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5 hours ago
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No one was ready for this comparison.
The Brooklyn Nets, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony, drafted the "Israeli version of D'Angelo Russell' with the 26th overall pick of Wednesday night's NBA Draft first round.
That's what Givony called Ben Saraf on the ESPN broadcast moments after his selection.
It might be accurate, but it was certainly unexpected.
Saraf is a 6-foot-6 point guard who was born in Irsrael.
He most recently played for Ratiopharm Ulm in the German Bundesliga. That's the same team as Bulls first-round pick Noa Essengue.
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Saraf gained notoriety for his performance at the under-18 2024 EuroBasket tournament.
In that event, he dropped 28.1 points per game. Israel only finished fourth, but Saraf's performance was so good that he was named tournament MVP.
Now, Saraf comes to a Nets team that entered Wednesday night with five first-round picks. They've taken some swings on upside, and Saraf certainly has it as a big guard who can make plays and score the basketball.
Russell was a good player for the Nets for a while, and if Saraf can be that, Brooklyn fans would probably be plenty happy out of their late first-round pick.
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