Top 10 NBA players at 2025 EuroBasket

2. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece

2025-26 age: 31 | Milwaukee Bucks

2024-25 estimated projections: plus-5.0 offense | plus-0.7 defense | plus-5.7 overall

Antetokounmpo has finished no lower than fourth in NBA MVP voting for an incredible seven straight seasons and has won it twice, though the Bucks have claimed only a single championship in that span. He finds himself in a similar role with Greece at the international level: He averaged 25.8 points at the Olympics last summer, but his team finished eighth. And he led all scorers with 29.3 PPG at EuroBasket 2022, but Greece finished fifth.

The team won this event in 2005 and medaled again in 2009, so, ironically, the emergence of the country's greatest NBA player has coincided with mediocre showings at international tournaments. If he gets cleared to play, Antetokounmpo should once again dominate individually.

3. Luka Dončić, Slovenia

2025-26 age: 26 | Los Angeles Lakers

2024-25 estimated projections: plus-4.5 offense | plus-0.7 defense | plus-5.2 overall

Arguably the biggest appeal of this tournament for NBA fans is the chance to see Dončić in meaningful action for the first time since his much-discussed summer body transformation. Of course, the statistical forecasts can't factor in those physique changes, but they do know that Dončić maintained a relatively steady version of his impact after his shocking midseason trade to the Lakers, even if he wasn't as dominant in the first-round playoff defeat as he had been in leading Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals.

After evading a significant injury during a recent exhibition game, EuroBasket should be Dončić's usual showcase. He has been a fixture on this stage since playing for the gold medal-winning Slovenian team in 2017 at age 17, and he was one of the best players in the 2022 tournament -- an early sign that he was about to take his game to an even higher level. Slovenia follows Serbia, Germany and France on the odds board, but another new-and-improved version of Dončić could be the difference-maker.

4. Franz Wagner, Germany

2025-26 age: 24 | Orlando Magic

2024-25 estimated projections: plus-3.1 offense | plus-0.9 defense | plus-4.0 overall

Wagner has long been a fixture on these RAPTOR-based lists, and his presence has aged well. Set to turn 24 on the opening day of EuroBasket, he is coming off the best season of his NBA career despite battling through a torn right oblique at midseason. He has already had success in these international tournaments: He won bronze with Germany at EuroBasket 2022, gold at the 2023 FIBA World Cup then finished fourth at the Olympics last year.

While Germany's roster features multiple NBA players -- and could have had more if Isaiah Hartenstein and Franz's brother Moritz weren't missing the tournament -- Wagner is the biggest reason Germany has the second-best odds to win it. And if his 3-point shot is as improved as the pre-tournament buzz would indicate, this could be a preview of another arrow in his quiver for the next NBA season.

5. Alperen Şengün, Turkey

2025-26 age: 23 | Houston Rockets

2024-25 estimated projections: plus-1.8 offense | plus-0.6 defense | plus-2.4 overall

Şengün has said he wants to win both EuroBasket 2025 and an NBA championship with the Rockets this season. Houston does look solid enough -- it has the fifth-best title odds -- after adding Kevin Durant to a young core headlined by Şengün and Amen Thompson. But Şengün will have to raise his game early to win the EuroBasket for a Turkish squad that is tied for seventh to win the tournament and hasn't finished better than eighth since winning silver in 2001.

This will be one of the highest-profile international events Şengün has played in, and like with Wagner, it will be a chance to showcase any developments in his shooting ability. After hitting only 23.3% of his shots from downtown last season, Şengün's jumper is one of the few weaknesses left for him to correct before leaping into another tier of young stars.

6. Kristaps Porziņģis, Latvia

2025-26 age: 30 | Atlanta Hawks

2024-25 estimated projections: plus-1.7 offense | plus-0.4 defense | plus-2.2 overall

After a successful stint with the Celtics that helped bring Boston the 2024 NBA title, the one-time "unicorn" turns to the next chapter of his hoops career. Before he takes the court for the Hawks, though, he will add to a EuroBasket résumé that has been dormant for nearly a decade. A 21-year-old Porziņģis impressed for Latvia in 2017, averaging 23.6 points and 6.0 rebounds as Latvia finished fifth. This year's roster, which also features former NBA players Dāvis and Dairis Bertāns, has lower expectations with the ninth-best odds. But Latvia did finish fifth in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and is the main host country for EuroBasket 2025, which should provide a bump in Porziņģis' performance.

7. Lauri Markkanen, Finland

2025-26 age: 28 | Utah Jazz

2024-25 estimated projections: plus-2.2 offense | minus-0.9 defense | plus-1.3 overall

Markkanen was one of the NBA's most impressive players in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, even reaching the level of performance that made him a possible member of a championship-contending core by historical NBA standards. But last season he experienced drops across nearly all of his metrics, resulting in a below-average estimated RAPTOR (minus-0.5). He still projects as an above-average player based on his strengths, but he needs to bounce back this season to return to that star track from before. And if his performance in pre-tournament friendlies is any indication -- he had 42 points and 12 rebounds against Poland earlier in the week -- Markkanen might be motivated for another big performance in the tournament.

8. Deni Avdija, Israel

2025-26 age: 25 | Portland Trail Blazers

2024-25 estimated projections: plus-0.7 offense | plus-0.4 defense | plus-1.1 overall

Avdija is possibly the most underrated player at this EuroBasket. He made full use of a trade that sent him from the Washington Wizards to the Portland Trail Blazers this past summer, breaking out for new career high averages in points(16.9), rebounds (7.3), assists (3.9), True Shooting percentage (60.5%), PER (17.7), Win Shares (5.6), estimated RAPTOR (plus-1.7) and WAR (5.1). Hints of further progress as a shooter and ball handler would prove his staying power.

He does have a history of big performances on the international stage: He was MVP of the 2019 FIBA U20 European Championship, hosted in his native Israel, averaging 18.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.1 steals and 2.4 blocks en route to gold. Though that type of team success is unlikely this time around (Israel is tied for the lowest odds in the field), Avdija should put up good individual numbers.

9. Santi Aldama, Spain

2025-26 age: 25 | Memphis Grizzlies

2024-25 estimated projections: plus-0.4 offense | plus-0.5 defense | plus-0.9 overall

Spain is a team in transition, and Aldama will be in the middle of all that upheaval. The defending champs have won four of the past six EuroBaskets and finished outside the podium just once since 1997 when it finished fourth in 2005. However, they slipped to ninth in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and 10th in the 2024 Olympics, as the veterans who powered their golden era have slowed down or been phased out.

Longtime coach Sergio Scariolo -- a four-time EuroBasket champion who has mostly led this team since 2009 -- will depart after the tournament. That means, with help from Willy and Juancho Hernangómez, Aldama is one of the leaders of the next generation of Spain stars. He was one of the most improved players in the NBA last season, rising from a RAPTOR of minus-1.7 to plus-1.8 on the strength of a more versatile offensive skillset (and with better talent to play with on a revitalized Grizzlies squad). Still, Spain is likely to abdicate its EuroBasket crown, ranking a distant sixth on the odds board.

10. Neemias Queta, Portugal

2025-26 age: 26 | Boston Celtics

2024-25 estimated projections: minus-0.4 offense | plus-0.7 defense | plus-0.2 overall

Queta posted an impressive plus-4.6 RAPTOR in a very limited sample of 333 minutes (11.9 MPG) in 2023-24 but fell to minus-0.1 in an expanded role with 863 minutes in Boston's crowded center rotation last season. He didn't exactly have the same on-versus-off-court team efficiency split (plus-9.4 per 100 possessions) he had boasted a year before. Still, league-average NBA players don't exactly grow on trees, and this is a good chance for Queta to improve on a relatively high-level international stage.

Other players to watch: Nikola Vučević, Montenegro (Chicago Bulls); Dennis Schröder, Germany (Sacramento Kings); Moussa Diabaté, France (Charlotte Hornets); Guerschon Yabusele, France (New York Knicks); Bogdan Bogdanović, Serbia (LA Clippers); Pelle Larsson, Sweden (Miami Heat); Luka Garza, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Boston Celtics)