The NBA can wait! Predicted top pick Victor Wembanyama catapults his club side into the French semifinals as he refuses to keep his 7ft 4 physique ahead of next month’s draft
- Wembanyama has refused to take a seat during his team’s playoff push ahead of the draft
- The 19-year-old picked up 19 points and nine points in his decisive win on Thursday
- offers the latest international sports news
Victor Wembanyama’s refusal to pick the NBA draft next month has helped the club’s hoped-for first overall win advance to the LNB Pro A semi-finals in France.
The 19-year-old had 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks as the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans defeated 92 Cholet 81-69 in Game 3 of their first-round series. They now face Wembanyama’s former team ASVEL in a best-of-five series.
That Wembanyama played well in a postseason game comes as no surprise. The much-touted 7ft-4 contender has averaged 21.6 points per game in the French league this season.
What is surprising is that Wembanyama is playing at all, rather than maintaining his health for next month’s NBA draft, where he is certain of being picked first overall by the San Antonio Spurs.
Alumni college players preparing for the NBA are done playing basketball meaningfully and are instead focusing on private practice sessions ahead of the June draft combine.
Wembanyama reacts during Boulogne-Levallois’ win over Cholet in the French playoffs
Metropolitan 92’s French power forward Victor Wembanyama (r.) talks to a Cholet player
NBA players are already taking notice of Wembanyama, who combines the size of a center with the speed and ball-handling skills of a guard.
“He’s like a [NBA] Player created by 2K, any point guard who wants to be seven feet tall. Cheat code vibe,” Stephen Curry told reporters from Wembanyama.
“The league is really in trouble if he comes in,” said Kevin Durant.
He’s credited with a full game but the truth is he still needs to develop his outside shooting before he can say that.
Wembanyama has made just 27.5 percent of his 3-point attempts this season and shot 5.6 per game — a large sample considering he gets less than a third of his shots from long range.
The good news is that Wembanyama has scored 82.8 percent of his free throws this season, which is a good indicator that he’s a born shooter with three-point potential.
In any case, Wembanyama’s 56.1 percent score inside the arc suggests he can be an efficient scorer at the next level, with or without a 3-point shot.
Metropolitan 92’s France’s Bilal Coulibaly is just 18 but is also likely to have been knocked out in the first round
And Wembanyama isn’t the only Metropolitan 92 player on his way to the NBA.
Bilal Coulibaly, a 1.90m tall winger with a 2.10m wingspan, has emerged as a mainstay and is expected to take over in the first round next month.
“He is by far the best wing-back of his generation in Europe and one of the best in this year’s class,” wrote Stefanos Makris of Coulibaly of NBADraft.Net. “Blessed with a great physique and a good feel for the game, the young French player has all the tools necessary to become an elite 3&D player, but it’s the potential that unfolds at lower levels as a secondary creator /Schussmacher has shown.” Wings that fascinate.
“Yet, for now, despite all the promises he’s shown, Coulibaly is still a dodgy spot-up shooter with a long way to go as a secondary ball handler and creator.”