By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
There were 109 international players on the opening night rosters of NBA teams for the 2021-22 season. 54 come from Europe with France and Germany having the most representatives with seven players each.
Eurohoops ranks the Top 10 European NBA players of the 2021-2022 season based on each player’s quality, individual/club accomplishments in the previous year and how important each one of them is for his team.
10. Dennis Schroder (Boston Celtics)
2020-21 numbers: 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds
It’s a bit of a shame that Dennis Schroder’s postseason saga (and kind of a drama) overshadowed the strong output he put on the floor while playing for a contender for the first time in his career, and having an important role on the floor. The German guard ultimately settled for a discount and joined the Boston Celtics where he will have a chance to put on even bigger numbers and raise his stock once more.
9. Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls)
2020-21 numbers: 23.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists
Nikola Vucevic joined the Chicago Bulls in March and produced big to try to help the team make the play-in tournament. This didn’t happen but the Bulls can look to the upcoming season with increased optimism due to their postseason moves (DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball), and the Montenegrin big man probably being in the best phase of his career.
8. Bojan Bogdanovic (Utah Jazz)
2020-21 numbers: 17.0 points, 3.9 rebounds
Bojan Bogdanovic was an integral part of what made the Utah Jazz nearly unstoppable in the 2020-21 regular season. He began to really increase the rate of his scoring prowess in the second half of the season, averaging 19.0 points in April and registering a new career-high in May and was also one of the team’s better performers in the playoffs with 18.1 points on 46 percent shooting on 3-pointers.
7. Evan Fournier (New York Knicks)
2020-21 numbers: 17.1 points, 3.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds
Expect Evan Fournier to enter the new season with an extra hyper momentum after leading France to winning the silver medal in the Olympic Games of Tokyo. Before he got traded to the Boston Celtics in March, he was averaging a career-high 19.7 points with the Orlando Magic and will seek to return to a similar, if not more impressive form, now in New York with the Knicks.
6. Domantas Sabonis (Indiana Pacers)
2020-21 numbers: 20.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists
Last season’s Domantas Sabonis was the “Best Domantas Sabonis Ever,” a constant triple-double threat that set the wheels in motion for the Pacers’ offense. The injury-plagued Indiana didn’t manage to make it past the play-in tournament despite the Lithuanian big man’s efforts who showed once more that he has what it takes to actually lead an NBA franchise.
5. Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz)
2020-21 numbers: 14.3 points, 13.5 rebounds, 2.7 blocks
While Rudy Gobert won Defensive Player of the Year for the third time this last four seasons, he didn’t really look like one in the series against the Los Angeles Clippers where the Utah Jazz’s stunning 2020-21 run came to an end. It wasn’t so much his fault but more a matter of team strategy that exposed Gobert so badly. Regardless of what took place vs. the Clippers, he was a main reason the Jazz finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA and remains arguably the top defensive force in the league.