2025 Draft Watch: Evaluating Ben Saraf in an Israeli BSL Game

September 9th, 2024

This time around, I wanted to watch 6-5 Israeli guard Ben Saraf play, as he is a skilled combo guard that put up fairly solid numbers last season as a teenager in the Israeli BSL, which is the top league is Israel. I managed to watch him play in a May 15th game for Ironi Kiryat ATA against Haopel Holon with thanks to YouTube via מנהלת ליגת העל בכדורסל, and he is a talented player whose ability to compete on both ends of the floor may make him an intriguing prospect for the 2025 draft. Others have written about him as well, so he may be coming in with some draft buzz. Here are my thoughts on how he fared, as well as how his game may translate to the NBA.

Ben Saraf showed a decent ability to score off the dribble. Though he doesn’t have an elite first step to the hoop, he is a strong, aggressive player that showed a knocking absorbing the contact to frequently get to the free throw line. He also managed to get the ball on a broken play to score on a baseline drive early on. On the downside, he would sometimes tend to over-penetrate and take tough shots against the defense, which would lead to misses when he wouldn’t get foul calls.

He also did a good job of scoring on fast breaks. Saraf was able to drive up court to score on a two-handed dunk. He also ran the floor to score on a give and go layup. Plus, he also showed off a fairly solid mid-range shot. Saraf has solid footwork, and he was able to make a couple of dribble, mid-range jumpers effortlessly in this game. On the downside, three-point shooting may be Saraf’s biggest weakness right now. He made only 25% of his threes in the Israeli BSL in the 2023-24 season, and he didn’t shoot well from beyond the arc, either. Saraf missed plenty of threes, both open and contested, regardless if it was off the catch or dribble. He did manage to make a quick, contested three off the catch once, and Saraf showed a quick, compact stroke that did not waste any motion that time, which showed promise that maybe Saraf could develop a reliable three-point shot in the future.

He also showcased adequate playmaking skills in this game. Saraf is an unselfish player that will make the extra pass, and he will make touch passes and quickly get the ball to his teammates to set up scoring chances for them. He can push the pace and make outlet passes as well as passes off the dribble, and he also showed the willingness to set screens for his teammates. Saraf showed that he can reliably play the point or off the ball, and he generally gets good touch on his passes. On the downside, he would tend to over-dribble, which would lead to some ball-handling turnovers. He didn’t seem to trust his outside shot enough, and he had a tendency to drive into defenders that would lead him to try to make highly risky plays.

He also did a satisfactory job of rebounding the basketball. Saraf would leap up to get defensive rebounds, and he would sometimes push the pace or quickly bring the ball up the floor.

Also, he played satisfactory defense in this game. Saraf is a high-motor defender that can roam and cover plenty of ground to make plays on the defensive end. He was able to hustle back to make an impressive shot block in transition to a teammate due to possessing solid athleticism, timing, motor, and instincts. He also would jump passes and chase down loose balls to get steals. He also showed that he can ably contest shots in the post and in transition to force misses. However, when defending opponents off the dribble on the ball, at times he looked a step slow defensively. He got beat off the dribble once when defending a baseline drive to allow a score. Other times, he wouldn’t get his hands up when defending passes, which would lead opponents to make easy passes that would set up scoring chances for the other team.

Overall, Ben Saraf is an agile, skilled guard that excelled at making plays on both ends of the floor, and he seems to have a fairly solid set of all-around skills. He’ll really need to improve his three-point shot, and that would add another dimension to his game offensively. He will be playing for Ratiopharm Ulm for the 2024-25 season, so NBA scouts and teams will be watching to see how well he plays for them in the German BBL this season. Currently, Saraf is a second round prospect for the 2025 draft. He is a skilled player that made solid plays on both ends of the floor, and if he continues to improve his three-point shot, he could end up being a solid role player similar to former player, Kent Bazemore in the NBA.