Rupert Climbs Draft Rankings

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

The form of NBL Next Star Rayan Rupert has seen him storm towards the lottery selections in the ESPN’s recent mock draft

The form of NBL Next Star Rayan Rupert has seen him storm towards the lottery selections in ESPN’s recent mock draft, with the Breaker currently named as the 16th best player in this next year’s draft class.

Rupert has climbed to the projected 16th selection, after being named as the 22nd best prospect in the world in the publications previous iteration of the piece. Before that he was touted as a potential late first/early second round pick.

The defensive abilities his physical attributes provide have been well-documented, but it was his offensive showing at the recent NBL Blitz that has seen him surge up the draft boards.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Next Star Watch ??<br><br>Rayan Rupert vs. the Hawks - 17 PTS 4 3PT 8 REB<br><br>Cc: <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DraftExpress</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a> <a href="https://t.co/7kqUPLBnk6">pic.twitter.com/7kqUPLBnk6</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1572159978307481608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He his 10 of his 16 three point attempts during the pre-season tournament and impressed with his ability to both create his own shot and create for his teammates. His current offensive awareness and skillset looks to be better than initially expected.

He experienced a trial by fire in his introduction to the competitive game against Melbourne United in round one. The young Frenchman played just under 12 minutes of court time in the overtime loss to United, and he scored just two points.

Rupert’s Breakers next take on the Tasmania JackJumpers on Friday night in what will be the side’s first home game in 18 months.