Fifteen international players were among the first 30 picks in the 2016 NBA draft Thursday, which set a record for the most foreign-born prospects selected in the first round, per NetScouts Basketball's Carl Berman.
The previous record was 12, which was set in 2013, per NBA.com.
Two international players went within the first four picks.
The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Ben Simmons, a native of Melbourne, Australia, with the No. 1 pick, and the Phoenix Suns selected 18-year-old Croatian Dragan Bender at No. 4.
Here's a list of all 15 players born outside the U.S. to go in the first round:
The 76ers continued loading up on international prospects. In addition to Simmons, they selected Timothe Luwawu (France) at No. 24 and Furkan Korkmaz (Turkey) at No. 26. They will join Cameroon-born Joel Embiid, Canada-born Nik Stauskas and Croatia-born Dario Saric, a 22-year-old who has yet to move to the NBA.
Georgios Papagiannis was one of the more surprising international players to come off the board in the first round. The Suns snapped him up with the No. 13 pick, but Papagiannis will h ...
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Article written by Joseph Zucker
2016 NBA Draft Sets Record for Most International Players Selected in 1st Round
June 23rd, 2016 by Joseph Zucker Leave a reply »
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