - a boy amongst men, is proving to be not only a competent EuroCup rotation player at 17 years old but one who might be deserving of more minutes. It was more of what we highlighted in Essengue’s game last week. He shines the brightest on the defensive end due to his ability to cover ground. This clip early in the second quarter may be the best example to date. He helps middle on the roller, and then recovers so quickly while Badalona rotates the ball that Ruzic’s three-pointer is heavily contested and thus, way off. 

This ability to essentially guard two players, and two areas of the court, at once is exactly what NBA teams need in the space and pace era. And speaking of skip passes, Essengue threw one of his own nearly a minute later to Tobias Jensen for a corner three. Jensen missed, and Essengue pursued the offensive rebound with such intensity afterward that he was able to draw an offensive foul and get possession back for Ulm. 

We said it last week and we’ll say it all season, the three-point shot will be the make or break for Essengue’s NBA ceiling. Late in the first quarter, he buried a movement three for the second week running. He also continued to flex his chops as a cutter, and the confidence in his ability to play off star talent that opens up the floor at the next level continues to rise. 

For the second week running, Saraf hemmed and hawed through the first half and part of the third quarter. Then, in decisive fashion, he started to pick his spots and deliver the buckets his team needed to grab victory and get off to a 2-0 start in EuroCup play. 

The mid-range jumper was falling in this one again, but Saraf continues to struggle at the rim. He also struggled against a hard hedge in the pick-and-roll in the second quarter, he was unable to even come close to turn the corner on the opposing big in front of him. 

It is still too early to call any of what we’re seeing a trend for the season but the reality is that all three of these prospects were definitely aware of Stevens’ attendance on the night and Essengue’s ability to rise to the top is starting to look like what we should expect to see for him on draft night. At only 17, and even in a fairly loaded class, he’s looking like a lottery pick. 

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