The 2023 FIBA World Cup ended with a gold medal for Germany, a silver medal for Serbia, and a bronze medal for Canada. Most players with high expectations heading into the tournament met them, even if their teams did not.
This led to an unsurprising All-Star Five for the tournament of Dennis Schroder, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Luka Doncic. Schroder and Gilgeous-Alexander led their countries to new heights, and both Doncic and Edwards brought their teams as far as they could before running into tough opponents.
While the stars of the tournament impressed but were unsurprising, there were plenty of players who were very underrated heading into the tournament and had very solid performances either as stars or role players for their teams who made deep runs. This formed the basis for our All-Underrated team, a player at each position and a sixth man who had a much larger impact on their teams' performance in the tournament than expected.
Some of these players surprised as stars, and went from zero to hero for their home country based on their play. Others simply deserve more recognition for what they brought to the table for their team in each and every game, and the final few thrived in their role. They did exactly what their teams needed them to do to help them win games.
After all, stars aren't the only reason Germany, Serbia, and Canada won medals this summer and Latvia overperformed. Their entire rotation was critical to their success, every minute and every possession mattered, and these players exemplified that in limited roles. They may not be getting any extra recognition from FIBA, but we're going to give it to them here and talk about how they can carry this into their club play next season.
Here's the 2023 FIBA World Cup All-Underrated team.
2023 FIBA World Cup: All-Underrated Team
Point Guard - Arturs Zagars
From European basketball's next big thing to failed prospect due to injuries, Arturs Zagars has seen it all in his short professional career. Most European basketball fans had not given the youngster much thought heading into the FIBA World Cup. Latvia was without Kristaps Porzingis, in a group with Canada and France, and thus expected to swiftly be eliminated in the first round. Zagars and Latvia had other ideas, though.
They beat France in their second game thanks to 22 points and five assists from Zagars and clinched their place in the second round. There, they would meet Spain, the reigning champions who they would need to beat to advance to the quarterfinals. They did exactly that, and Zagars' seven points and five assists were key in their second major upset victory of the tournament.
After beating Brazil by 20 they officially qualified for the quarterfinals and drew Germany. Germany would go on to win the gold medal, but Latvia pushed them all the way and got a final shot for Davis Bertans to win the game. Their dream run was over, but Zagars thrived once more and finished with 24 points and eight assists.
The 23-year-old was a free agent heading into the tournament, but it doesn't appear that will be the case for much longer. According to Aris Barkas of Eurohoops, Zagars is signing with Fenerbahce and joining Lithuanian club BC Wolves on loan for at least the start of the season. We may see the youngster back in EuroLeague soon.
Shooting Guard - Andreas Obst
Germany was known for their star power heading into the tournament: Dennis Schroder, Daniel Theis and Franz Wagner. Those three playing well would likely be enough to bring this team to the quarterfinals or semifinals at minimum. For them to go further than that, or even win a gold medal which they ultimately accomplished, they were going to need their role players to step up.
Insert Andreas Obst, who not only stepped up as a role player but powered his team to victory over Team USA in the semifinals. Obst, a shooting guard for Bayern Munich, has been a known lights-out shooter and scorer in European basketball for quite some time. It looked like Team USA skipped that part of the scouting report in their matchup though.
Obst torched the United States for 24 points, six assists, and four 3's. It was arguably the best role-player performance of the tournament, and there's no denying that Germany does not win the gold medal without Obst. Obst is heading into his third season with Bayern Munich and under new head coach Pablo Laso. He and fellow German teammate Isaac Bonga will be looking to return to the playoffs after the club just barely missed out on the EuroLeague Final Four in 2021 and 2022.
Small Forward - Isaac Bonga
Isaac Bonga never got comfortable in the NBA, but perhaps that was for the best. He's been playing the best basketball of his career since returning to Europe with Bayern Munich one year ago and carried that play into the FIBA World Cup.
Bonga is an interesting case. He was projected as a point-forward type coming into the league, but that skillset never came to fruition and as he reverted to a three-and-d archetype on the wing he struggled with his shot which pushed him out of the league. He ended up shooting 37 percent from deep across all competitions for Bayern last season and shot 43 percent from deep for Germany this summer.
Bonga is still only 23 years old and new head coach Pablo Laso has a reputation for developing and improving young players. Laso was critical in the development of Sergio Llull and Luka Doncic during his time at Real Madrid. Laso can't turn Bonga into either of those guys, but perhaps he can help him rediscover some of his former on-ball skills and add another layer to his game.
If Bonga becomes a multi-dimensional offensive player next season, he could receive NBA interest again soon.
Power Forward - Roland Smits
With Latvia this summer, he shot 38 percent from deep on four attempts per game while also averaging 13 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Arturs Zagars made the headlines, Davis Bertans and Rodions Kurucs were the known names heading into the tournament, but Smits was very important to Latvia's shock run to the quarterfinals.
Smits is under contract with Zalgiris for the upcoming season but still only 28 years old. He's got a lot of time left in his career and his play style should age well. He is known for his floor spacing and shot over 40 percent on unguarded catch-and-shoot 3's last season, per Synergy, but is also a solid finisher at the rim even while not being the most explosive player.
His offensive touch from the perimeter and around the rim would set him up perfectly to play a similar role in the NBA. Teams should keep an eye on him for the upcoming season.
Center - Nikola Milutinov
Who needs Nikola Jokic when you've got Nikola Milutinov? Okay, Serbia would probably still take Jokic. He is the best basketball player in the world of course, but Milutinov did a pretty good job of making Serbians forget about the two-time NBA MVP's absence from this summer's FIBA World Cup.
Milutinov is an old-school big man. He's tall and strong and thrives at using his body to gain advantages for himself and his team. He is an animal on the backboards, a brutal screen setter, and protects the rim gracefully. He carries grace in his offensive game too.
Don't let his size and slowness fool you, Milutinov has impeccable footwork and an exquisite touch around the rim. He doesn't fly high for dunks or stretch the floor, but there's no one better in Europe at dominating the game with their size besides Edy Tavares.
Milutinov will be back in EuroLeague this season after signing with Olympiacos over the summer. Even after the departure of Kostas Sloukas and Sasha Vezenkov, Milutinov and Olympiacos will still have their sights set on the EuroLeague crown. If Milutinov plays like he did for Serbia this summer, expect Olympiacos to be a contender for the third season in a row.
Sixth Man - Aleksa Avramovic
Sticking to positions, there just wasn't a spot for Serbia's Aleksa Avramovic in the starting five of this team. However, it would be entirely irresponsible to not find a way to include Avramovic after his stellar impact on Serbia's silver medal summer. We decided to bring him off the bench, just like Svetislav Pesic did with him for Serbia.
Avramovic was a killer off the bench for Serbia in this tournament. In 17 minutes per game, he averaged 11.3 points, 2.1 assists, and 1.6 steals. Serbia is usually known for their offensive firepower at the point guard position with the likes of Milos Teodosic and Vasilije Micic in their ranks, but Avramovic and Stefan Jovic flipped the script for Serbia this summer. They led with defense first, with hounding ball pressure that frustrated opponents to the point of countless mistakes.
Their offense, both individually and as a team, was fueled by their defensive disruptions. It gave them the confidence they needed to beat anyone, and Avramovic was instrumental in that. Avramovic is only 28 years old and is returning to Partizan Belgrade who have their sights set on making the EuroLeague Final Four after losing in Game 5 to Real Madrid in the 2023 EuroLeague playoffs.
