Inside the rise of NBL Next Stars trio… and why they chose Australia as their ticket to NBA

Almansa joined the Wildcats as part of the Next Stars program after a year playing with the G League Ignite, having already made a name for himself in his native Spain and later in America with the Overtime Elite.

The 19-year-old, who stands at 6-foot-10, said his dream was always to play in the NBA and that Alex Sarr’s success with the Wildcats the season prior made it “clear” that the NBL was his “best option”.

“My agent told me I had a couple of options but I knew I wanted to come here,” he said.

Almansa first heard of the NBL when LaMelo Ball touched down in 2019 and was initially slated to enter this year’s NBA draft before withdrawing, instead deciding to further refine his craft in Australia while building his stock ahead of 2025.

The Spanish teenager said he spoke with Sarr a few times, having played with him for a few years before he went to the NBL, and was convinced to follow the same pathway after seeing how much the No.2 overall pick improved his game.

Almansa had to grow up quickly, having joined Real Madrid’s youth academy for two years before travelling to the US to play at Overtime Elite.

“That was hard because I was 14 years old when I left to play for Madrid so it was a little bit hard to adapt… but I think that it helps you a lot too,” Almansa said.

“Now I’m been living by myself since I was 14 years old so that experience made me grow up faster.”

But as much as those experiences would have made the move to Perth an easier one for Almansa than others, the Wildcats still made the same offers they extended to Sarr and his family, telling the 19-year-old they would give him “whatever he needed to make the move comfortable”.

Almansa has averaged a steady 14.7 minutes per game with the Wildcats, scoring 5.3 points to go with 2.3 rebounds while shooting 38 per cent from the field.

He said while he is looking to improve a lot of things in this game, two of the bigger focuses early on were getting used to the physicality and the pace of the game.

Karim Lopez

Elsewhere, at the New Zealand Breakers, Karim Lopez has been adjusting to life as a professional basketballer as he continues to take steps towards his dream of making the NBA.

Like Almansa, Lopez also moved away from home at a young age in the name of improving his basketball, travelling from Mexico to Spain when he was 14 to play with Joventut Badalona.

Still only 17 years old, Lopez is already on the NBA radar despite not being draft eligible until 2026, having already represented Mexico on the international stage at this year’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico.

The self-aware teenage said the NBL’s Next Stars program was an “attractive” option given its recent success, with high NBA draftees including Sarr and Ball.

“It’s a pretty good program that fits me really good and I feel like it’s just a great opportunity for me,” Lopez said.

Lopez added that he spoke with both Bobi Klintman and Ousmane Dieng, two other former Next Stars, who told him the NBL would “definitely” be the right fit for him.

Lopez’s agents already had an existing relationship with the Breakers having previously worked with Dieng and so that also made the process a relatively straight-forward one.

As for early impressions of the NBL, Lopez said it is “definitely very fast paced”.

“It’s similar to the NBA in that aspect,” Lopez added.

“The NBA is just a fast league as well as the NBL and also the physicality of it is, I just I feel like that is something that will help me translate my game better to the NBA.”

Lopez recently was sidelined by a forearm injury but returned to the starting five for the Breakers against the Phoenix on Thursday night.

Malique Lewis

Speaking of the Phoenix, South East Melbourne’s international Next Star Malique Lewis has been a shining light in a season that has only produced one win so far.

Lewis has now made three starts for the Phoenix this season, which speaks to the coaching staff’s growing confidence in him as a key contributor on both ends of the floor, even at just 19 years old.

After all, Lewis only recently took on the primary match-up against Matthew Dellavedova in the Phoenix’s sole win of the year so far against Melbourne United.

It would normally be a tall task for any rookie but Lewis has been able to use his athleticism, length and strength to come up big for South East Melbourne on the defensive end.

He also has plenty of confidence in his skills on that end of the floor too.

“Defensively, I think I’m always engaged because I’m arguably the best defender on the team if not the best,” he said.

“So I would want to take that role of guarding the scorers on the other team or being involved in most of the other team’s actions so I don’t think other teams look at the scout and say they’ll attack me on defence. I think if I’m guarding a specific player it’d probably not be the best advice to go at me.”

Lewis has also progressively improved as a shooter too, although he knows even if the shots aren’t falling it doesn’t mean he needs to go away from them.

“The thing is they’re feeling good,” he said.

“I’m not taking bad shots, they’re just not falling. It’s just getting the reps up and just adjusting that little thing to make them start going in.

“… I’ll stay in the gym for as long as I need to and it’ll translate on the court.”

As for early impressions of the league, Lewis said he has actually found so far that the NBL is “not as physical as people say it is”.

“They call a lot of soft fouls and stuff,” he said.

“Maybe that’s just because I’m new and I’m a rookie and they call that on me but I’m just focused on myself and trying to get better and be better for the team.”

That improvement is also coming from making the most of any advice he can get, whether it is from teammates or coaches, and while Lewis said he “can’t really single out” one mentor in particular, development coach Adam Gibson has been particularly helpful.

“Control what you can control,” Lewis said when asked what sort of advice Gibson has given him.

“When you go out there just be aggressive, try be yourself, don’t do anything out of the ordinary. Just go in with the mindset of being aggressive, if you catch the ball try to push it, if not you can look for the point guard.”

Like Almansa and Lopez, Lewis — who grew up in Trinidad & Tobago — travelled to Spain at just 16 years old and spent two seasons playing with Fuenlabrada before spending a season with Mexico City Capitanes in the G League.

So, why the NBL next?

“I think it was more of a development thing,” Lewis said.

“Most of the guys that come out here, they play a lot and they get chances to make mistakes and mess up and come back and be better. I think that was more of what stood out to me and played a role in my decision.”