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Victor Wembanyama leads Metropolitans 92 to victory with 22 points in French playoff opener, as likely No. 1 overall pick REFUSES to sit to preserve his body before NBA Draft
After learning his likely landing spot in next month’s NBA Draft, Victor Wembanyama is still playing – and starring – in France.
The presumptive No. 1 overall pick looks to be headed to the Spurs after San Antonio won the draft lottery last week, and the famed franchise will be able to officially select the French teenager on June 22.
But while the 7-foot-4 phenom’s NBA future is secure, he’s still gunning for a title with Metropolitans 92 with the LNB Pro A postseason underway.
In Game 1 of the first round vs. No. 7 seed Choloet, Wembanyama showed exactly why NBA teams are salivating over his talents, as he scored 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists.
Mets 92 won the game 93-80 to take a 1-0 lead in the best of three quarterfinal series.
Victor Wembanyama scored 22 points for Metropolitans 92 in Game 1 of the playoffs
Wembanyama is widely expected to be selected by the Spurs with the No. 1 overall pick
While Wembanyama is still more than a month away from being picked, the scheduling of the French postseason and the draft could get tricky if his team makes a deep playoff run.
Last season, Lyon-Villeurbanne defeated Monaco in Game 5 of the French finals on June 25 – two days after the NBA Draft was held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
After Mets 92 finished with the second-best regular season record this year, a deep run doesn’t seem out of the question – and it could be interesting to see if Wembanyama would choose to attend the draft in the middle of the playoffs, or if he’ll continue playing at all.
Wembanyama looked thrilled after the Spus won the lottery – and the right to draft him
The 19-year-old played all 34 regular season games for Mets 92 this season, and spoke to ESPN on the topic of availability last month.
‘Obviously my goal is always gonna be to play the most games I can, and help my team as much as I can,’ he said.
Wembanyama is not the only NBA prospect on his team, as wing Bilal Coulibaly is also expected to hear his name called in June.
The 18-year-old is 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, and is projected as a late first-round pick in the draft.
Coulibaly had 10 points and two rebounds in the win vs. Cholet.
