Maxime Raynaud could have participated in EuroBasket, but Sacramento « preferred to keep him for the summer »

Maxime Raynaud (7’1″, 22 years old) could have made his senior French national team debut at EuroBasket 2025. Faced with Vincent Poirier’s withdrawal two weeks before the start of the competition, following those of Mathias Lessort, Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert and Moustapha Fall, the French staff recalled Rudy Gobert while expressing interest in the former Charenton, Nanterre and Stanford player, before reaching out again to Moussa Diabaté, who had recently been cut. But Scott Perry, the new general manager of the Sacramento Kings, the franchise that drafted him, preferred to keep the Parisian in California to best prepare him for his first NBA season.

« Wearing the Blue jersey is one of the best feelings in the world »

As a guest on the show Stephen Brunch this Sunday on RMC, two days before the start of the 2025-2026 NBA season, Maxime Raynaud confirmed Boris Diaw’s call for EuroBasket:

« Yes, they tried to connect with me. I think first they were extremely respectful about the fact that when it’s your rookie season, they let you settle in, transition (to the NBA). With the injuries, they had to come. Unfortunately, it’s true that the Kings preferred to keep me for the summer, to prepare for Summer League and preseason camp, so it didn’t happen.

But in the future, the French national team is really close to my heart. I played for the U16s (silver medal in Udine in 2019), U20s (gold medal in Heraklion), the preparation for the Olympics (in Paris), these were great experiences. I was very sad during COVID-19, we had to cancel the World Championship (U17, 2020) and the U18 EuroBasket (2021), so obviously I have some summers to make up for. Wearing the Blue jersey is one of the best feelings in the world. »

It remains to be seen if Maxime Raynaud will make his senior French national team debut during the four World Cup 2027 qualifying matches next summer.