With Victor Wimpanyama poised to become the next first pick in the NBA, it appears that the esteemed French phenom is already gearing up for his highly anticipated debut amid speculation over his summer plans.
Wembanyama, supposed top pick for spurs On June 22, he gave a sneak peek at his thoughts on playing in the NBA Summer League on Thursday after Monaco swept the Boulogne-Levalois Metropolitans-92 in the LNB Finals.
During post-match talks with the Monaco players, Wimpanyama was asked if he would play in the summer league next month, to which the 19-year-old replied, “A little bit.”
Wimpanyama’s apparent confirmation of his intention to join his future Summer League squad comes amid conflicting reports regarding his availability.
Wimpey is playing his last game in France before the NBA draft and says he will play "a little" in the summer league. pic.twitter.com/oGyTqNaebX
– Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 17, 2023
On Thursday, aReport from SpursTalk.com Wembanyama noted playing in the NBA summer tournaments is “unlikely to happen,” according to team sources. The same report also said that the team expects Wimpanyama to be out of the summer league matches and to train sparingly.
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Two days later, however,NBA insider Mark Stein reported Tottenham is “optimistic” and Wimpanyama will participate in the summer league “to some extent”.
If Wembanyama fits in, the 7-foot-4 star could see the floor in the California Summer League Classic July 3-5 and/or the Las Vegas Summer League July 7-17. Soon, Wemby may have set his sights on honoring his intention to play for France in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, which runs from August 25 to September 10.
Needless to say, in a day and age when load management is the norm, it will be fascinating to see how Wimpanyama and San Antonio approach where they stand as the NBA summer circuit nears its inception.