Izan Almansa: The 'Next Big Thing' of Spanish basketball / News - Basketnews.com

Izan Almansa was named MVP of the FIBA U19 World Cup, which Spain won showing an amazing level of talent overall. For the Spanish prospect that was the third MVP award in major FIBA youth competitions in the last two years. Next season, Almansa will play in the G League while preparing for the 2024 NBA Draft.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

For many years now, there has been one constant in Spanish basketball: success. Whether it's club basketball, senior national teams, or juniors, Spain continues to rack up successes and milestones at the highest level.

And this cycle of success doesn't seem to end because every time someone starts to think that the next generation isn't living up to the previous one, a new talent comes along that has the potential to further extend Spanish basketball's cycle of accomplishments.

Several examples could be given but, right now, when thinking about who could be the next great "phenomenon" of Spanish basketball it's hard not to think of Izan Almansa.

He has recently turned 18 but at the international level he has already won virtually everything there was to win and the list of his personal accolades is impressive.

Almansa, in fact, recently led Spain to victory in the U19 World Cup and was named MVP of the competition. The Spanish big man was also previously named MVP of the U17 World Cup, in which Spain finished second after losing the final to the United States.

This is an accomplishment that no one else had achieved in FIBA basketball, winning the title of MVP of both a U17 and U19 World Cup.

The summer of 2023 has proved to be another remarkable success for him, building upon the achievements of the previous year when he secured the prestigious MVP title during the U17 World Cup. Adding to his list of triumphs, he also claimed the MVP title at the U18 European Championship, where Spain emerged victorious for the fifth time in its history.

In essence, Almansa has consistently been the best youth player in all the last major FIBA competitions. After all, Almansa is a guy who has basketball in his DNA.

Born in Murcia in 2005 to a Spanish mother, Izan is the son of former basketball player Steve Horton, who played in Spain during his career in the jerseys of Murcia and Burgos.

His younger brother, Daniel, also plays basketball and seems to have a promising future ahead of him. Almansa began his playing career in the youth sector of Murcia, the city where he was born, before moving to Real Madrid in 2019.

With his growth continuing in an extremely promising way, in the summer of 2021, Almansa made an important decision and decided to leave Europe to go play in the Overtime Elite, a league that had just been founded to recruit some of the most interesting high school prospects internationally.

The Overtime Elite also provides base salaries of at least $100,000 for all players who choose to join the league, as well as a host of other amenities that make it an extremely attractive option for many youngsters.

In the last season, Almansa averaged 9.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in the Overtime Elite league and reached the finals with his team, the YNG Dreamerz, but lost against the City Reapers, a team led by twins Amen and Ausar Thompson, who were both selected in the Top 5 of the 2023 NBA Draft.

To enhance his preparation for the 2024 draft, where he is highly likely to be selected in the first round, Almansa has decided to join the Ignite team in the G League for the upcoming season.

The Ignite was established with the purpose of serving as a platform for top prospects to ready themselves for the NBA draft.

In addition to Almansa, Matas Buzelis, a promising talent from Lithuania, will also be playing alongside him. Buzelis is currently considered the potential top overall pick in the 2024 draft.

"This is the best step to take now to improve my game, play against grown men and also work on my body," Almansa told ESPN about his decision to play in the G League next season.

Credit FIBA

"I decided to continue my development in the U.S. because I want to play here for the next years so I think that being in this environment is going to help me more."

Almansa's recent outstanding performances at the U19 World Cup have further boosted the excitement surrounding him. Within just a year, he has shown remarkable improvement in his game, adding to the growing hype around his potential.

After all, it is hard not to fall in love with the qualities of the Spanish big man and his ability to impact the game.

During the U19 World Cup, Almansa was hands down the most efficient pick-and-roll big man of the entire tournament.

His decision-making was always on point as he was able to choose wisely between rolling aggressively to the basket, short rolling for a mid-range shot, or a pass for a teammate who was cutting backdoor.

He's constantly a threat offensively because he can damage the opposing defense in so many ways: attacking the closeout, beating his opponent off the dribble, taking a jumper from the midrange, or using his passing abilities to find a teammate at the right time.

If he'll become more consistent with his shooting, it's going to be really difficult to find a way to limit him moving forward.

Defensively, this Spanish team that we saw during the U19 World Cup was absolutely filled with great potential: Sediq Garuba, Rafa Villar, and Isac Nogues are all impressive defensive prospects.

For Almansa, it was somewhat easier to make an impression due to the excellent support he received from his teammates throughout the tournament. While it's true that Spain mostly faced teams that were clearly below their level, Almansa still demonstrated a strong defensive performance in multiple games, showcasing his ability to be a valuable defender when fully focused and engaged.

He has the length and the necessary quickness to stay in front of ball-handlers and has also proved of being a good defensive player in drop coverage situations.

Whether those skills will seamlessly translate to the NBA level remains to be seen. However, one thing is certain – Almansa possesses the necessary tools to become, at the very least, a solid defensive asset as he progresses in his career.

Of course, he still needs to grow from a physical perspective as he's still kind of light, especially for the center position, but Almansa only turned 18 a month ago so he has all the time in the world to improve from that perspective.

Credit FIBA

But Almansa's main quality at the moment is precisely his continuity at high levels, his ability to always be decisive in the most important games.

"When you look at him, I think you already know that he's gonna deliver at a certain level," an NBA scout told BasketNews.

"While his ceiling might not be the highest that I've seen, you can always expect from him great performances in the games that really count. It's not a coincidence that he was always the MVP in every major FIBA competition he played in the last two years. In every game, you know what he's gonna bring to the team."

Now that he will have the opportunity to play with the Ignite alongside other top-level talent, the feeling is that Almansa will only get better as he tries to climb higher in the rankings for next year's draft.

The fantastic performances we have seen in the last two years at the FIBA level may just be a glimpse of how strong the Spanish talent can really become in the near future.

In the meantime, Spanish basketball can sleep soundly: with talents like Almansa, there is little doubt that the successes will continue to come in the coming years.

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