- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,286
- 130,017
2025 NBA Draft Thread
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by addict4sneakers,
- Start date
- Sep 18, 2003
- 61,938
- 134,381
- Apr 5, 2008
- 39,612
- 80,274
dacomeup
Supporter
- Jan 20, 2006
- 26,645
- 37,696
Yea, I’d want NO parts of that. MKG, Josh Jackson-esque. On top of beating up on Lil Timmy’s all year
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,286
- 130,017
Amen shoots like Tristan Thompson.
- Nov 5, 2012
- 80,694
- 55,639
Supposedly Ausar tweaked his form too
B Sox
Supporter
- Mar 31, 2011
- 73,107
- 117,465
At the back end of the lotto, OKC is just gonna keep shooting their shot. And they should, given the amount of capital they have combined with the fact that they are a playoff caliber team now.
- Jun 24, 2005
- 17,326
- 3,613
Knew Bilal was going to get that Ousmane Dieng love from OKC 
Felt like he was bound to go lotto with no chance of making it to the 20’s.
Felt like he was bound to go lotto with no chance of making it to the 20’s.
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,286
- 130,017
HOU$TON
formerly convertibleburt
- Apr 14, 2016
- 13,526
- 26,427
Ausar at 4 is interesting. Could probably trade down and get him. I also like Brandin Podz but don’t see how he fits on the team.
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,286
- 130,017
The man behind keeping the 7-foot-5 Victor Wembanyama healthy
Before Victor Wembanyama could properly introduce himself to the basketball world last October, first, he had to warm up.
Curious onlookers at the Dollar Loan Center outside of Las Vegas -- many of whom were NBA scouts -- congregated early on the floor to find Wembanyama going through somewhat unusual paces ahead of his debut on American soil.
Of course, there were dunks and jumpers and typical pregame basketball activities. But Wembanyama's systematic, full-body warmup also left an impression.
Cameras flashed as Wembanyama bent forward onto his palms, bear crawling with his bare toes, crawling methodically along the sidelines. He spent a large part of the time barefoot, specifically warming up his feet that wear size 20.5 shoes.
Later, the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama juggled three tennis balls at once before he turned his back and began catching them over his shoulder with his back turned, a drill that seemed intended more for center fielders than centers.
While his style of play can be heavily improvisational, every aspect of Wembanyama's preparation is planned. Shadowing him in every viral warmup video has been Guillaume Alquier, the mastermind behind the whole routine. Metropolitans 92's strength and conditioning coach was hand-picked by Wembanyama's team to prepare the future No. 1 pick of the San Antonio Spurs for the rigors of an NBA workload.
In the stands that week in Nevada, NBA executives wondered whether Wembanyama would play again this season after his head-turning two games against G League Ignite in a head-to-head matchup with projected top-3 pick Scoot Henderson.
In order to prevent injury, he could have sat the season out, trained privately and still gone No. 1 on draft night. However, Wembanyama made it clear that he wanted to play basketball. And with Metropolitans 92 on the cusp of the French Pro A Finals entering Friday's game against his former club, ASVEL, Wembanyama, under Alquier's supervision, hasn't missed a game this season in 57 appearances across all competitions since September.
Wembanyama's offseason move to Metropolitans 92, which finished third the previous season, had quite a bit to do with keeping him healthy. He'd spent the past year with ASVEL, the Lyon-based club owned by retired Spurs great Tony Parker, but it hadn't been a banner year. His minutes and role fluctuated before a back injury requiring eight weeks of rest ended his season last May.
Wembanyama's agents, Bouna Ndiaye and Jeremy Medjana, took a longer view. The move to Metropolitans, a non-EuroLeague team that played only a domestic schedule, allowed for fewer games, more practice and recovery time, and paired Wembanyama with coach Vincent Collet, who also coaches the French national team.
It also enabled the 19-year-old to bring a dedicated body man along for the ride.
"Bouna came to me and asked if I wanted to work with Victor," Alquier told ESPN. "After that, the decision was made."
Often draped in the shadow of Wembanyama's 8-foot wingspan, Alquier is an unassuming figure on the sidelines, bearded and lightly graying. The 30-year-old grew up in Pau, a small city in the southwest of France, and began his training career in 2015 with local club Pau-Orthez. He worked his way up to the Pro A level through the youth academy and rugby team. He also earned a master's in sports and conditioning in nearby Tarbes.
Over the years, Alquier built a strong relationship with Ndiaye, having worked closely with Comsport clients including 2016 draft pick Petr Cornelie in his time at Pau-Orthez and Tony Parker's summer academy camps. Toward the end of last season, Pau-Orthez faced the danger of relegation to the French third division due to financial hardships. Last summer, Ndiaye called Alquier with an opportunity he couldn't refuse.
Meanwhile, Metropolitans 92, a club previously on the brink of financial dissolution, has been rejuvenated by Wembanyama's arrival for now. Collet had initially faxed in his resignation as Met 92 coach in order to focus on the national team and the 2024 Paris Olympics. But he chose to stay at Metropolitans in order to work with Wembanyama in what would be his final year playing in France.
The team's entire setup this season was built out to facilitate its star player's development. The plan has been a success with Wembanyama establishing himself as the league's top player, winning league MVP and leading his team to the Pro A semifinals.
Their partnership began after Wembanyama returned from his first trip to the United States last August with a three-hour sit-down meeting, running through Wembanyama's physical history, what he'd done with previous coaches, doctors and specialists and his own goals for himself.
"I saw in the first minute [we met] he was very active on his own project," Alquier said.
Alquier's philosophy centers on not only keeping Wembanyama flexible, but emphasizing natural movements to sharpen his actions and coordination while activating his body in the process. Whenever Wembanyama rests on the bench for extended periods, he'll do activation exercises -- squats, jumps and other simple things -- on the side to keep his body moving, trying to mirror in-game actions rather than sit stagnant.
Wembanyama lifts weights regularly, but with a focus on building strength over time, not adding significant bulk. The goal has never been for him to bulk up, particularly not while his frame is still developing naturally. "He's adding some weight normally, but not 10 pounds, or 20 pounds every month," Alquier said. "That could be difficult for his motor control, his knees, his joints. We try to build it as best as we can."
Over the past several years, Wembanyama's physical development -- he reportedly weighs 230 pounds -- had been as meticulously structured as his on-court work. For his final season in France before the pros, the goal was to stick the landing and create a healthy developmental runway into the NBA.
"The [previous] season was difficult for Victor because you have a lot of trips, you have a lot of games, you're on the road [all the] time," Alquier said. "So it's difficult to develop, to be good on the court and to recover as well. So for me, this year [has been] optimal, because you have one game a week, you have one day off after the game, and after, you work five days during the week. So you [eliminate] a lot of the stress."
On a typical off day, Wembanyama and Alquier begin their work 90 minutes before Met 92 holds practice, with a full warmup routine and a light lift. Alquier tailors their exercises to work on weaknesses but also with a holistic approach that uses recovery time to drill hand-eye coordination and vision in between sets. Alquier adapts the plan -- intensity as well as which drills -- around how Wembanyama is feeling that day.
"His body is not finished, so the principal part of my work is to adapt [to] this," Alquier said.
Alquier prefers much of the body work to be done barefoot, focusing on strengthening Wembanyama's feet, enhancing stability for both landing and launching. "If your foot is strong, normally everything [connected] is strong too," Alquier said. "When you land on the floor, it's the foot first. If it's not strong, it's difficult to land and after that, produce some force."
Their sessions typically alternate between legs, upper body and coordination drills, utilizing rest time for one thing to work on something else. They stretch not just to be flexible, but to sharpen control over that flexibility and improve coordination in the process.
"The most important thing is to have strength in the legs, to produce force to play basketball: To play inside, to play D, post up, everything," Alquier said. "After that, you have core activation, and the last thing is the prevention stuff -- trying to do the best thing to be healthy all the time during the season."
The truest test of Wembanyama's body will begin with the rigors of the NBA schedule.
Considering the three injuries Wembanyama sustained a season ago at ASVEL -- in addition to the back injury, he dealt with a right shoulder issue and a fractured finger -- the move to Metropolitans, as well as Alquier's methods, have worked out favorably. Still, one or two games a week, with reduced travel playing domestically, is much less demanding than up to five games a week and constant flights packed into an 82-game season.
Considering Alquier's familiarity with Wembanyama's body and his prominent role in keeping him healthy -- he even tracks Wembanyama's sleep manually -- there's a possibility Alquier will come to San Antonio with Wembanyama in some capacity, although nothing has been decided yet.
The Spurs will certainly give his long-term health every consideration, knowing they face an important task in managing Wembanyama's rookie workload and helping nurture one of the unique frames in the history of the sport.
It's going to be a busy summer for Wembanyama. His LNB Pro A season could possibly end days before the NBA draft. Summer league, in which the No. 1 pick is traditionally featured on opening night, starts July 7. And training camp for the FIBA World Cup -- Wembanyama intends to participate for France -- begins in late July.
If this season is any evidence, we know by now that Wembanyama wants to play every game. And as his San Antonio debut draws closer, it's certainly reassuring that what he's already doing seems to be working.
"He [Wembanyama] wants to improve, he's really focused, trying to understand everything [we do]," Alquier said. "When you know and understand why you do it, for sure you are more active in the work."
Before Victor Wembanyama could properly introduce himself to the basketball world last October, first, he had to warm up.
Curious onlookers at the Dollar Loan Center outside of Las Vegas -- many of whom were NBA scouts -- congregated early on the floor to find Wembanyama going through somewhat unusual paces ahead of his debut on American soil.
Of course, there were dunks and jumpers and typical pregame basketball activities. But Wembanyama's systematic, full-body warmup also left an impression.
Cameras flashed as Wembanyama bent forward onto his palms, bear crawling with his bare toes, crawling methodically along the sidelines. He spent a large part of the time barefoot, specifically warming up his feet that wear size 20.5 shoes.
Later, the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama juggled three tennis balls at once before he turned his back and began catching them over his shoulder with his back turned, a drill that seemed intended more for center fielders than centers.
While his style of play can be heavily improvisational, every aspect of Wembanyama's preparation is planned. Shadowing him in every viral warmup video has been Guillaume Alquier, the mastermind behind the whole routine. Metropolitans 92's strength and conditioning coach was hand-picked by Wembanyama's team to prepare the future No. 1 pick of the San Antonio Spurs for the rigors of an NBA workload.
In the stands that week in Nevada, NBA executives wondered whether Wembanyama would play again this season after his head-turning two games against G League Ignite in a head-to-head matchup with projected top-3 pick Scoot Henderson.
In order to prevent injury, he could have sat the season out, trained privately and still gone No. 1 on draft night. However, Wembanyama made it clear that he wanted to play basketball. And with Metropolitans 92 on the cusp of the French Pro A Finals entering Friday's game against his former club, ASVEL, Wembanyama, under Alquier's supervision, hasn't missed a game this season in 57 appearances across all competitions since September.
Wembanyama's offseason move to Metropolitans 92, which finished third the previous season, had quite a bit to do with keeping him healthy. He'd spent the past year with ASVEL, the Lyon-based club owned by retired Spurs great Tony Parker, but it hadn't been a banner year. His minutes and role fluctuated before a back injury requiring eight weeks of rest ended his season last May.
Wembanyama's agents, Bouna Ndiaye and Jeremy Medjana, took a longer view. The move to Metropolitans, a non-EuroLeague team that played only a domestic schedule, allowed for fewer games, more practice and recovery time, and paired Wembanyama with coach Vincent Collet, who also coaches the French national team.
It also enabled the 19-year-old to bring a dedicated body man along for the ride.
"Bouna came to me and asked if I wanted to work with Victor," Alquier told ESPN. "After that, the decision was made."
Often draped in the shadow of Wembanyama's 8-foot wingspan, Alquier is an unassuming figure on the sidelines, bearded and lightly graying. The 30-year-old grew up in Pau, a small city in the southwest of France, and began his training career in 2015 with local club Pau-Orthez. He worked his way up to the Pro A level through the youth academy and rugby team. He also earned a master's in sports and conditioning in nearby Tarbes.
Over the years, Alquier built a strong relationship with Ndiaye, having worked closely with Comsport clients including 2016 draft pick Petr Cornelie in his time at Pau-Orthez and Tony Parker's summer academy camps. Toward the end of last season, Pau-Orthez faced the danger of relegation to the French third division due to financial hardships. Last summer, Ndiaye called Alquier with an opportunity he couldn't refuse.
Meanwhile, Metropolitans 92, a club previously on the brink of financial dissolution, has been rejuvenated by Wembanyama's arrival for now. Collet had initially faxed in his resignation as Met 92 coach in order to focus on the national team and the 2024 Paris Olympics. But he chose to stay at Metropolitans in order to work with Wembanyama in what would be his final year playing in France.
The team's entire setup this season was built out to facilitate its star player's development. The plan has been a success with Wembanyama establishing himself as the league's top player, winning league MVP and leading his team to the Pro A semifinals.
Their partnership began after Wembanyama returned from his first trip to the United States last August with a three-hour sit-down meeting, running through Wembanyama's physical history, what he'd done with previous coaches, doctors and specialists and his own goals for himself.
"I saw in the first minute [we met] he was very active on his own project," Alquier said.
Alquier's philosophy centers on not only keeping Wembanyama flexible, but emphasizing natural movements to sharpen his actions and coordination while activating his body in the process. Whenever Wembanyama rests on the bench for extended periods, he'll do activation exercises -- squats, jumps and other simple things -- on the side to keep his body moving, trying to mirror in-game actions rather than sit stagnant.
Wembanyama lifts weights regularly, but with a focus on building strength over time, not adding significant bulk. The goal has never been for him to bulk up, particularly not while his frame is still developing naturally. "He's adding some weight normally, but not 10 pounds, or 20 pounds every month," Alquier said. "That could be difficult for his motor control, his knees, his joints. We try to build it as best as we can."
Over the past several years, Wembanyama's physical development -- he reportedly weighs 230 pounds -- had been as meticulously structured as his on-court work. For his final season in France before the pros, the goal was to stick the landing and create a healthy developmental runway into the NBA.
"The [previous] season was difficult for Victor because you have a lot of trips, you have a lot of games, you're on the road [all the] time," Alquier said. "So it's difficult to develop, to be good on the court and to recover as well. So for me, this year [has been] optimal, because you have one game a week, you have one day off after the game, and after, you work five days during the week. So you [eliminate] a lot of the stress."
On a typical off day, Wembanyama and Alquier begin their work 90 minutes before Met 92 holds practice, with a full warmup routine and a light lift. Alquier tailors their exercises to work on weaknesses but also with a holistic approach that uses recovery time to drill hand-eye coordination and vision in between sets. Alquier adapts the plan -- intensity as well as which drills -- around how Wembanyama is feeling that day.
"His body is not finished, so the principal part of my work is to adapt [to] this," Alquier said.
Alquier prefers much of the body work to be done barefoot, focusing on strengthening Wembanyama's feet, enhancing stability for both landing and launching. "If your foot is strong, normally everything [connected] is strong too," Alquier said. "When you land on the floor, it's the foot first. If it's not strong, it's difficult to land and after that, produce some force."
Their sessions typically alternate between legs, upper body and coordination drills, utilizing rest time for one thing to work on something else. They stretch not just to be flexible, but to sharpen control over that flexibility and improve coordination in the process.
"The most important thing is to have strength in the legs, to produce force to play basketball: To play inside, to play D, post up, everything," Alquier said. "After that, you have core activation, and the last thing is the prevention stuff -- trying to do the best thing to be healthy all the time during the season."
The truest test of Wembanyama's body will begin with the rigors of the NBA schedule.
Considering the three injuries Wembanyama sustained a season ago at ASVEL -- in addition to the back injury, he dealt with a right shoulder issue and a fractured finger -- the move to Metropolitans, as well as Alquier's methods, have worked out favorably. Still, one or two games a week, with reduced travel playing domestically, is much less demanding than up to five games a week and constant flights packed into an 82-game season.
Considering Alquier's familiarity with Wembanyama's body and his prominent role in keeping him healthy -- he even tracks Wembanyama's sleep manually -- there's a possibility Alquier will come to San Antonio with Wembanyama in some capacity, although nothing has been decided yet.
The Spurs will certainly give his long-term health every consideration, knowing they face an important task in managing Wembanyama's rookie workload and helping nurture one of the unique frames in the history of the sport.
It's going to be a busy summer for Wembanyama. His LNB Pro A season could possibly end days before the NBA draft. Summer league, in which the No. 1 pick is traditionally featured on opening night, starts July 7. And training camp for the FIBA World Cup -- Wembanyama intends to participate for France -- begins in late July.
If this season is any evidence, we know by now that Wembanyama wants to play every game. And as his San Antonio debut draws closer, it's certainly reassuring that what he's already doing seems to be working.
"He [Wembanyama] wants to improve, he's really focused, trying to understand everything [we do]," Alquier said. "When you know and understand why you do it, for sure you are more active in the work."
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,286
- 130,017
HOU$TON
formerly convertibleburt
- Apr 14, 2016
- 13,526
- 26,427
I would be ecstatic if scoot fell to #4. It’s like scouts all of a sudden noticed he’s 6’2 and is being knocked for it.
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,286
- 130,017
- Apr 16, 2014
- 24,085
- 48,743
Anthony Black is my Dark Horse ROTY pick.
Gradey will somehow find his way to Utah or Dallas.
Gradey will somehow find his way to Utah or Dallas.
- Nov 5, 2012
- 80,694
- 55,639
The scoot thing is reaching peak levels
- Jan 30, 2010
- 25,906
- 46,952
Hope Whitmore goes to Orlando
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,286
- 130,017
finessence
Supporter
- Mar 14, 2010
- 29,476
- 41,867
Looks like the “push” shot you do as a kid when you don’t have strength. It’s like he never grew out of it. Surprised no one corrected it, as he aged
- Aug 2, 2006
- 34,224
- 29,557
Doing some peliminary research right now.
Initial take, it feels like Cam Whitmore is too low on these boards.
Is Brandon Miller THAT much better of a prospect than Cam, haven't watched a ton yet, but it doesn't feel that way?
- Nov 5, 2012
- 80,694
- 55,639
It’s not justifiable to say any of these non victor guys are that much better but imo I still think scoot is clearly number 2
Cam is universally in the top 5 from what the mocks I’ve seen
Just depends on which positive skill set you’re valuing out of Miller scoot amen or whitmore
Cam is universally in the top 5 from what the mocks I’ve seen
Just depends on which positive skill set you’re valuing out of Miller scoot amen or whitmore
- Sep 5, 2010
- 93,286
- 130,017
HOU$TON
formerly convertibleburt
- Apr 14, 2016
- 13,526
- 26,427
- Feb 21, 2019
- 2,343
- 3,155
Cam's an impressive talent and has a great build. The low feel and non playmaking are really bad. Hopefully he goes to the right spot and gets the correct coaching. I'd feel much better about Detroit now with Monty there to help him grow. I just think there's a great chance he's just a volume scorer with little versatility.
B Sox
Supporter
- Mar 31, 2011
- 73,107
- 117,465
I’m not buying anything about Scoot still being on board at 3. He’s on his own tier after Wemby and ahead of the others.
