The NBA will give fans an opportunity to take a closer look at 2023’s projected No. 1 pick over the next several months, announcing on Thursday that all of this season’s Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 games will be available to watch for free on the NBA app. The Metropolitans 92 are, of course, Victor Wembanyama‘s team in France.
The Metropolotians 92 compete in the LNB Betclic ELITE, France’s top basketball league. According to the NBA’s announcement, the French games included on the NBA App will include the All-Star Game on December 29 and the Leaders Cup (playoff) games from February 17-19. The league has a preliminary broadcast schedule right here, though it only includes October and November games for the time being.
The buzz around Wembanyama reached a new level when his French team faced off against the G League Ignite for a pair of exhibition games earlier this month. The NBA is clearly hoping to capitalize off of the increasing level of interest in the 7’3″ super-prospect as he prepares to enter the league in 2023.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- While Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson remains locks to be the first and second players off the board in the 2023 NBA draft, there are plenty of questions behind them in the lottery, according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. Vecenie has published an updated version of his ’23 mock draft, projecting Amen Thompson of Overtime Elite to be the No. 3 overall pick, followed by Arkansas’ Nick Smith Jr., Villanova’s Cam Whitmore, Baylor’s Keyonte George, and Duke’s Dariq Whitehead.
- Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports suggests that the NBA should attempt to curb tanking by prohibiting teams from getting a top-three pick in back-to-back years. He hears that a version of that rule was proposed by the NBA in talks with teams and was resisted by a “small handful” of general managers, despite being favored by commissioner Adam Silver.
- Suns center Jock Landale and Hornets big man Nick Richards are among the under-the-radar players who are worth getting to know based on their performances in the first 10 days of this NBA season, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. As Hollinger notes, both Landale and Richards will be restricted free agents in 2023.
I bet the ‘small handful’ of teams rejecting anti tank measures can be easily predicted by looking at the standings over the last few years.
Who does tanking hurt? I’m genuinely curious how the NBA things it can prove tanking and how they can prove that it hurts the overall product
Sometimes star players that the fans pay to see sit out for weeks at a time on these tanking teams. That hurts the overall product.
Exactly. I did a counter write up in another fourm that challenged Adam and all on what the real results and production was as well as where they wound up.
The bottom line is the playin came at a perfect time for the west.
The east traded or lost in free angency the majority the tankers. Tanking hoardes the best athletes overall thru the top 5 and quickest/lengthest ones thru 12 in the NBA scouting system.
It eschews sklill set after that and looks only to develop role players to go around the best athletes.
Tanking hurts the tankers in the end because they take the best athletes and teach them how to play basketball and eschews the ones who can play basketball that do the things that help win games today, instead of some promised sexy day in the future.
Which never comes.
Which is why the ones that were the best overall athletes more often than not become journey men role players somewhere in the leauge from year 5 on.
Many wind up on teams whom people percieve as being contenders to be second round and out participants.
Its as far as the vast majority of the best athletes overall have ever gone.
Tanking hurts the tankers in the end.
Adam feel free to use every bit of that
As always I am here to help.
Another reason why you should never trade a far out future 1st round draft pick without a protection of top 5 pick. Right now the lakers are going to wish they had that top 5 protection in place.
Whitehead will go #3 on upside alone. Plenty to like here.
They talk policing the tanking. Yet the Rockets are allowed to sit John Wall. And get Smith with the third pick.
Next yrs lottery is loaded with talent.
Keep commander = Lakers trade Wemby to Pelicans
Commander xD xD… I know he says for for Russ.
I hope Commander gets traded or bought out, so he can Let his real game speak for himself. Without the lane-clogging, underwhelming Lakers roster, he Will be back to running a show and shutting asses and posterizing people en route to monster statlines.
I love LeBron, what he means to the game of basketball and the player he still Is. But he threw him under the bus.
Wizards Russ’ statlines were históric, Chamberlainesque, NBA Jam-esque.
Nick Richards is gonna be starting by Thanksgiving. He’s a beast & is headed toward a major payday if he keeps playing the way he’s been… Cam Whitmore is gonna stamp his spot in the top3 as soon as he’s back out on the court. I can’t see Amen dropping any further than 5. There’s A LOT of top notch talent in this class tho. Trayce Jackson Davis & Leonard Miller easily could’ve been 1st rd picks a few months ago & they’re possible lottery guys next yr too… link to m.youtube.com
If you wanna do something crazy to “eliminate” tanking, have a second playoff style for the lotto teams. One and done system. Winner gets the #1 pick. If you wanna put some sorta restrictions on there, feel free. But you’ll force teams to play to win.
My Proposal: Each non-playoff team receives an equal amount of draft lottery balls. Teams are financially incentivized to compete for playoffs due to increased revenue. This change would incentivize each team to play their best.
Thanks,
Patrick
That’s brilliant marketing… Let the fans get a peek at the guy who everybody seems to have already designated as the next “face of the NBA.”
The Lakers should be tanking to get a shot at Wembanyama, they have zero chance at a postseason birth this year. But putting Wembanyama next to Bron and AD would be absolutely crazy
You don’t know?
You’re surprised?
I love it when A’sfaninLexington spews self-proclaimed basketball expertise, yet isn’t up to date on the simplest of facts.., like the Lakers have no chance of keeping the number one pick even if they were to receive it in the lottery.