Drell was born in Tallinn, Estonia. He started playing basketball at nine years of age. He joined a small club in Estonia and after that he moved to BC Kalev/Cramo youth.[1]
In July 2016, Drell moved to Brose Bamberg, Germany, where he started to play in the German Under-19 Youth Bundesliga (NBBL- Nachwuchs-Basketball-Bundesliga). In May 2019, Drell led his NBBL team (TSV Breitengüßbach) to the silver medal.[2] On 27 February 2019, he was selected to play in the 2019 NBBL All-Star Game.[3]
On 1 July 2016, Drell signed a six-year contract with German club Brose Bamberg.[8] He made his professional debut for Brose Bamberg on 18 March 2019, recording 2 points in a 100–74 win over Eisbären Bremerhaven.[9]
Drell mainly played with Baunach Young Pikes, the farm team of Brose Bamberg, in the German 2nd Division (ProA). 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.[10] 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.[11]
On 19 April 2019, he declared for the 2019 NBA draft. ESPN ranked Drell 55th out of 100 draft prospects, but later on he decided to withdraw from the draft in order to try to improve his draft stock for the 2020 NBA draft.[12]
In his second season with Victoria Libertas Pesaro under coach Jasmin Repeša, Drell played 24 games and started in 12, while averaging 16.6 minutes per game and making huge improvements throughout the season, mainly in defence and shooting.[15] He finished the season shooting 40% from the three-point line and 50% from two-point range.[16] On 12 January, Drell helped VL Pesaro to qualify for the Italian Basketball Cup after a ten-year drought.[17]
In February 2021, in a prestigious Italian Basketball Cup, Drell had a break-out 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.[18][19] Drell helped his team to reach their seventh Italian Cup finals, beating Happy Casa Brindisi in the semi-finals, but eventually losing to AX Armani Exchange Milano in the final, where he posted 12 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes.[20][21] Drell was named "Best Offensive Player" in the tournament. 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.[22][23][24] He parted ways with the team on 30 November 2021.[25]
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.[26]
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.[27][28]
On 12 October 2022, the Chicago Bulls signed Drell to an Exhibit-10 contract and immediately waived him on the same day.[31] 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.[32]
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.[33]
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.[45][46][47]
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.[50] He finished Eurobasket 2022 qualification averaging 7.8 points and 2.4 rebounds in 5 games.[51][52][53]
As a member of the senior Estonian national team, Drell had a break-out 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.[54][55] 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 of action, helping Estonia finish 19th out of 24.[56]
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 also professional basketball players and were part of the Estonia women's national basketball team.[1]
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