Brooklyn Nets in Australia to Scout for the 2025 NBA Draft

Nets GM Sean Marks has reportedly flown to Australia to keep an eye on some of the hottest prospects down under.

Jan 29, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks court side prior to the game against the Utah Jazz at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The 2025 NBA Draft cycle is now underway, with international prospects beginning their pre-seasons and college players fully back on campus before the NCAA tip-off.

The NBL Blitz — the Australian league’s pre-season tournament — starts on Sept. 7, and Nets GM Sean Marks will reportedly be in attendance, per ESPN’s Olgun Uluc. Last season, more than 40 scouts were in attendance for the Gold Coast-based event, headlined by eventual no. 2 pick Alexandre Sarr. 

With the Nets currently projected as a contender to draft at no. 1 in 2025, here are some prospects Brooklyn will be keeping an eye on during the NBL Blitz.

Rocco Zikarsky (Brisbane Bullets)

If Sarr was the last Blitz’s marquee name, Rocco Zikarsky is this NBL season’s young prospect to watch.

The 7-foot-3 Australian center is in the second season of his Next Stars developmental deal with the Brisbane Bullets. Zikarsky played somewhat sparingly last season (seven minutes per game over 27 games, per RealGM), spending plenty of time under the wing of former NBA big Aron Baynes, but he showed real two-way glimpses. 

Zikarsky is a huge presence at the basket, but he moves around the floor impressively also. The 18-year-old big is the son of 6-foot-10 Olympic swimmer Björn Zikarsky and 6-foot-1 Australian champion ironwoman Kylie Zikarsky, hence his athleticism and size. Defensively, he’s more of a drop big still, but he’s not a stiff.

After one year of NBL development and some roster moves which should give Zikarsky more playing time with the Bullets, look for his role to exponentially increase. If the Australian can match his youth team production to this level, he’ll be a lock to go in the lottery — if not higher.

Izan Almansa (Perth Wildcats)

Izan Almansa was one of the hottest names at the start of the 2024 NBA Draft cycle, but his name has faltered after a challenging season with the G League Ignite.

Almansa opted to remove himself from the 2024 Draft and instead signed with the NBL’s Next Stars program to join the Perth Wildcats.

The Spanish big remains one of the winningest players at youth levels in FIBA play — 2023 Under-19 World Cup MVP, 2022 Under-17 World Cup MVP, 2022 U18 European Championship MVP — but this dominance has not translated to the senior ranks. 

Almansa is undersized for a 5-man at about 6-foot-10, but he is not versatile enough to play the 4-man barring an extremely specific context that very likely won’t exist for him. His athleticism has improved greatly since arriving stateside in 2021, but it is still average at best. The Murcia native reads the game well, but he’s not skilled enough with the ball in his hands to stretch the floor or consistently playmake for others.

The Overtime Elite alum enters the 2025 NBA Draft cycle as a name to watch in the mid-to-late second round, but Almansa could rise up conversations again if he displays the paint-bound production that he did before joining the G League. 

Malique Lewis (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

Malique Lewis is another former G League prospect trying his luck in Australia. 

Lewis played for the Mexico City Capitanes last season after leaving Fuenlabrada in Spain. He had a relatively solid season, averaging nine points on 37.7% from three in about 28 minutes per game. The 19-year-old wing’s performances in Mexico lifted him into draft consideration this past summer, even being one of the better performers in the NBA G League Elite Camp, before he withdrew to focus on 2025. 

Now that he’s signed to the South East Melbourne Phoenix, the hope for Lewis has to be more eyes against better competition. Even if his production remains similar in the NBL, that will likely be enough to secure him a second-round spot. 

The Trinidad and Tobago native has the positional size NBA teams look for, can be effective on a low volume of touches, and has slowly improved year-on-year. Lewis should not be slept on.

Alex Toohey (Sydney Kings)

I like what Alex Toohey has shown as a defender through his first few games of the season.

Sydney is comfortable switching him pretty much 1-4 and he really competes on this end while knowing how to use his length. A couple of these shots go in but Toohey offers solid contests pic.twitter.com/Wzbaz6cCG7

— Wilko (@wilkomcv) October 10, 2023

Alex Toohey is back for season two of his Next Stars experience, and the 6-foot-7 wing has a legitimate chance to make the NBA. The Sydney Kings prospect was originally bound for Gonzaga two seasons ago before he committed to staying home in the NBL with the Sydney Kings. 

Last year, Toohey averaged eight points and four rebounds while starting in 25 of Sydney's 29 games. He played about 22 minutes per game. 

Toohey should be considered a prospect in the 3-and-D mold. He is already very competitive on defense and Sydney used him to switch 1-through-4 last season. The Australian wing’s frame needs to keep filling out, but he is a league-level athlete in terms of size and dimensions. Right now, though, Toohey’s finishing in traffic remains inconsistent.

Shooting the ball better is what currently keeps Toohey from being a surefire NBA prospect. He finished his first NBL season at a very low 25.4% from three and appeared to lose confidence in his deep shot as the season went on.

Ben Henshall (Perth Wildcats)

Ben Henshall received some buzz after last season’s NBL Blitz, when he was a fairly unknown name just fresh out of the renowned Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence.

Henshall is a herky-jerky guard who plays at a very interesting pace. He's not explosive vertically or laterally, but Henshall understands how to get his defenders off-balance and finish over size at the basket. 

Last season, Henshall only featured in 97 total minutes for the Perth Wildcats; however, he played a much bigger role with the New Zealand league's Otago Nuggets immediately after, posting 19.9 points in 33.9 minutes per game.

Henshall’s time in New Zealand served as a reminder of his flashes of self-creation with stepbacks from three or pull-ups off the bounce. He’d previously shown these at lower levels against weaker competition as well, but never got the chance to try in the NBL.

If Henshall can take that leap, then he’s a bucket-getting guard that Australian basketball hasn’t produced too often in recent years and a real name to watch in the second round.

Lachlan Olbrich (Illawarra Hawks)

Lachlan Olbrich has made a huge impact wherever he’s played, except for the NBL so far.

Olbrich will also be entering his second NBL season and he’ll still be 20-years-old until December despite having made a handful of stops over the last few years.

Olbrich, who comes from a basketball family, first signed with the NBL's Adelaide 36ers in October 2021 as a development player (not as a Next Star). After the end of that season, Olbrich played in the NBL1 Central and was named the competition’s best under-23 player.

He then committed to play college basketball at UC Riverside, where he was named Big West Freshman of the Year. After a year in the United States, Olbrich returned to Australia under a three-year deal with the Illawarra Hawks.

Like Henshall, Olbrich had an impressive Blitz last year but that didn’t carry over to the regular season. After the NBL wrapped up, the Australian forward joined the New Zealand league's Canterbury Rams, where he was laughably imposing. In 20 games, he averaged 20.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and one block.

Olbrich’s skillset lends itself to the modern NBA. He would’ve been considered a tweener 4/5-man years ago, but he’s more of a skilled forward now who can really rebound and play physical, but also doesn’t mind shooting the ball or making quick decisions.

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