All eyes have been on Paige Bueckers forward of this yr’s WNBA Draft.
And whereas the UConn star was chosen with the primary total decide by the Dallas Wings, it was who the Seattle Storm chosen instantly after who has an opportunity at a much bigger profession.
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Enter Dominique Malonga.
Standing at 6-foot-6 tall, the middle is already an Olympic silver medallist at 19 years previous.
Malonga is regarded by many as a unicorn prospect who has performed in France’s prime skilled girls’s league since she was 15.
{The teenager} is at present averaging 15.4 factors, 10.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists for Lyon Asvel Feminin.
She was the youngest participant on France’s Olympic workforce on the Paris Video games, and helped her nation to the gold medal recreation, the place they have been overwhelmed 67-66 by the USA.
Whereas Malonga is maybe not a family title on the identical stage as Bueckers, given she didn’t go to varsity within the US or function within the Girls’s NCAA Event, she has the potential to be simply nearly as good, if not higher.
She’s a drive down low, an efficient finisher close to the rim and strikes extraordinarily properly for her dimension.
Final October, she made historical past by changing into the primary Frenchwoman to dunk in a EuroCup recreation — aged simply 18 — and is considered a participant with a rare ceiling.
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In line with The Athletic, there’s a rising subset of expertise evaluators who assume she might finally be higher than Bueckers.
The Dallas Wings did not take the possibility on Malonga with their No. 1 decide, choosing Bueckers.
Meaning the Storm have been in a position to snag arguably probably the most gifted participant within the draft.
To maybe additional cement herself because the No. 2 decide, Malonga has lengthy been in comparison with her French compatriot Wembanyama.
4-time NBA champion Tony Parker first made the hyperlink again in 2021, citing similarities in dimension, athleticism and perimeter expertise between the pair.
Whereas she admitted being in comparison with the San Antonio Spurs All-Star is an ‘honor’, {the teenager} has made it clear she desires to forge her personal path on the courtroom.
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“Being in comparison with Victor is sweet as a result of he is an excellent participant,” Malonga, who boasts a exceptional 7-foot-1 wingspan, mentioned in a current interview.
“The issues that he is doing are so wonderful, so in fact being in comparison with him is an honor.
“However I wish to be sure that I do not lose my id in that and I nonetheless have my recreation.
“After I’m on the courtroom I play as Dominique Malonga, not as Victor.”
There is a new storm brewing in Seattle.
And she or he goes by the title of Dominique Malonga.