Big French Forward Prospect Pairs Perfectly With Spurs' Victor Wembanyama

Yahoo

13-05-2025

Robinson, Duncan, and now Wembanyama. The San Antonio Spurs have built a longstanding history of deploying elite big men, and Victor Wembanyama has the potential to be the best of the bunch. The 7-4 Frenchman followed up his historic rookie season with a sophomore campaign featuring 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 3.8 blocks per game.
Despite his best efforts, an illness derailed Wembanyama's season, limiting him to just 46 games. The Spurs' 34-48 record, paired with a previous trade to acquire the Atlanta Hawks' first-round pick, leaves the Spurs with a pair of lottery picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, and a fellow France native would be the perfect pairing next to Wembanyama.
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Noa Essengue is a 6-foot-9, 194-pound forward out of Orleans, Loiret, France. Essengue's physical tools are his strongest attributes, as he doesn't just pack top-tier size and length, he's extremely athletic for someone his size, his movements mimic those of a guard, which he leverages to be a two-way phenom.
Essengue isn't much of an on-ball creator, he's an off-ball player who excels in transition and finding looks in the flow of the offense. He has solid touch around the rim, and thrives as a cutter in the half court.
His best trait offensively is being able to get to the free-throw line. In 49 games for Ulm this season, Essengue is averaging 4.84 free throw attempts per game in just 23.4 minutes. (In the NBA this season, only one player averaged at least 4.8 free throw attempts per game in under thirty minutes per contest: Jaren Jackson Jr., who averaged 5.4 per game in 29.8 minutes).
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Essengue's jumpshot is a major question mark. He's converted just 26.7 percent of his three-point attempts this season, and is hovering at 70 percent from the free-throw line. Mechanically, he shows promise, and his stroke has looked much better this season after working with shooting coach Adam Harrington.
Essengue has shown some mid-range scoring upside, being used in occasional curl screens and as a popper. He's also flashed a bit of a face-up game at times, which might hint at something that can potentially grow into his game.
Essengue is a very active rebounder. He's averaging just shy of five rebounds per game.
Defensively, Essengue has shown the ability to be a switchy wing, being quick enough to stick with most guards and long enough to handle his fair share of bigs. He'll need to bulk up to handle NBA bigs, but the potential is there to be involved in a switch-heavy scheme.
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Essengue is likely never going to be a big-time creator, but the Spurs don't need him to be. He has the potential to be a super-role player type, as a switchable defender next to Wembanyama in the frontcourt, which would create a treacherous duo for opposing offenses, an active rebounder, and someone who will get shots within the flow of the offense. The type of player that coaches love to leave on the floor for as much time as possible.
If he can become a respectable shooter from beyond the arc, he could be a genuine force that closes playoff games.
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