Henri Drell

Henri Drell is an Estonian professional basketball player for Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB. He also represents the Estonian national basketball team internationally. Standing, he mainly plays as a small forward. He is also the second Estonian player to ever play in the NBA.

Early life and youth career

Drell was born in Tallinn, Estonia. He started playing basketball at nine years of age. He joined a small club in Estonia and moved to BC Kalev/Cramo youth after that.
In July 2016, Drell moved to Brose Bamberg, Germany, where he started to play in the German Under-19 Youth Bundesliga. In May 2019, Drell led his NBBL team to the silver medal. On 27 February 2019, he was selected to play in the 2019 NBBL All-Star Game.
In February 2018, Drell played for Brose Bamberg's U18 team at Munich's Adidas Next Generation Tournament. He was selected to the All-Tournament Team after leading the event with 27 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists per game and a Performance Index Rating of 26.3. Later in June, he attended the NBA Global Camp in Treviso, Italy.

Professional career

Audentes (2015–2016)

In September 2015, Drell joined his hometown team Audentes/Noortekoondis.

Brose Bamberg (2016–2019)

On 1 July 2016, Drell signed a six-year contract with German club Brose Bamberg. He made his professional debut for Brose Bamberg on 18 March 2019, recording 2 points in a 100–74 win over Eisbären Bremerhaven.
Drell mainly played with Baunach Young Pikes, the farm team of Brose Bamberg, in the German 2nd Division. In the 2018–19 season, Drell's stats of 13.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game for Baunach showed marked improvement over the previous year, playing in the ProA. On 2 February 2019, he was named the ProA Youngster of the Month. Drell eventually finished second in Pro A Young Player of the Year voting.
On 19 April 2019, he declared for the 2019 NBA draft. ESPN ranked Drell 55th out of 100 draft prospects, but later on, he withdrew from the draft to try to improve his draft stock for the 2020 NBA draft.

Victoria Libertas Pesaro (2019–2021)

On 19 July 2019, Drell signed with Italy's Victoria Libertas Pesaro of the Lega Basket Serie A. 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. However, the season ended prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his second season with Victoria Libertas Pesaro under coach Jasmin Repeša, Drell played 24 games and started in 12, averaging 16.6 minutes per game and making huge improvements throughout the season, mainly in defence and shooting. He finished the season shooting 40% from the three-point line and 50% from two-point range. On 12 January, Drell helped VL Pesaro to qualify for the Italian Basketball Cup after a ten-year drought.
In February 2021, in a prestigious Italian Basketball Cup, Drell had a breakout tournament, where in the quarter-finals he recorded his LBA career-high 23 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field, with five rebounds in an overtime 115–110 win over Dinamo Sassari. Drell helped his team reach their seventh Italian Cup finals, beating Happy Casa Brindisi in the semi-finals. He eventually lost to AX Armani Exchange Milano in the final, where he posted 12 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes. Drell was named "Best Offensive Player" in the tournament. He finished the tournament averaging 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1 assist per game. Drell also had 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 (2022–2023)

On 15 January 2022, NBA Draft-eligible Drell was acquired from the available player pool by the Windy City Bulls of the NBA G League.
In April 2022, Drell made history for the Windy City Bulls, becoming tenth in all-time blocks in franchise history, despite playing only 17.3 minutes per game over 29 games in the season.
After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft, he signed an NBA Summer League contract with the Chicago Bulls.
On 12 October 2022, the Chicago Bulls signed Drell to an Exhibit-10 contract and immediately waived him on the same day. He later re-signed with the Windy City Bulls and ended the season averaging 11.6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

Chorale Roanne Basket (France) (2023)

On 9 April 2023, Drell returned to Europe, signing for the remainder of the season with French club Chorale Roanne Basket of the LNB Pro A.

Chicago / Windy City Bulls (2023–2024)

On 12 September 2023, Drell signed with the Chicago Bulls, but was waived on 12 October. On 2 November, Drell rejoined the Windy City Bulls. On 16 December, Drell signed a two-way contract with Chicago. Drell made his NBA debut on 14 March against the Los Angeles Clippers, scoring 2 points and dishing out 2 assists. He became the second Estonian player to ever play in the NBA after Martin Müürsepp, who debuted with the Miami Heat in 1996.

Rip City Remix (2024–2025)

On 13 August 2024, Drell signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, but was waived on 27 September. On 28 October, he joined the Rip City Remix.

La Laguna Tenerife (2025)

On March 13, 2025, Drell signed with the La Laguna Tenerife of the Spanish Liga ACB and the Basketball Champions League.

Joventut Badalona (2025–present)

On September 16, 2025, Drell signed with Joventut Badalona of the Spanish Liga ACB.

National team career

Junior national team

Drell competed for Estonia for the first time at the 2016 FIBA U16 European Championship in Radom, Poland. He helped the Estonia national under-16 team to avoid relegation while averaging 14.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
Drell played in the 2018 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Division B, where he was named to the All-Star Five after ranking third among all players with 19 points per game and helping his team finish in fourth place.

Senior national team

He debuted for the senior Estonian national team on 21 February 2019, in a 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifier against Serbia, scoring 4 points in a 71–70 home victory.
In February 2021, Drell posted 12 points, including the game-winning shot and three rebounds in 28 minutes in a 105–101 victory over Italy, leading Estonia to their third Eurobasket tournament of the century. He finished Eurobasket 2022 qualification, averaging 7.8 points and 2.4 rebounds in 5 games.
As a member of the senior Estonian national team, Drell had a breakout tournament at the Eurobasket 2022, where he recorded 20 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field, with three rebounds in a blowout win against Great Britain, earning him the TLC Player of the Game honours. He finished the tournament averaging 8.6 points while shooting 40% from the three-point-line and grabbing 5 rebounds per game in 25 minutes, helping Estonia finish 19th out of 24.

Personal life

Henri Drell is from a basketball background. His father was a former professional basketball player who played for Kalev. His mother and sister were professional basketball players on the Estonia women's national basketball team.