Ranking the 5 best France 2023 NBA Draft prospects by position ft. Victor Wembanyama, Bilal Coulibaly and more

There are a lot of talented players from France in the 2023 NBA draft pool. The game of basketball has developed internationally to the point that some of the best players currently are not from the United States.

There are incredible talents such as Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and many more that were born outside of the U.S. and have dominated at the highest level. There are five players from France who are trying to hear their names get drafted, but where do these players rank among themselves? Let's take a deeper dive into the French players entering the.

#5 Nadir Hifi

Nadir Hifi has played three seasons with ESSM Le Portel in France and has been doing a decent job. He is averaging 16.8 points, 3.4 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. His shooting numbers have also been decent, as he has a 45.9/35.2/82.7 shooting split. As a 6'1 shooting guard, he is a little undersized for the NBA. Expect to see him as an undrafted free agent as there are a lot of players on teams that are going to be valued more in this year's draft.

#4 Sidy Cissoko

Teams have definitely gotten a great look at guard Sidy Cissoko, as he played last season with the G League Ignite. He is a talented guard who was part of the 2021 FIBA U18 European Challengers. Looking at his numbers from last season, at 19 years old, he had a productive year. Cissoko finished with 12.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, one block, and 1.2 steals over the course of 29.3 minutes per game.

NBA scouts were able to routinely see him play while he was stateside throughout the previous season. He seems to be able to adapt to the international game but still has some room for growth.

#3 Bilal Coulibaly

Bilal Coulibaly is 18 years old and will be 19 when the NBA Summer League opens up. He has a lot of upsides and worked well as a teammate with Victor Wembanyama, so he definitely got some media attention as a byproduct. In 27 games, he has averaged five points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.2 blocks in 18.1 minutes per game. He has shown the ability to do well as a slasher but needs to develop a shot to be more than a traditional big man.

#2 Rayan Rupert

Rayan Rupert is slightly ahead of Coulibaly as his limitations do not inhibit him from being a valuable piece on an NBA roster. He is among the top-five wing players entering the draft.

Rupert is a solid 3&D player that will be able to do well and help out whoever drafts him. He needs to work on his shooting a bit more to get consistent enough to dominate. Right now, he is the second-best player from France in the 2023 NBA draft.

#1 Victor Wembanyama

Was it even thought to place Victor Wembanyama anywhere but the top spot? He is being compared to Lebron James in terms of hype, and he will dominate. In France last season, Wembanyama finished with 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, three blocks, 2.4 assists, and 0.7 steals while being a 7-2 point forward.

He is going to play a large percentage of the 2023-24 NBA season. At 19 years old he will continue to develop, but right now, he is one of the better players entering the NBA that we have seen in a very long time.