Spain, also world basketball champion soon?: what an NBA quintet

The Spanish men’s soccer team already has two World Cups to equal the two of the basketball team and it is worth wondering if the basketball team could achieve a third soon.

And while the Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and company were making their way towards the second star, several young Spanish basketball prodigies presented themselves to the NBA with their participation in the Summer League to leave a pleasant impression.

The best league in the world is witnessing the rebirth of Spanish basketball, which will have up to five representatives next season after remaining at only one with Santi Aldama two campaigns ago. Five representatives who can form an exciting quintet for the 2027 World Cup.

Aday Mara’s star project is already a reality that was unimaginable not so long ago. Two years ago, the Spanish center seemed somewhat stagnant at UCLA largely due to the stubbornness of a coach like Mick Cronin that neither gave him enough minutes nor all the offensive prominence he deserved.

But Mara broke out last season with the Michigan Wolverines to become the first Spaniard in history to win the NCAA, an achievement that earned him the attention of the Thunder who chose him 12th in the draft.

And the 2025 NBA champion liked what he saw from Mara in a Summer League in which the interior of 21 years and 2.21 He has shown everything he can do in attack plus good flashes in defense.

His teammates have been pleasantly surprised by his vision of the game and have also loved spending time with him off the court because of his spontaneous and talkative nature. Your summer league coach, Connor Johnson He has also been very satisfied with what he has seen of Mara.

Adapting to the speed of the game in the NBA – especially on the defensive side – will surely be the great handicap for the former Casademont Zaragoza, which many already see as a kind of anti-Wembanyama shield. But the advantage for Mara, at least in his first NBA year, is that he will be able to grow without pressure in these MVP Thunder Gilgeous-Alexander as a substitute for the interior duo Holmgren – Hartenstein.

De Larrea is already Larry in the United States, where he has already earned the affection of his teammates in Dallas and the fans for making the show his modus operandi on the track with his surprising and astonishing ease in producing passes. alley-oop like churros

Sergio de Larrea, 20 years old and 1.96, grew up feeling the colors of the Mavericks and admiring Luka Doncic to end up in Dallas after being drafted on the 25th by the Lakers and passing momentarily through the Knicks before being traded to the Texas franchise.

While watching Luka, the youth squad Valencia He developed that special sense for the game that he was born with and that he has exhibited in this Summer League with his infallibility in finding the perfect tempo and angle to amass assists, up to 14 in a game against OKC to equal a record that only three other players had achieved in the summer league.

De Larrea has to continue working on his physique and his shot, but that innate gift for passing and that advanced maturity that has surprised his coach puts him in a good starting point. It may simmer into a franchise rebuilding around Cooper Flaggtaking into account Kyrie Irving to his best mentor for the base job and to his compatriot Santi Aldama, a great advisor.

He will have to prove it like the others once the serious stuff begins, but Baba Miller has left the NBA frankly impressed in this Summer League with his display of technical, tactical and physical exuberance with the Clippers who selected him 36th in the draft.

The 22-year-old Real Madrid youth player 2.11 He has shown that he can play literally any position between the ‘3’, ‘4’ and ‘5’ with his ball handling, athletic ability and even shooting. A triple in which he has performed better than in his last season in the NCAA, although logically the sample of games is much smaller.

Miller has also exhibited that versatility to play in various positions on the defensive side, leaving his coach in this Summer League, the former ACB, amazed. Jay Larrañagawho sees in him one of those players who do everything well so coveted in today’s basketball.

He arrived in the NBA without attracting much attention as he was not chosen until the second round, but he meets all the conditions to become a complete draft robbery.

The Celtics ask more from Hugo González, in whom they really want to invest in the long term. It couldn’t be any other way when the Massachusetts franchise refused to include him in the operation thwarted by Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Boston wants the former Real Madrid player to assume a more leading role next season beyond his mission of defending the rival star based on what has been seen in this Summer League. The Celtics have asked Hugo to have the ball in his hands more and make more plays in contrast to his limited offensive role last year, with the 20-year-old, 1.98m forward focused mainly on freed-up three-pointers.

Hugo has responded and has been incisive, penetrating between his physical and technical improvement, visibly with more size in his arms and chest and a safer and more varied ball handling. He came to put 24 points in a game and the only thing in which he was not consistent was his shooting, also taking on many more shots than he is used to. The question now, transferring him to the NBA in his season sophomore.

to his still 25 years, Aldama is the undisputed leader of this new generation of Spanish NBA players as the only one who is consolidated in the best league in the world with the 5 years he has been in it.

However, his sixth NBA season will be a special one as he begins a new stage in the Dallas Mavericks after five years in the Memphis Grizzlies starting a new project.

The 2.13 Canarian power forward is a dynamic one who meets the requirements of a modern player in this basketball in which the boundaries between positions are increasingly blurred. Aldama can play small forward, power forward and center with his shot, ability to finish in the paint and slasher ability. It will be interesting to see the role given to him by a coach with an attacking idea as dynamic as Dusty May, former coach of Aday Mara with the Michigan Wolverines.

With only these five Spaniards in the NBA, Spain can put together a high-level quintet in which everyone would fit due to characteristics. One with size and versatility adapted to current times with Sergio de Larrea as a point guard (1.96), Hugo González as a shooting guard (1.98), Baba Miller as a small forward (2.11), Santi Aldama as a power forward (2.13) and Aday Mara as a center (2.21). Do you see Spain winning another basketball World Cup soon?