Top International Prospects for the 2026 NBA Draft

The international contingent of the 2025 NBA Draft has not lived up to the hype, and that is unlikely to change in the final two months leading up to the draft itself. Nolan Traore, Rocco Zikarsky, and Hugo Gonzalez were all seen as lottery picks a year ago but disappointing seasons have seen them fall notably in terms of draft projection. Traore and Gonzalez could still land in the late lottery, but that feels unlikely. Zikarsky looks like he’s out of the first round entirely. 

It has not all been bad on the international front. Joan Beringer has had a great season with Cedevita and could potentially leap into the top 10, and Noa Essengue is making a case for a lottery selection. But as March Madness rolls on, it is becoming clear that the international prospects for 2025 are not top-tier prospects, but things could be different for 2026. 

Karim Lopez is currently seen as the top international prospect for 2026 by most. The 6-foot-8 Mexican wing left Joventut Badalona in the summer of 2024 for an NBL Next Stars deal with the New Zealand Breakers. In his first season in Australia, he struggled out of the gate following a wrist injury that was so frustrating he, “literally forgot how to shoot,” he told Draft Digest in an interview. 

Around the halfway mark, Lopez found his groove and started to not just look like he belonged on the court, he began to look like a potential star. The threes were falling, he attacked closeouts, crashed the glass, and wreaked havoc in transition and off of cuts. He finished the season averaging 8.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game on 46/30/74 shooting splits. Lopez has great size and athleticism for the wing, and solid ball skills. He is not only the future of Mexican basketball but could also be a future franchise piece for any team selecting in the top 10 in 2026. 

Lopez’s closest competition comes from the Australian NBL as well in Dash Daniels, younger brother of potential NBA Defensive Player of the Year this season, Dyson Daniels. Dash signed a Next Stars deal with Melbourne United and has spent this season training with the back-to-back NBL runner-up club. Daniels, like his brother, projects to be an elite defender with more offensive upside than his brother. 

In an interview with Draft Digest earlier this season, he discussed improving his shot - both coming off screens and creating for himself - and how much he has learned from the veteran presences United have such as Matthew Dellavedova and Chris Goulding. If Daniels can potentially help United get over the hump, while showing development as a shooter, he could be a top-10 selection in 2026. 

The two Next Stars are primarily trailed by Italian wing Dame Sarr, who is currently in the middle of a breakout month with Barcelona. Sarr is an elite athlete whose comfort at the professional level seems to be growing exponentially with every possession he spends on the floor. He seems to be a lock for the first round, and potentially a late-lottery selection in 2026. 

A name you can expect to rise up draft boards - if he doesn’t enter in 2025 - is Greek point forward Neoklis Avdalas. Avdalas has impressed with Peristieri this season and is viewed highly here at Draft Digest, even compared to the 2025 NBA Draft class. Should he opt for 2026 and show even more development we wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being a late-lottery selection as well. 

A few prospects currently remain a few steps behind this core of the 2026 international class, so expect these to be the names you hear the most about from overseas once we move past the 2025 NBA Draft.