Rayan Rupert has impressed for the New Zealand Breakers this season. Photo / Getty Images
Rayan Rupert has impressed for the New Zealand Breakers this season. Photo / Getty Images
Rayan Rupert is committed to the cause.
The young Frenchman has been drawing worldwide attention in his stint in with NBL’s Next Stars programme with the New Zealand Breakers, with his stocks on the rise ahead of this year’s NBA draft.
A rangy guard with good vision, a versatile scoringgame, terrific defence and a work ethic to rival any player in the league, the 18-year-old’s stock has only risen since he arrived in Auckland.
As is the case with most young players who join the league as part of the Next Star’s programme, Rupert came to Auckland with the intention of developing his game in preparation for an NBA career. With no one wanting to diminish their stocks ahead of the draft, injuries can derail their contributions with their NBL team. The Breakers have seen this firsthand after RJ Hampton left the team early in order to best recover from a hip injury before the 2020 NBA draft.
That wasn’t the case with Rupert. Speaking to the Herald from the US this week, Breakers owner Matt Walsh revealed Rupert had the option of leaving the team after he sustained a broken wrist during a game in early November, but chose to stay with the team and help them try to win a championship.
“Rayan has been an absolute dream,” Walsh said. “He’s 100 per cent about the team, he’s 100 per cent about winning.
“It’s difficult with Next Stars. They’re young kids, they’re here to accomplish their dream of playing in the NBA while also helping us win, and we always go out and try and get kids that are about winning first.
“But there’s a lot of pressure on these guys and you know, I don’t know that we’ll ever have another guy like Ryan who is just 100 per cent about the team ... he was a part of this team from the beginning and to see him start and to have this significant role, it’s been amazing and credit goes to (coach) Mody (Maor) and the staff. No question.”
In 20 appearances this season, Rupert is averaging about seven points, three rebounds and a steal in 20 minutes per game, but is shooting at a 40 per cent success rate from the field including 30 per cent from three-point range.
But his statistics don’t necessarily reflect his impact on the game. In his 13 games since returning from injury, in 11 of those Rupert has had a positive number in the plus/minus column of the stats sheet – which is an indicator of how many points better or worse the team was than the opposition during the minutes that player was on court.
Rayan Rupert has started both of the Breakers' semifinal matches against Tasmania. Photo / Photosport
NBA teams have been taking notice. Rupert was projected as a late first-round pick by ESPN upon joining the Breakers, their latest projections have him as the No 16 pick with the potential to be a late lottery pick (spots 1-14 in the draft). Respected US outlet The Athletic placed him as the 13th pick in their latest projections.
“I think of all the next stars we’ve had, Rayan is the most surefire guy you can draft and he’s going to be a 12-year high-level player in the NBA,” Walsh said of Rupert’s potential.
“I think his absolute floor is (Brooklyn Nets forward) Mikal Bridges and I think he’s got a much higher ceiling.
“I’m here at NBA All-Star weekend (in Utah) wearing my Breakers gear; everyone you run into stops you. They want to talk about the team, they want to talk about Rayan.”
Since his return from the wrist injury in early January, Rupert has been a key part in the Breakers finishing the regular season in second place and securing home-court advantage for the semifinals, starting in nine of 13 games including both semifinal games against the Tasmania Jackjumpers.
He is expected to feature heavily again when the sides meet in the semifinal decider at Spark Arena on Sunday night, as they look to secure their place in the grand final for the first time since 2015.
The Breakers won game one of the best-of-three series by 20 at home last Sunday, before the Jackjumpers ran away with game two.
The series is the first time since Walsh and his business partners took over the club in 2018, something Walsh said had been a satisfying achievement, particularly after a couple of tough years in which they were forced to be based away from their home community.
“It’s exciting, you know. It’s exciting for our staff, our commercial staff who for two years worked without any home games, and you know, really scratched and clawed to make it work.
“Then for guys like Mody, Tom Abercrombie, Rob Loe, the guys who’ve been around with us through those two tough Covid years, I’m just very happy for them. They put in a lot of work, not only this year, and to be able to see Spark Arena pumping … it’s very satisfying.
“I’m sure the guys are going to turn up. They’ve answered the bell every single time all season, so I’m sure it won’t change now.”
