Elite overtime forwards Tyler Smith and Izan Almansa signed with the NBA G League Ignite.
“As the basketball landscape evolves, the G League continues to cement its position as a central development pathway for top talent around the world,” said Sherif Abdel-Rahim, President of the NBA. “We are excited to welcome Tyler and Eazan to the NBA G League family, where they will have the opportunity to learn from our coaches and veterans of NBA caliber and battle against the best talent in our league. We are excited to continue building on the foundation started at OTE to help Tyler and Eazan prepare for successful careers in the league. American Pro.
Smith is from Houston, attended George Bush High School in Fort Bend County, Texas, before signing his first professional contract with the Overtime Elite in August 2021. Prior to joining OTE, ESPN five-star prospects unanimously ranked him the No. 8 player in the category High School 2023.
In 2022-23 with OTE’s Cold Hearts, Smith averaged 15.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 47.5 percent from the field, earning All-OTE Second Team honors. In his rookie season with Team OTE in 2021-22, Smith finished fourth in the league in three-point field goal percentage (36.2).
Almansa, who is from Spain, is currently projected the 18th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft by ESPN. He spent the past two seasons with the Overtime Elite, averaging 9.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists during the 2022-23 season with the YNG Dreamerz.
Last summer when he played for Spain, Almansa became the first player to win the MVP award at both the FIBA Under-17 World Cup and the FIBA U18 European Championship.
said Damien Wilkins, general manager and president of basketball at OTE. “We have proven successful in building a strong foundation for players as they look to continue their basketball careers, and we are proud and excited for both of these men as they head out to compete in the G League Ignite.”
Smith and Almansa join McDonald’s Matas Bozelis and Ron Holland in 2023, NBA Academy alumni Thierry Darlan and Babacar Sane, Ignite sophomore London Johnson and Texas high school standout Dink Pate on the 2023-24 Ignite roster .
Ignite has produced four top 10 NBA Draft draft picks in the past three years — more than any program in that period — in Jalen Green (2021, No. 2, Houston Rockets), Jonathan Cuminga (2021, No. 7, Golden State Warriors), Dyson Daniels (2022, No. 8, New Orleans Pelicans) and Scott Henderson (2023, No. 3, Portland Trail Blazers). Ignite has earned a total of 10 NBA Draft draft picks in the past three years, the highest total for a program in that span.