Draft:Nastja Claessens

Nastja Claessens (born 2 December 2004) is a Belgian basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She previously played for the Belgium women's national basketball team, the Belgian Cats.

Career
Nastja Claessens is the daughter of Belgian basketball coach Frederic Claessens and former Belgian Cat Irina Medvedeva, who comes from Turkmenistan. Nastja has both Belgian and Russian nationality. In her youth, she did ballet and played basketball. At the age of 11, she firmly chose the latter. In her teenage years, she became one of the greatest basketball talents in Belgium.

Claessens plays on the power forward position. At the age of 14, the West Flemish made her debut in the first team with the ladies of the Belgian club Ion Basket Waregem, where she played her first season in the Belgian Women's Basketball League in the 2020/21 season at the age of 15. In May 2023, she became the first player in Belgian women's basketball to be voted Player and Promising Player of the Year in the same season. That year Claessens switched to Castors Braine, but the 2023/24 season turned out to be a disappointment due to a persistent injury to the left wrist, which she sustained in November 2023 during the preparation with the Belgian Cats for the European Championship preliminary round. She underwent surgery in the spring of 2024. She played just eight games for Braine that season.

On April 15, 2024, Claessens was selected during the WNBA Draft in the United States chosen as the thirtieth player by the Washington Mystics, making them the next three WNBA-seasons associated with that club. She herself stated that she would not move to the United States until 2025 at the earliest.

National team
Claessens went through various youth series for Belgium. In 2022, she was appointed by the coach of the Belgian women's national basketball team, Rachid Meziane called up for a European Championship preliminary round match. On November 22, the power forward conceded North Macedonia her debut with the first team of the Belgian Cats. In less than eight minutes of playing time, she scored three three-pointers and two free throws; and made them two rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Achievements

 * 2023: Player and Promising Player of the Year in Belgium