Israelis Ben Saraf, Danny Wolf drafted by Brooklyn Nets

Wolf, who is Israeli-American, was chosen right after Saraf in the first round.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Israelis Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf were selected by the Brooklyn Nets in back-to-back picks in the NBA draft Wednesday, making basketball history in the Jewish state, with two players going to the same team in the same draft.

Still needing one more game to win the national, Bundesliga championship in Germany with his team, Ratiopharm Ulm, which will be played on Thursday, Saraf could not attend the draft but was ecstatic with the news that will now take him to the world’s top league.

“This is a dream,” he said to local reporters. “To be here is one thing, but to be here with Danny, in Brooklyn… it’s something I’ll never forget.”

It was, he said, ““a surreal reward for years of hard work,” and going to a team with such a large and strong Jewish community “makes this even more meaningful.”

Before starring in Ulm, the 19-year-old point guard played tremendous basketball for Israel, taken from local squads to lead the Under-19 national team last year to a fourth-place finish in the European Championship and being named tournament MVP.

After the Nets took Saraf at No. 26, ESPN’s draft analyst, Jonathan Givony, extolled him as “The 6’6 Israeli [who] brings an impressive combination of size, scoring instincts, feel, aggressiveness and playmaking, showing supreme timing and creativity operating in pick-and-roll.”

“Considering Saraf’s passing talent,” NBA.com analyzed, “he should be able to function as a floor general wherever he lands. His size could allow him to play multiple positions…. That versatility is valuable and provides a potential pathway to minutes on a variety of teams and he could draw comparisons to [NBA stars] Elfrid Payton or Manu Ginobili.”

Wolf, all of 21 himself, is American born and bred, but became a naturalized Israeli citizen due to his being a Jew, and helped the country’s U20 team land a silver medal in 2023’s European championship.

He had visited Israel many times in the past and had his bar mitzva in the Jewish state, he said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post before the youth campaign began, and was “very excited and super thankful for the opportunity that I was presented with” to represent Israel on the international circuit for the first time.

Wolf was a star center for the University of Michigan this past year after transferring from Yale, where he had earned first-team All-Ivy League honors in his sophomore year.

After being picked right after Saraf, Wolf said, “I went from not playing much in the Ivy League to hearing my name called in the first round,” marveling at his “dream come true.”

“I know how much this means back in Israel,” he added, “and I’m going to do everything I can to represent that on and off the court.”

Standing an inch under seven feet tall, Wolf led the Big Ten in rebounds, but was also known as an excellent ballhandler, shooter and passer.

“If there’s another leap in the tank, Wolf can be a scary-good scorer who any NBA team will want for his size and passing capabilities,” wrote Michigan Wolverines analyst Kellen Voss before the draft.

The new teammates each signed four-year contracts with the rebuilding Brooklyn squad, and will join Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija to become the first troika of Israelis in the NBA.