Victor Wembanyama, top 2023 NBA Draft prospect, to sign with Boulogne-Levallois
The consensus No. 1 prospect in the 2023 NBA Draft class, Victor Wembanyama, is on the move once again.
Wembanyama opted out of his contract with ASVEL Villeurbanne and signed a two-year deal with the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92, according to ESPN‘s Jonathan Givony. In two seasons in the French Pro A League, the 18-year-old has played with ASVEL and Nanterre 92.
Standing at 7-foot-3 with a 7-foot-9 wingspan, Wembanyama looks to be an all-worldly NBA Draft prospect who possesses outstanding feel with strong handle and shot-blocking capabilities — even for a player of his size.
Last season with ASVEL, he averaged 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game on 47.3 percent shooting, though he only shot 26.0 percent (3.1 attempts) from 3-point range and 70.0 percent from the free-throw line. Earning back-to-back French LNB Pro A Best Young player awards, over his two-year career in the league, he’s posted 8.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks on 46.0/30.9/69.2 shooting splits (53.9 TS%) across 34 games.
In seven games throughout the U19 World Cup, he tallied 14 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and a presposterous 5.7 blocks per contest on 45.8 percent shooting. He totaled 22 points on 6-of-14 shooting, eight boards, one steal and eight blocks (!!) in the Gold Medal game loss (83-81) against Chet Holmgren and the United States.
With Boulogne-Levallois, he will be coached by three-time French Pro A League champion (two as HC, one as player) Vincent Collet, France’s national team head coach. Collet’s been named Coach of the Year in the Pro A league five times, including this last season with the Metropolitans 92.
Givony cited that multiple teams worldwide pursued Wembanyama — including the recently-launched G-League Ignite, Real Madrid, Paris Basket, Barcelona and Australian NBL, among others. He previously had an opt-out clause in his contract with ASVEL for June 29, which he fulfilled.
Wembanyama appears to be the consensus No. 1 pick for next year’s class, though anything can happen between now and then. Others presumably in the running are Scoot Henderson (G-League Ignite), Dariq Whitehead (Duke), Nick Smith (Arkansas) and twin guards Amen and Ausar Thompson (Overtime Elite), among others.
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