From concern to excitement and happiness for the NBA Draft: Three Spanish players chosen in the most prestigious league in the world

The NBA Draft is an event that every basketball fan looks forward to, because it is the event in which the teams of the most demanding and prestigious league in the world choose young players from universities in the country (United States), or from anywhere in the world to join their ranks and be part of the NBA.

Here in Spain, it is also something that interests quite a lot, due to the taste for basketball in our country, and because throughout the century, there have been many years with Spanish representation in the draft. However, from 2015 onwards, the Spanish presence in the league has been declining, with several years in which there was not even Spanish representation, leading to questioning the level of Spanish basketball. Nevertheless, this year, national basketball is in luck, as in this year's draft held on June 24 and 25, three Spanish players have been chosen by NBA teams.

The Zaragoza native, Aday Mara, has been the protagonist because he was chosen with the 12th pick, that is, by the 12th team to choose a player. It has been something historic, as Aday has become the fourth Spanish player chosen in such a high position, only behind legends such as Pau Gasol (pick 3), Fran Vázquez (pick 11) and Ricky Rubio (pick 5). In addition, he has been chosen by a title contender team, which already won it last year in 2025, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But he has not been the only one from our country to be chosen, as the Valencia Basket player Sergio de Larrea, has also joined the list of Spanish players chosen in the NBA draft, being selected in the 25th position by the Los Angeles Lakers, but finally ending up in the Dallas Mavericks after several transfers. And to culminate the event, the player from Palma de Mallorca, Baba Miller, has been chosen in the second round with a 36th pick by the Los Angeles Clippers.

The excitement is back

After a spectacular start to the century for Spanish basketball, with a golden generation, with the Gasol brothers, Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernández etc, basketball in our country generated very high expectations and a very high level. For this reason, when that generation was ending, everything that came after seemed insufficient. However, Spain still continued to export players to the NBA, such as the Hernán Gómez brothers or Álex Abrines. Nevertheless, it is true that during this decade there have been many doubts about whether there was a crisis in Spanish basketball.

Spain was 3 consecutive years without presence in the draft (2022, 2023 and 2024), which activated the concern of some for our basketball. However, with the entry of Hugo González last year and the 3 new entries to the league with a Spanish brand this year, hope and enthusiasm for our basketball in the best league in the world seem to have returned.