Melvin Ajinça
French basketball player (born 2004)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melvin Pierre Ajinça (born 26 June 2004) is a French professional basketball player for Le Mans Sarthe of the LNB Élite and the EuroCup.
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Ajinça with LDLC ASVEL in 2025 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 8 – Le Mans | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Small forward | ||||||||||||||
| League | LNB Élite EuroCup | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 June 2004 Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 214 lb (97 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2024: 2nd round, 51st overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | New York Knicks | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2019–present | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Centre Fédéral | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Saint-Quentin | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2026 | ASVEL | ||||||||||||||
| 2026–present | Le Mans | ||||||||||||||
| Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Professional career
Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball (2019–2022)
Born in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Ajinça started his playing career with Centre Fédéral de Basket-ball of the Nationale Masculine 1 in 2019.[1]
Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball (2022–2024)
Ajinça signed with Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball of the LNB Pro B on 30 June 2022.[2] During the 2022–23 season, he averaged 8.4 points per game and was voted the best young player in the league, as Saint-Quentin earned a promotion to the LNB Pro A.[1][3]
During the 2023–24 season, he averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists across 24.5 minutes per game.[1][4]
LDLC ASVEL (2024–2026)
On 23 July 2024, Ajinça signed with LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite.[5]
Le Mans (2026–present)
On July 3, 2026, he signed with Le Mans of the LNB Pro A.[6]
NBA rights
On 2 May 2024, the NBA confirmed that Ajinça was one of the international players who had declared for the 2024 NBA draft.[7]
On 27 June, Ajinça was selected with the 51st overall pick by the New York Knicks in the 2024 NBA draft,[4][8][9] but was later traded to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for draft rights to the 58th pick, Ariel Hukporti.[4][8] He was one of five French players selected during the entire draft, following Zaccharie Risacher (the first overall pick), Alex Sarr, Tidjane Salaün and Pacôme Dadiet.[9] On 24 June 2026, his draft rights were traded back to New York as part of a five-team deal.[10]
National team career
Ajinça was named to the France under-19 basketball team to play in the 2023 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup.[1][11] He was named to the second team All-Tournament Team, after averaging 19.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game, as France eventually reached the final before losing to Spain.[1][12]
Personal life
Ajinça is a cousin of Washington Wizards assistant coach and former NBA player Alexis Ajinça.[4][13][14]