By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Eli Ndiaye was not called during the 2025 NBA Draft presented by State Farm, but he has agreed to join the Atlanta Hawks on a two-way contract, as reported by ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania following the second round of the annual draft on Thursday.
Over the last three years, the 21-year-old forward has been a regular on the senior team of Real Madrid and was part of the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague championship season. Overall, the youth product of the team based in the Spanish capital logged 67 appearances in Europe’s premier continental competition, including 3.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.6 steals, and 0.5 assists per contest over 25 games played for the team coached by Chus Mateo in the 2024-25 journey.
Success at the domestic level with Los Blancos amounts to three ACB titles, including the most recent championship run in the Liga Endesa 2025 Playoffs, one Copa del Rey title, and three Supercopa Endesa titles. A veteran of 83 appearances in the top-tier division of Spain, widely considered the strongest domestic league in Europe, the Senegalese-Spanish prospect went for 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per contest over 36 games last season.
Fellow undrafted rookie, Russian Vladislav Goldin, following an NCAA career in Michigan, Florida Atlantic and Texas Tech, agreed to a two-way contract with the Miami Heat, per Charania.
Spanish Izan Almansa, who spent the last season in Oceania’s NBL with the Perth Wildcats, is another notable undrafted free agent.
Photo Credit: ACB