Toupane becomes a 'red'!
Olympiacos BC announces the signing of Axel Toupane. The French guard/forward will be signing a two year contract.
Τhe Who is Who
He was born on July 23, 1992 in France and has measures 2.01m.
He began playing basketball with the Pau-Ortez academies in 2007 and continued with those of Strasburg. He debuted his professional career in the French League in the 2011-12 season wearing the Strasburg jersey, for which he continued playing through 2015.
He tried to earn a spot in the NBA world during the 2014 draft, however, he was not picked. He remained with Strasburg during the 2014-15 season and thanks to his impressive performances, as well as his presence in the Summer Leagues, he succeeded in signing with the Toronto Raptors in 2015. In October, before the official season started, the Raptors sent him to their G-League team, Raptors 205.
On March 3, 2016 he signed a ten day contract with the Denver Nuggets, while only a few days later, he got to move to Denver for the Nuggets till the end of the season.
The In & Out of the NBA continued… He returned to G-League and the Raptors 905 in October. On February 25, 2017 he signed a ten day contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, leaving them on March 4, 2017 to once again return to the Raptors 905. On April 10, 2017, he got to wear the New Orleans Pelican's jersey, with who he stayed till the end of the season. He returned to Europe last season and played for Zalgiris Kaunas, helping his team make the Euroleague final four for the first time in its history.
His stats (2017-18)
In 44 Euroleague games, he averaged 14.8 minutes, 5.9 p.p.g. (70.2% in free throws, 52.5% in 2p., 34% in 3p.) and 2.3 rebounds. In 42 games for the Lithuanian League, he averaged 16.4 minutes, 7.4 p.p.g. (80% in free throws, 53.4% in 2p. and 37.8% in 3p.) plus 2.5 rebounds.
His titles
French Cup Winner (2015)
Lithuanian Championship winner (2018)
Lithuanian Cup Winner (2018)
G-League Champion (2017)
Individual accolades
Most improved G-League player (2016)
French National team
He's been a member of the 'tricolor' men's team, having played with them the 2017 European Championship. He had also been a member of the U18 and the U20 teams. He won the silver medal in the 2012 U20 European Championship and the bronze medal in the same competition in 2011.