By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Selected with the 43rd overall pick of the 2023 NBA draft, Rayan Rupert will soon officially become a player of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Rupert, 19, will sign a multiyear guaranteed contract, according to L’Equipe.
Participating in the Next Stars program of the National Basketball League, the Strasbourg native moved his talents from France to the New Zealand Breakers and spent the 2022-23 season in Oceania’s NBL. Averaging 6.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 0.8 steals per contest shaped his efforts in the injury-plagued campaign abroad.
Rupert, an international player capped at the U18 level by France, was noted as a late first-round pick in several mock drafts but eventually slipped down to midway through the second round.
Readying to display his all-around talents in the NBA with plenty of more work to do, earning a multi-year contract as a second-round pick is far from a given, but Rupert is considered a potentially good fit for the Blazers to be handed a spot on the roster with a guaranteed contract, rather than another development route, such as being stashed in Europe. However, he is not expected to be able to help right away heading to the 2023-24 Regular Season with the Blazers desperate to boost the squad and build around Damian Lillard.
Apart from the promising French guard, the Blazers additionally picked up Scoot Henderson with the third overall pick of the draft and Iowa product Kris Murray with the 23rd selection.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL