With star center Curtis Borchardt sidelined with a hand injury, Asvel Basket moved quickly to sign forward Victor Samnick to shore up its frontline. Samnick (203, 30) arrived from fellow French club SLUC Nancy, for whom he averaged 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in nine Euroleague games last season. He spent the past three seasons at Nancy, though only last year did the club compete in the Euroleague. Before that he played two years for Racing Paris and one for Bourg en Bresse in France after a college basketball career at Georgetown University.

"After the injury to Curtis Borchardt, it was important to complete the team with a player who would soon join," said club executive Pierre Grall. "Moreover, the current uncertainty about the extent of Curtis’s unavailability led us to sign Victor Samnick until the end of the season."