Steve Adams looks set to follow trailblazer Sean Marks into the NBA and, who knows, perhaps 17-year-old Reuben Te Rangi will eventually join him.
The 2.01m Auckland teenager is expected to be one of the star performers for Harbour at the under-19 national championship, which is being hosted by Basketball Otago at the Edgar Centre over the next four days.
Te Rangi more than held his own in the National Basketball League for Harbour this season, and performances at the Albert Schweitzer tournament in April and the inaugural 3x3 youth world championship in Italy in September captured the imagination of Fiba basketball journalist David Hein.
In his column Eye on the Future he described Te Rangi as "one of the Kiwis' biggest hopes for the future".
Te Rangi will team up with another exciting prospect in Tai Webster.
Tai's father, Tony Webster, is a former NBL all-star, and his older brother, Corey Webster, played for the Breakers and the Tall Blacks before being banned for a year after testing positive for synthetic cannabis.
While Harbour shapes as the early favourite to win the men's title, Basketball Otago director of development Mark Dickel believes the Otago sides should be competitive.
"I think we have a good team and good players in both the boys and the girls teams," he said.
"It will just come down how they play in those first couple of games.
"I know they have been working hard and have given themselves the best chance of doing well."
The men's team has a promising trio in swingman Sheldon McGuire, who padded out the Hawkes Bay Hawks roster last season, 2.03m centre Josh Dickson and power forward Fergus Bevin-McCrimmon.
Guards Jenna Small and Jodie Hope and forward Courtney Landreth should form a formidable combination for the Otago women's team.
The Otago women's senior team, the Goldrush, won the national league last season and the under-19 team has shown it has the potential to match that feat, qualifying in second place.
Its opening game is against Harbour tomorrow morning at 10.45am on court 3, while the men will play Waitakere West Premiers on the main court at 12.30pm.
Under-19 basketball
National championship
Otago men
v Waitakere West Premiers, court 1, tomorrow, 12.30pm; v Waikato, court 2, tomorrow, 5.45pm; quarterfinals, Saturday; semifinals, Sunday; final, Monday
Otago women
v Harbour, court 3, tomorrow, 10.45am; v New Plymouth, court 1, tomorrow, 7.30pm; v Palmerston North, court 2, Saturday, 2.15pm; v Buller, court 2, Saturday, 7.30pm; crossover and semifinals, Sunday; final, Monday
