There are 15 Australian NBA players slated to start the 2024-25 season on the rosters of their respective teams. Fifteen!
The Aussie basketball pipeline to the NBA continues to grow. There have never been as many or as talented of players as there are this season. Whether you want to follow your favorite Australian NBA players from the list, or have a flutter on a futures bet to add some fun to the season, we have you covered here at Before You Bet.
Aussies In The NBA: 2024-25 Season Preview & Picks For Australian Basketball Players
List Of Australian NBA Players
Here's a simple list of Aussie basketball players who you'll see in the NBA this season. Names are in alphabetical order, and analysis of each follows below.
- Dyson Daniels , G/F, Atlanta Hawks
- Alex Ducas, G, Oklahoma City Thunder
- Dante Exum, G, Dallas Mavericks
- Johnny Furphy, F, Indiana Pacers
- Josh Giddey, G, Chicago Bulls
- Josh Green, G/F, Charlotte Hornets
- Joe Ingles, F, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Kyrie Irving, G, Dallas Mavericks
- Jock Landale, C, Houston Rockets
- Jack McVeigh, F, Houston Rockets
- Patty Mills, G, Utah Jazz
- Duop Reath, C, Portland Trail Blazers
- Ben Simmons, PF, Brooklyn Nets
- Matisse Thybulle, G/F, Portland Trail Blazers
- Luke Travers, F, Cleveland Cavaliers
Australian NBA Players: The Stars
Kyrie Irving - Dallas Mavericks
He was born in Melbourne and holds dual American and Australian citizenship, so we're going to continue to claim him!
The eight-time All Star has been the model of consistency throughout his career. Give or take a few counting stats, he has averaged 26/5/6 for each of the past 9 seasons. There's no reason to expect anything else from Kyrie in the 2024-25 campaign.
The better question to ask is what we can expect Irving's team to do.
Last season, Dallas surprised many with their deep playoff run and NBA Finals appearance. They will most certainly not be sneaking up on anyone this year – and that starts with the oddsmakers. The Mavs currently have the third shortest odds to win the Western Conference $6.00 and fifth shortest odds to win the NBA Finals outright $12 at Ladbrokes.
Mavericks to Win NBA Finals
$12
The Mavs roster is built around Irving and Luka Doncic, its two generational game-changers, and a "Lobs & Bombs" offense. You'll get a heavy dose of drives, dishes, 3-pointers and alley-oops each game. It's wildly entertaining - and it should be more efficient this year, too.
In 2023, Dallas averaged the second 3-point attempts per game (39.5), but finished with only the 13th-best shooting percentage (36.9%) from downtown. The offseason additions of sharpshooters Klay Thompson and Quentin Grimes will provide a significant shooting upgrade.
The team also returns its top three bigs - Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington - meaning Dallas both shored up its most significant need and kept its core intact. So no matter how you slice it, this team is poised to make another postseason push.
So if you fancy a futures bet while following the most famous Aussie basketball player in the NBA, then this might be your ticket. Dallas is as dangerous as any team to win the Western Conference this year.
Mavericks to Win Western Conference
$6.00
Josh Giddey - Chicago Bulls
He might not have star power in the celebrity sense yet, but Giddey already is a star in terms of stuffing the stats sheets. He should take another significant step forward this season, too.
The 22-year-old is a walking triple-double. Traded from Oklahoma City to Chicago this offseason, Giddey now has a clear path to consistent playing time. The Bulls hope the Australian basketball player will be a franchise building block for years to come.
While it's not clear exactly who will start between Giddey, Coby White and Zach LaVine, minutes and usage will be far more available for the former sixth-overall NBA Draft pick then they would be if he had remained on the loaded Oklahoma City roster. With career averages of 13.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists in just 28.9 minutes per game, even a modest increase of minutes in the low-30s could morph these numbers into a monstrous line.
The Bulls won't win many games as a team, but Giddey has a realistic chance of being crowned as 2024's Most Improved Player. His odds to win the award currently sit at $13 at Bet365. If you're going all-in on Australian NBA players this year, backing Giddey for Most Improved Player is a bet we can get behind.
Giddey to Win Most Improved
$13
Ben Simmons - Brooklyn Nets
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
The (former) star's issues continue both on and off the court. He holds the unenviable record for highest-fined player in NBA history - he was docked more than $19 Million USD over the course of his 2021 holdout - and we'd expect that to be the extent of any theoretical hardware he'll win.
Worse yet, Brooklyn's win total currently sits at a league-low 19.5 games ($1.90) at Neds. We'll take the under on the Nets' win total and look ahead to the next time Simmons suits up for the Australian National Basketball Team instead.
Nets to Win Under 19.5 Games
$1.90
Australian NBA Players: The Rookies
Johnny Furphy - Indiana Pacers
Furphy joins the Pacers after spending one year at the University of Kansas. The 19-year-old Melbourne native was drafted 35th overall and is going to be brought along slowly. He doesn't have a clear path to seeing any meaningful minutes this season.
Furphy to Win Rookie of the Year
$151
Alex Ducas - Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder signed Ducas as an undrafted free agent. The good news is that he joins one of the favorites to win the NBA Finals this year. The bad news is that he's absolutely buried on the depth chart and likely to spend the entire season developing in the G-League.
Jack McVeigh - Houston Rockets
McVeigh has made a name for himself as an Australian basketball player in Australia, not America. (Or at least not yet!) The 28-year-old was a key piece on last year's NBL Champion Tasmania JackJumpers. He was named both Club MVP as well as Grand Final MVP.
This array of accomplishments put McVeigh on the radar of NBA scouts. He has signed a two-way contract, meaning he's likely to spend more time this season playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers - Houston's G-League team - than the Rockets. While it's an amazing accomplishment to crossover as an Australian NBA player, last year's NBL accolades are most certainly going to be the highlight of his professional career.
Luke Travers, F, Cleveland Cavaliers
Selected as the 56th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Travers has spent the past two seasons in the NBL and therefore still qualifies as an NBA rookie. Similar to fellow Australian NBA players Furphy and Ducas, Travers technically plays for a title contender, but will spend the majority of 2024 playing for that team's G League squad instead.
Pivoting from the Aussie player to the team he plays on, the Cavaliers are a solid sleeper pick to win the Eastern Conference this year. After signing their three existing stars - Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen - to contract extensions this offseason, the Cavs are quite literally going forth into 2024 with the same group as 2023 and 2022. The thinking is that the team has never been healthy during the playoffs, and that health and continuity alone will make the difference
It's a valid thought. At some point you have to be on the side that benefits a team's injuries, right? Right?!
Cavaliers to Win Eastern Conference
$19
Alexandre Sarr - Washington Wizards
French by birth, he's more an Australian basketball star than an Australian proper, but we'd be remiss if we didn't include him on this list - especially since he's making headlines for all the wrong reasons this preseason!
The former Perth Wildcats centre was drafted with the second overall pick in this year's NBA Draft. While he initially generated buzz as a Rookie Of The Year candidate, his stock has bombed after historically poor showings in the NBA Summer League. On July 16, he went scoreless after shooting 0-for-15 from the field. Over four total games, he shot a combined 9 of 47 across 118 minutes.
It's entirely too early to write off the 19-year-old, but for this article's purposes, we wouldn't blame you for skipping over Sarr this season specifically. If you want to be a part of his potential bounce-back, you can take a punt on the seven-footer winning Rookie of the Year at $10 odds at Bet365.
Sarr to Win Rookie of the Year
$10
Australian NBA Players: The Veterans
Dyson Daniels - Atlanta Hawks
Daniels is set to be a solid role player for the Hawks this season. His contributions as an Australian basketball player on the national team are much more noteworthy than anything that's projected for his 2024-25 NBA season.
Dante Exum - Dallas Mavericks
Similar to Daniels, Exum has established himself as a regular role player in the NBA. While he doesn't play major minutes, he still finds ways to make a major impact. Last season, he helped the Mavericks make the NBA Finals. He'll miss the first 3 months of the 2024-25 season with a groin injury, but barring any setbacks, should be a part of another postseason push.
Mavericks to Win Western Conference
$6.00
Josh Green - Charlotte Hornets
Green would be an AFL star if it weren't for his family moving from Sydney to Phoenix, Arizona in 2014. This past July, he was traded from the Mavericks to the Hornets. While his team's situation has been downgraded significantly, he's now in a much better position from a personal performance perspective.
Green is slated to start for Charlotte this season. Still only 23 years old, there's time for the former 2020 1st-round pick to establish a more meaningful toehold as an Australian NBA player. His minutes, rebounds, assists and field goal attempts per game have increased every year of his career.
From a punting perspective, we see value in taking under 30.5 team wins here. The Hornets only won 21 games in 2023, and while this is due in no small part to star point guard LaMelo Ball missing most of the second half, the team simply isn't very talented. At a minimum, they didn't make any major improvements this offseason. For a franchise that's in full roster rebuild mode, Charlotte's win total is a fine future to wager on if you're planning on following the 2024-25 NBA season.
Hornets to Win Under 30.5 Games
$1.90
Patty Mills - Utah Jazz
Jock Landale - Houston Rockets
Duop Reath - Portland Trailblazers
Matisse Thybulle - Portland Trailblazers
Joe Ingles - Minnesota Timberwolves
Patty Mills is timeless. Jock Landale and Duop Reath are settling in as deep bench pieces. Matisse Thybulle remains one of the best on-ball defenders in the NBA, albeit on a terrible team. What you see is what you get with this set of veteran Australian basketball players in the NBA, and that's a good thing.
It's Joe Ingles who stands out has having the most interesting 2024 season of the lot. The 37-year-old signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who many consider to be the team to beat in the Western Conference. The team's odds to do so currently sit at $6.00 at Ladbrokes. Fittingly, these odds are shorter than Dallas's - and it was Dallas who eliminated Minnesota in the Western Conference Finals last year!
Will we see another Mavs vs. Wolves conference final? We wouldn't fault anyone who wagers that we will.
Timberwolves to Win Western Conference
$6.00
