The Next Star Program : A Solution for the Future
Article by Chaim
The NBL Next Star program, officially started during the 2018-19 season, its goal is to “fast-track the development” of young Draft eligible talents to the NBA.
They want to develop players and attract others to develop in Australia to become the stars of tomorrow in the NBA.
Players are entitled to a special training course, dedicated housing, exposure to the NBL, and special recruitment to ensure they are in the right environment.
How it started, why it started ?
The program was initiated with Terrance Ferguson who chose to go the with the professional route instead of college and was recruited by the Adelaide 36ers, he ended up being the 21st pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and showed the NBL they could welcome in more talents by going this way and also gain a lot of exposure.
The program is directed towards the athletes, they are made the centerpiece of it all. These young athletes are treated above what their actual playing level might be, but the rewards from their success are greater to the NBL.
The NBA is at the top of the pyramid basketball wise, and it’ll stay like that for a while. In order to have your league and country relevant to a bigger audience you have to show and compare something to the big brother of basketball. The NBL is trying to do so through this program and preparing talents to succeed in the NBA. It’s a choice that is already benefiting as more and more people keep an eye on the NBL for the sole reason of watching the Next Stars in the making. Also it forces the NBA, and its scouts to watch the games because who knows, you could be watching a game from a future NBA All Star or All NBA.
To watch the NBL and these next stars, it became very practical with access to Youtube while it was on Twitch at first. So there is a real will for the NBL to showcase its players very easily.
An early success ?
The first big hit for the NBL Next Star Program was when LaMelo Ball elected to go there instead of college. He played for the Illawarra Hawks, was named rookie of the year in the NBL (and NBA the year after) youngest player to record a triple double, in all but 12 games before injuring himself.
Him and his brothers were making headlines already in highschool and we could argue, Melo was already a star before joining the program. But he actually played great in the NBL, going through ups and downs and matching up with grown up men who are pros and good basketball players. He showcased all of the skills we saw in highschool but also that he could be a pro. This served him well into being the 3rd pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. A massive success for the program, they didn’t hurt the case of Melo to be a high draft pick and showed teams that players could actually benefit from playing early in a pro environment in a league that dedicated a special program to their development.
LaMelo is today one of the NBA’s best point guard and player, he is a pure star and embodies what the NBL strives for with this program.There have been many other good players who came out recently of the program like :
RJ Hampton, Drafted 24th in the 2020 NBA Draft
Josh Giddey, Drafted 6th in the 2021 NBA Draft
Mojave King, Drafted 47th in the 2022 NBA Draft
Ousmane Dieng, Drafted 13th in the 2022 NBA Draft
Rayan Rupert, Drafted 44th in the 2023 NBA Draft
But others have come out of the program and managed to make a name for themselves in the NBA.
The biggest success besides Melo and the top 6 selection of Australian’s own Josh Giddey, could be the 2024 NBA Draft :
4 players were drafted and one was signed right after the draft.
Alexandre Sarr was one of the most talked about prospect all season last year to be the 1st pick in the NBA draft, he ended up being the 2nd pick by the Washington Wizards (he skipped the workout with the Hawks who owned the 1st pick). The highest player drafted out of the NBL Next Star program. It showed the NBL doesn’t hurt your stock, it can consolidate it or better it.
AJ Johnson, Bobi Klintman and Ariel Hukporti were all drafted in this 2024 NBA draft also and will have a chance to continue their professional career in the NBA.
Overall it looks like the program has worked like the NBL intended it. Players coming, getting ready to make the big leap, without being hidden, they are in the spotlight and can earn a high draft pick outside the NBL.
As we saw with the many success stories coming from players who made the jump NBL to the NBA, there is also a tactical aspect to it. Indeed it looks like the game in the NBL is what’s closest to how the game is played in the NBA. That’s why and the reason given by NBA player Alexandre Sarr on his choice of going to the NS Program.
So the overall quality of play is at stakes too, it’s not only how they develop players but how the game is played there.
The Players in this year’s program ?
In this year’s program you have some big names headlining the show, the biggest being :
Rocco Zikarsky, regarded as one of the most talented big man prospect in the world, the 7-foot-3 out of Australia, playing for the Brisbane Bullets, is being heavily scouted by NBA scouts to see if he can take his size and game straight to the NBA. Starting the season he was talked about as a top 5 prospect in the heavily talented 2025 draft class. He is having difficulties at the moment to showcase all of his talents, because the team’s job is to try to win games and not only prepare him for the draft, so he has to find ways to make an impact. Playing time has been hard to come by but the talent is obvious and he will one day be a relevant player in the NBA.
Alex Toohey, the 6-foot-8 Forward playing for the Sydney Kings is a well rounded player, with great mobility for his size, a good handle, and a shot that he keeps working on, a great utility guy who could find early success in the NBA as a straight up Plug&Play player. He needs to get more consistent and could see his name called in the first round.
We also have players like Malique Lewis, Izan Almansa in this year’s program that could see their names called in the 2025 NBA Draft. We’ll try to put up articles on these players to introduce you in depth to their games.
The future of the Next Stars Program?
The Next Stars Program will have to keep on adding talents in each of the 10 NBL franchises in order to stay relevant. Fortunately they already have Karim Lopez, the mexican forward chose to take his talents to the New Zealand Breakers. He is not eligible in the 2025 NBA Draft but will be in the 2026. He is already looked at as one of the most talented prospect in the world, dominating in the NBL a year early as we could say. He could be the next top pick out of the NBL Next Stars Program.
But will the NBL always send out its best prospects to the NBA? or will they ever become a relevant career path, like playing in the EuroLeague, playing for teams like Real Madrid and winning might be a greater honor (get you lots of money too) then playing in the NBA. So how can the NBL keeps its best talents if they try as hard as they can to ship them out to the US? They might need to tweak some things in the program, might want to open up to international tournaments in the region, maybe had an under 18 league under the NBL in order to focus on development early, and have more talents grown in house and might be easier to keep some of them and elevate the level of play.
If each NBL team is incited to have its own Under 18 team, and develop a competitive tournament, it might serve as a bridge between young talents and the NBL and not only focus on the Next Stars program, but remains necessary meanwhile.
Copycats over the world ?
With changes in the NCAA with the NIL and players getting a lot of money to play in college, it gives a disadvantage to a program like the one in the NBL. Their best feature now being that players get to play early in a pro environment and having the facilities to take care of them. So the Next Stars Program will have to change in order to stay attractive.
I believe they will also become victims of their success, as leagues like the Betclic Elite in France are focusing more and more on developing young players and sending them to the NBA to gain the same benefits as the NBL… Other countries might be enticed to do the same and will create a big challenge to overcome for the NS Program, as Australia is quite isolated geography wise, only 10 teams, and not lots of games to be played.
Personal thoughts :
I really enjoy following the NBL since the Next Stars Program and have grown fond of watching the games even when there aren’t any prospect involved. It’s a real success, but won’t stay one if they do not grow. I think changes need to be made competition wise with tournaments involving a bit of international travel, other competitions, and the development of an under 18 or 19 league in Australia. It would allow to have more time to build up talent in the NBL, when a Young Star is struggling send him one game to the Under 19 league to showcase and shake off the rust, when a pro is coming back from injury sed him there to get back in shape, get the level of competition higher and give young players an early professional environment.