Izan Almansa Abandons NBA Dream to Sign with Real Madrid

Izan Almansa seemed to shake up the NBA market earlier this summer first by training with the Philadelphia 76ers, then playing with them in the G League, and subsequently committing to play with their development team to have a chance to play with the Sixers in the NBA. However, he seems to be putting aside his dream of the top basketball league in the world for now as he has signed with Real Madrid.

As reported by Noelia González, the 20-year-old, 2.08-meter player who is an international with Spain, will now play under the command of Sergio Scariolo, who did not call him up for the current EuroBasket despite him being a senior international.

The Murcian player returns to Real Madrid, where he already played between 2019 and 2021 after starting his career at UCAM de Murcia. He began his American adventure in 2021 at the Overtime Elite Academy, and despite rumors of being a high draft pick, that dream remained distant. He played for the G League Ignite in the 2023/24 season, a project of young talents playing in the NBA Development League that ended up being a failure for players like Almansa.

Therefore, in 2024, Izan Almansa took a new turn in his career. He went to Australia to play for the Perth Wildcats in hopes of improving his draft prospects, which did not materialize. After training with the Sixers and playing in the Summer League, he had committed to the Delaware Blue Coats looking for an opportunity with the Pennsylvania team. However, Real Madrid's call has changed those plans (at least for now, the future remains uncertain).

Consequently, in theory, he will now play under Sergio Scariolo, who already has a strong frontcourt at Real Madrid with the signings of Chuma Okeke, Gabriele Procida, David Kramer, and Theo Maledon. AS reports that a scoring shooting guard is expected to arrive, and Madrid is not ruling out loaning the Murcian player to another ACB team.

Izan Almansa with Spain

Izan Almansa began his journey with the Spanish national team in youth categories, achieving remarkable recognitions. On July 10, 2022, he was named the best player of the U17 World Cup, where Spain lost the final to the United States. He averaged 12.1 points and 12.9 rebounds in that championship, being part of the ideal starting five alongside Lucas Langarita.

On August 7, 2022, in the U18 EuroBasket held in Turkey, he was named MVP after averaging 15.7 points and 10.7 rebounds, contributing to the national team's gold medal victory.

On July 2, 2023, he won gold at the U19 World Cup held in Debrecen, Hungary, also being appointed MVP of the tournament.

At the end of 2024, Sergio Scariolo called him up to debut with the senior Spanish national team. His first game was on November 14, 2024, against Slovakia, where he scored 10 points. Now, let's see how he performs at Real Madrid.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Izan Almansa abandona el sueño NBA para firmar por el Real Madrid