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Report: 7'2" Center Kai Sotto from Philippines to Sign NBA G League Contract
May 11, 2020
The G League will add its first international player as part of its draft prospect program with Kai Sotto signing with the organization, according to Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic.
The 7'2" center from the Philippines will join the new G League team in Southern California, per Charania, playing alongside other top prospects from the 2020 class, including Jalen Green, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix.
Sotto, who turned 18 years old Monday, was considered a 4-star prospect and the 12th-best center in the 2020 class by 247Sports' composite rankings.
The young player moved to the United States in April of 2019 before joining The Skill Academy in Atlanta.
"There hasn't been any full-blooded Filipino that has been to the NBA and I just want to be the first one and I just want to show everyone that we can also make it," he told Bleacher Report.
Sotto continues the path of top prospects skipping college to play professionally before being eligible to enter the NBA draft.
As Jonathan Givony and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported, top prospects will receive over $500,000 as part of the one-year development program that differs from the usual G League structure.
Green—considered the No. 2 prospect in the 2021 NBA draft class by Givony—was the first to join this program in April.
Top 2020 draft prospects LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton spent the past year in Australia's NBL.