If a few days ago the season started in the NCAA and all eyes were focused, above all, on Aday Mara, early this Saturday the ball is thrown into the air in the G-League. The NBA development league raises the curtain on a season in which there is, without a doubt, a name with a Spanish accent: Izan Almansa. The inner player begins his adventure in Ignite, after having spent a couple of years training at Overtime Elite. And the truth is that he does it in a team that, of course, leaves no one indifferent.
First of all, it is worth remembering that 29 affiliated NBA teams are active in the G-League, as well as two other independent teams.. The latter are Ignite – Almansa’s team – and Capitanes Ciudad de México, coached by Ramón Díaz from Granada. And after that, reiterate that the so-called NBA development league has become one of the main ways to make the jump to the Draft and knock on the door of the best league in the world. And this is precisely demonstrated by the squad of Izan Almansa’s team.
The Spaniard, who can well be said to have been sponsored by Pau Gasol, aims for the next 2024 Draft. And, to do this, he is in a team in which there is a mix of youth and veterans with the aim of helping the youngest players who aspire to play in the NBA. Therefore, that on the Ignite roster names like that appear Jeremy Pargo, John Jenkins, Eric Micah or David Stockton -the son of the legendary John Stockton of the Utah Jazz- is no coincidence.
A pair of experienced point guards
snapper, who a few months ago tried to help Real Betis Baloncesto stay in the ACB, knows what it is to play among the best. In fact, he has 86 NBA games under his belt. While Stockton He already has eight seasons – nine with the one he started – in the G-League.
Thus, in the case of Almansa, these two will be the main playmakers with whom he will have to connect to get the balls to him and do your thing through inner play.
More exNBA to boost talent
Another of the veteran names is that of John Jenkins, an old acquaintance in the Endesa League -he played in Burgos and Bilbao- who, in addition, is the one who brings the most NBA experience to the squad. The shooting guard played 171 games in the best league in the world and already contributed his experience to the team last season.
For its part, it is also Eric Mikaa center who knows what it is to defend the Team USA shirt in the FIBA Windows and on whom Almansa will rely to continue growing and aspire to the highest possible level in the next Draft.
Two players aiming for the top-5
Although it could well be said, today, that even one of them aspires to number one, There are two Ignite players with whom Almansa will share a locker room who are among those called to be future NBA stars.
The first of them is the Lithuanian-American forward Matas Buzelisa name that a few months ago even pointed to the top of the 2024 lottery -as ESPN projected it in April-, since He was even MVP of the Basketball Without Borders of the NBA All-Star 2023. And although it has fallen some positions over the course of the year, it continues to remain a favorite to be top-5.
Next to him, the American power forward (or small forward, due to his ability to drop to the ‘3’) Ron Holland. His name is the one that for a few months has unseated Buzelis as the favorite to be Victor Wembanyama’s ‘successor’ at number 1 in the Draft. His 2.07 meters of height, his great physique and his speed are his main arguments for this, along with the numbers that he has signed in years ago in college (the institute).
They, together with Almansa himself, They will be the great attraction of Ignite in the G-League, a competition previously conceived as low level and now a gateway to the top of the Draft. This was demonstrated by Jalen Green, second in the 2022 class; Scott Henderson, the third of this season; or Jonathan Kuminga (seventh). Will Spanish be next?
Noelia Gómez Mira is a basketball specialist for Relevo, where she reviews what happens in competitions such as the ACB and the Euroleague. She has been the second female speaker in the history of professional basketball in Spain and the only one during the six years who gave voice to Covirán Granada. In her career she has collaborated with the ACB as a speaker for the Endesa Mini Cup and was section chief in the newspaper Granada Hoy, where she covered other types of information such as Operation Líbero against the former president of Granada CF Quique Pina. Originally from Salobreña, she has a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Granada, with a Master’s degree in New Interactive Media and Multimedia Journalism. …
2023-11-10 18:44:02
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