The Australian NBL season is still young, but given that most teams have played eight or more games, we’re in a good spot to check out the play of five Next Stars this season: Rocco Zikarsky, Alex Toohey, Izan Almansa, Karim Lopez, Malique Lewis, and the draft-eligible but The Next Star is not Ben Henshall.

Toohey is the cream of the crop right now. His three-point shooting has finally cooled off, which brings back harsh memories of how cold his shooting was last season, but he’s posting 10.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game on 45/31/65 shooting. meets the averages. divides. He also finds tough defensive matchups in most games and uses his strength and physicality to make an impact. Toohey started all eight games for the Kings, who are 5-3. If he can improve his three-point and free throw percentages, he could be looking at a late first-round pick in 2025.

Rocco Zikarsky was and still is the most touted Next Star coming into the season, but his struggles continued. He scored two points in his last three games and averaged 10 minutes per game. we were Zikarsky’s best critics and although this is guaranteed, the Brisbane Bullets as a whole are not performing well. They won just two of their first six games and have fallen behind by heavy margins on several occasions this season. Zikarsky’s game isn’t on the same level, but neither is his surroundings.

Izan Almansa is having his best game of the season against Toohey’s Sydney Kings. He finished the game with 14 points and 6 rebounds by shooting 6/7 in 23 minutes. The Perth Wildcats earned a much-needed 87-84 victory thanks to a strong performance. Almansa continues to be a useful bench player for the Wildcats, averaging 6.6 points and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes per game. Stepping up like he did in this important game against the Kings was his first breakout game of the season.

Malique Lewis hasn’t had the hottest start for the South East Melbourne Phoenix, but neither has the team. They managed to win only two of the first eight matches in a very similar manner to Zikarsky, it is difficult to fight him in an environment that is not conducive to success. While Lewis averages 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, he also shoots 38% from deep and occasionally makes big plays on defense. He recently had a solid performance against the Illawarra Hawks with 12 points and 6 rebounds.

Ben Henshall continues to be a confusing bench player for the Perth Wildcats. He averages 6.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3 assists per game, but the differences from game to game are pretty staggering. In their last matchup against the Sydney Kings, he finished with two points on 0-of-10 shooting from the field, including 0-of-10 from beyond the arc, but had eight assists and six rebounds. In the previous game against New Zealand Breakers, 13 points on 5/8 shooting and 2/5 shooting from distance, but also 5 turnovers. Like most bench players, his production is inconsistent from game to game.

Karim Lopez returned to the field after being sidelined for a month due to a minor ankle injury. The sample size isn’t large enough to comment on at this stage, and the injury also forced him to miss the Breakers’ preseason games against NBA teams, which was disappointing.

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