He is announced as the first choice of the NBA draft in 2023, an extraordinary opportunity for a French player. At the end of June, Victor Wembanyama activated his exit clause a year before the end of his contract to leave Asvel. A club he joined in 2021. “We had built the thing over two years and next season we were going to step up a gear and do everything for him in year 2. I don’t understand, because we , we would have played 30 minutes a game anyway next season. That was the plan, give him responsibility and grow. This is what we had promised him ”regretted Tony Parker boss of Asvel in the columns of the Team this Friday.
The departure recorded, it remained to solve a major unknown; where the 18-year-old was going to pose his extraordinary 2m19. Two tracks were available to him: Paris Basketball and the Metropolitans 92 of Boulogne-Levallois. A year before the NBA, Wembanyama born in Chesnay and trained in Nanterre wanted to return to his region of origin and be closer to his family.
The Paris Basketball project has long held the rope. But Wembanyama has, according to our information – not yet confirmed by the club – chosen Boulogne-Levallois for which he would have signed for two years. This is to guard against a possible unpleasant surprise in the NBA draft.
If the champion of France with Asvel chose Boulogne-Levallois despite the uncertainty that hovers over the future of the club, it is for a man: Vincent Collet. The coach of the France team is also the coach of the Metropolitans and he should be again next season before giving up his apron to devote himself 100% to the France team, a year before Paris 2024. with Vincent Collet is what tipped the balance for the Wembanyama clan. The two men will be able to get to know each other before the former Nanterrien joins the France group with a view to the Games of which he could be one of the stars.
Wracked by injuries, Wembanyama has played 16 games with Asvel this season for 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and almost two blocks on average in just 18 minutes of play. To attract him, the “Mets” probably promised him a time more important game even if the club will not play in any European Cup.
