NBA fine with Victor Wembanyama's debut happening in Sacramento - ESPN

DENVER — Victor Wembanyama's next couple of weeks are now set: He'll be playing in the French league finals starting this weekend, and then the San Antonio Spurs will almost certainly make him the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on June 22.

And if that means the French star's summer league debut comes in Sacramento instead of Las Vegas in early July, the league is fine with that.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league doesn't have a preference regarding the site of Wembanyama's first game with the Spurs. While the NBA summer league in Las Vegas is the biggest — all 30 teams attend — and commands the most attention, there are smaller summer leagues that precede the Vegas event by a few days. Sacramento plays host to one of those events, and the Spurs are one of six teams headed there this year.

«All summer leagues are NBA summer leagues,» Silver told The Associated Press. «I'm very supportive of the Sacramento summer league. I remember when [Kings owner Vivek Ranadive] first came to the league and said this was something he wanted to do. I said, 'As long as you have enough other teams who support it and players who want to play in it, it's a good thing.'»

The Kings might be getting a lot more buzz than usual this summer. Not only are the Spurs headed there, but so is Charlotte — which holds the No. 2 pick. And it just so happens that the Spurs and Hornets will open Sacramento summer play against one another, potentially setting the stage for a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup a few days before Vegas even starts.

If Wembanyama plays in Sacramento, he'd be the first No. 1 pick not to debut in Las Vegas since Markelle Fultz for Philadelphia in 2017. The 76ers played in Utah's summer league that year before going to Vegas.

Other