Photo: overtimeelite.com

Former NBA scout Danny Mills has praised the Next Stars program and the benefits of taking the NBL pathway to reach the NBA.

Now the Perth Wildcats GM of Basketball, Mills has applauded the program that has been put in place for young rising stars to gain professional experience and grow their NBA prospects.

The Wildcats have signed Alexandre Sarr for NBL24, the first Next Star in the club’s history.

“It’s a fantastic initiative,” Mills said. 

“It’s an opportunity for clubs to get an elite young talent and help them develop on their pathway to the NBA.

“It gives the player a high level of competition to come in and develop their game, as they work on their journey towards the NBA draft.

“Then for us, it gives us an elite young talent that’s going to step on the court from day one and provides us with an immediate impact on both ends of the court."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Let’s get to work ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> <a href="https://t.co/MW0VRLzTTz">https://t.co/MW0VRLzTTz</a></p>&mdash; Alexandre Sarr (@alexandresarr_) <a href="https://twitter.com/alexandresarr_/status/1655974896013389826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Next Stars was introduced in 2018 and has grown ever since, with NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger playing a key role in the program, and NBL analyst Liam Santamaria moving into a role as GM of Next Stars Recruitment.

Over the past three years Next Stars have been NBA lottery picks, including LaMelo Ball (pick 3, 2020), Josh Giddey (pick 6, 2021) and Ousmane Dieng (pick 11, 2022).

Rayan Rupert, who played for the New Zealand Breakers as a Next Star this past campaign, is expected to be a first round pick in June’s NBA Draft.

“It’s an incredible partnership between what the league has done and seeing players come through this pathway already that have gone onto the NBA and NBA stardom,” Mills said.