Karim Lopez, the top international player on ESPN’s 2026 draft rankings and No. 11 overall on the network’s big board, announced Monday that he has declared for the NBA draft.
The 6-foot-9 forward from Hermosillo, Mexico, spent the past two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL). Lopez, who turns 19 on April 12, averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and shot 49 percent from the floor in 25.6 minutes per game this season. His 358 points set a single-season record for draft-eligible NBL Next Stars, and his 66 combined steals and blocks matched the mark set by 2025 draftee Alex Toohey.
Although the Breakers finished 14-20, they captured the NBL’s inaugural Ignite Cup in February, with Lopez playing a significant role on a veteran roster. His season highlight came on Jan. 30, when he scored 32 points in a victory over Melbourne. The forward said a back injury suffered last summer limited him early, but he felt fully healthy as the season progressed.
Lopez’s blend of positional size, a 7-foot-1 wingspan, ball-handling ability and toughness has impressed NBA scouts. He acknowledged that perimeter shooting and explosiveness remain areas of focus during the pre-draft process. “Playing in a grown man league, it’s not easy,” Lopez told ESPN. “But there are things I feel people haven’t seen yet.”
Should he be selected in the first round, Lopez would become the first player born in Mexico to achieve that distinction. The son of former Mexican national team member Jesús Hiram Lopez left home at 14 to join Spanish club Joventut Badalona before signing with the Breakers in 2024.
“It’s been my dream since I was five, drawing pictures of myself in the NBA,” Lopez said. “I hope to reach young people in Mexico and show them it doesn’t matter where you’re from.”
The NBA Draft Combine is scheduled for May 10-17 in Chicago, and the draft takes place in late June.
Source: ESPN
