Henri Drell (born 25 April 2000) is an Estonian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thir ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

. He also represents the Estonian national basketball team internationally. Standing at 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in), he plays at the shooting guard and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

positions.

Early life and youth career

Drell was born in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. He started playing basketball at age of 9 years old. He joined small club in

. After that Drell moved to

BC Kalev/Cramo BC Kalev, known as BC Kalev/Cramo for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Tallinn, Estonia. The team plays in the Korvpalli Meistriliiga, the Estonian-Latvian Basketball League and the FIBA Europe Cup. They play their ...

youth. In July 2016, Drell moved to

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketbal ...

, Germany, where he started to play German Under-19 Youth Bundesliga (NBBL- Nachwuchs-Basketball-Bundesliga). In May 2019, Drell led his NBBL team (TSV Breitengüßbach) to silver medal. On 27 February 2019, he was named to the 2019 NBBL All-Star Game. In February 2018, Drell played for

's U18 team at Adidas Next Generation Tournament (ANGT) in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. He was selected to the All-Tournament Team after leading the event with 27 points, 5.8

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, 2.8 assists per game and a

Performance Index Rating Performance Index Rating (PIR) is a basketball mathematical statistical formula that is used by the Euroleague Basketball Company's first and second tier competitions, the EuroLeague and the EuroCup, as well as various European national dom ...

(PIR) of 26.3. Later in June, he also attended the NBA Global Camp in

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

, Italy.

Professional career

Audentes (2015–2016)

In September 2015, Drell joined his hometown team

Audentes/Noortekoondis Audentese SG/Noortekoondis (known as TSIK, Audentes and G4S Noorteliiga) is a basketball team based in Tallinn, Estonia. The team plays currently in the Saku I Liiga (Second division in Estonia), in the past Audentes SG/Noortekoondis played also i ...

Brose Bamberg (2016–2019)

On 1 July 2016, Drell signed a six-year contract with German club

. He made his professional debut for Brose Bamberg on 18 March 2019, recording 2 points in a 100–74 win over

Eisbären Bremerhaven Eisbären Bremerhaven ( en, Polar Bears Bremerhaven) is a professional basketball club from Bremerhaven, Germany, that competes in the ProA. The team was established as the professional section of the club BSG Bremerhaven and played in the first- ...

. Drell mainly played with Baunach Young Pikes, the

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

of Brose Bamberg, in German 2nd Division (

ProA Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the ...

). In 2018-19 season Drell improved his stats to 13.1 points, 3.9

and 1.6 assists per game for Baunach in

action. On 2 February 2019 Drell was named the ProA Youngster Of The Month. Drell eventually became second in Pro A Young Player Of The Year voting. On 19 April 2019, he declared for the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

. ESPN ranked Drell 55th out of 100 draft prospects, later on Drell decided to withdrew from the draft to try to move up in the rankings for

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

Victoria Libertas Pesaro (2019–2021)

On July 19, 2019, Drell signed with Italy's

Victoria Libertas Pesaro Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian ''Vuelle''), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professiona ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

. He made his professional debut for VL Pesaro on 22 September 2019, recording two points and three rebounds in 25 minutes and a 72–80 loss over

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Kiğılı Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. Histor ...

. He recorded his then

career-high 16 points on 13 October 2019 against

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

, shooting 6-of-11 from the field with 4 rebounds in 33 minutes. However, the season was cancelled prematurely because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In his second season with Victoria Libertas Pesaro under coach

Jasmin Repeša Jasmin Repeša (born 1 June 1961) is a Bosnian-born Croatian professional basketball coach and former player whose last coached team was Fortitudo Bologna of the Italian Serie A. Repeša has won numerous pro club competitions during his head coa ...

, Drell played in 24 games and started in 12 and averaged 16.6 minutes per game, he made huge improvements throughout the season, mainly in shooting. He finished the season shooting 40% from the three-point line and 50% from the two-points range. On 24 January, Drell recorded his then new regular season-high of 17 points, including shooting 4-of-4 from three-point range, with three rebounds in a 107–83 win over S.Bernardo Cantù. On 12 January, Drell helped VL Pesaro to qualify for the

Italian Basketball Cup The Italian Basketball Cup (Italian: Coppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), or Coppa Italia, is an annual professional basketball competition between pro clubs from the Italian Basketball League (LBA). It is Italy's first-tier cup competition, and is ...

after a ten-year drought for the team. In February 2021, in a prestigious

, Drell had a break-out tournament, where in quarter-finals he recorded his LBA career-high 23 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

, with five rebounds in overtime 115–110 win over

Dinamo Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the current European Cu ...

. He helped his team to reach the seventh Italian Cup finals ever, by beating Happy Casa Brindisi in the semi-finals, but eventually losing to AX Armani Exchange Milano in the final, where Drell posted 12 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes. Drell was named the „Best Offensive Player“ in the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. He finished the tournament averaging 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1 assist per game, Drell had also the best shooting percentages in the tournament: 63.6% from the two-point range and 62.5% from the three-point range. He parted ways with the team on 30 November 2021.

Windy City Bulls / Chicago Bulls (2022–present)

On January 15, 2022, NBA Draft eligible Drell was acquired via available player pool by the

of the

. In April 2022, Drell made history in the Windy City Bulls, becoming tenth in all-time blocks in the franchise history, with only 17.3 minutes per game over 29 games in the season. After going undrafted in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

, he signed an NBA Summer League contract with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

. Drell helped Chicago Bulls Summer League squad to finish with 4 wins and 1 loss while averaging 5 points per game, in 14.7 minutes per game. On October 12, 2022, the

signed Drell to an Exhibit-10 contract and immediately waived him on the same day.

National team career

Junior national team Drell competed for

first time at the

2016 FIBA U16 European Championship The 2016 FIBA U16 European Championship was the 30th edition of the European Under-16 Basketball Championship. Sixteen teams participated in the competition, held in Radom, Poland, from 12 to 20 August 2016. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the defending ...

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975� ...

, Poland. He helped Estonia national under-16 team to be saved from relegation while averaging a team-high 14.1 points, 7.1

per game. Drell played at the

Division B Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics * Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military * Division (military), a formation typically consistin ...

tournament of the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, where he was named to the All-Star Five after ranked third among all players with 19 points per game and helping his team finish in fourth place. Senior national team He made his debut for the senior Estonian national team on 21 February 2019, in a 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifier against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, scoring 4 points in a 71–70 home victory. In February 2021, Drell posted 12 points including a game-winning shot and three rebounds in 28 minutes in a 105–101 victory over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, resulting

to reach their third Eurobasket tournament in the century. He finished

Eurobasket 2022 qualification The EuroBasket 2022 qualification was a basketball competition that was played from November 2017 to February 2021, to determine the 20 FIBA Europe nations who would join the automatically qualified co-hosts Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, and G ...

averaging 7.8 points and 2.4 rebounds in 5 games. As a member of the senior Estonian national team, Drell had a break-out tournament at the

Eurobasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

, where he recorded 20 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, with three rebounds in a blowout win against

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

, earning him "TLC Player Of The Game" award. Drell finished the tournament averaging 8.6 points while shooting 40% from three point line and grabbing 5 rebounds per game, in 25 minutes per game, helping small Estonia to finish 19th out of 24.

Personal life

Henri Drell is from basketball background. His father was a former professional

player who played for Kalev. Also his mother and sister were professional basketball players and were part of

Estonia women's national basketball team The Estonia women's national basketball team ( et, Eesti naiste korvpallimeeskond) represents Estonia in international women's basketball matches. They are controlled by the Estonian Basketball Association. Team Current roster Roster for the ...

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

Estonia national team

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2016 , style="text-align:left;",

2016 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 2016 FIBA U16 European Championship was the 30th edition of the European Under-16 Basketball Championship. Sixteen teams participated in the competition, held in Radom, Poland, from 12 to 20 August 2016. Bosnia and Herzegovina, the defending ...

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-16 , 7 , , 7 , , 25.1 , , .376 , , .294 , , .818 , , 7.1 , , 1.9 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017 , style="text-align:left;",

2017 FIBA U18 European Championship Division B The 2017 FIBA U18 European Championship Division B was the 13th edition of the Division B of the FIBA U18 European basketball championship. It was played in Tallinn, Estonia, from 28 July to 6 August 2017. 24 teams participated in the competition ...

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-18 , 8 , , 8 , , 24.3 , , .416 , , .314 , , .833 , , 4.4 , , 2.1 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018 , style="text-align:left;",

2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship Division B The 2018 FIBA U18 European Championship Division B was the 14th edition of the FIBA U18 European Championship#Division B, Division B of FIBA U18 European Championship. The competition took place in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, from 27 July to 5 ...

, style="text-align:left;", Estonia U-18 , 7 , , 7 , , 26.8 , , .469 , , .333 , , .861 , , 5.7 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , 19.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019 , style="text-align:left;", 2019 Basketball World Cup qualification , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 13.8 , , .545 , , .333 , , .833 , , .0 , , .5 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2020 , style="text-align:left;",

EuroBasket 2022 qualification The EuroBasket 2022 qualification was a basketball competition that was played from November 2017 to February 2021, to determine the 20 FIBA Europe nations who would join the automatically qualified co-hosts Czech Republic, Georgia, Italy, and G ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 18.5 , , .438 , , .462 , , .556 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , .8 , , .6 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2022 , style="text-align:left;",

EuroBasket 2022 The EuroBasket 2022 was the 41st edition of the EuroBasket championship organized by FIBA Europe. It was the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World C ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 25.0 , , .459 , , .400 , , 1.000 , , 5.0 , , 1.8 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , 8.6

Awards and accomplishments

Professional career *

Best Offensive Player (

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

)

References

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drell, Henri 2000 births Living people Brose Bamberg players Baunach Young Pikes players Estonian expatriate basketball people in Germany Estonian expatriate basketball people in Italy Estonian men's basketball players Korvpalli Meistriliiga players Lega Basket Serie A players Small forwards Basketball players from Tallinn Victoria Libertas Pesaro players Estonian expatriate basketball people in the United States Windy City Bulls players

Early life and youth career

Professional career

Audentes (2015–2016)

Brose Bamberg (2016–2019)

Victoria Libertas Pesaro (2019–2021)

Windy City Bulls / Chicago Bulls (2022–present)

National team career

Personal life

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

Estonia national team

Awards and accomplishments

References

External links