ASVEL continues searching for reinforcements. The French club has shown interest in Petr Cornelie, who is available after his season with Turkish side Esenler Erokspor, according to Matteo Andreani. The situation is evolving and the power forward could return to France and the EuroLeague just one year after departing.
The move makes sense given the summer ASVEL is experiencing. Under financial monitoring by the LNB and DNACG, with several player signings blocked and after losing players they had just acquired, the club led by Tony Parker has had to rebuild its plans on the fly. Nick Weiler-Babb departed weeks after signing and Mbaye Ndiaye left for Olympiacos despite having renewed through 2029.
A familiar name in Madrid
Spanish fans will recognize him, and for good reason: Cornelie won the EuroLeague championship with Real Madrid in 2023, the 2022-23 season, when he also won the Spanish Super Cup.
Before that, he had worked his way up through the French circuit. He developed at Le Mans, where he debuted at just eighteen years old and was named the Pro A's best young player in 2015, and later played for Levallois Metropolitans and Pau-Orthez, establishing himself as a stretch power forward with outside shooting ability.
The NBA stint and return
The Denver Nuggets selected him at pick 53 in the 2016 draft, but he didn't cross the Atlantic until 2021. There he split time between the NBA and the G League, and in the latter he posted dominant numbers: 17.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game with the Grand Rapids Gold in the 2021-22 season.
After winning the title with Madrid, he signed with AS Monaco, where he spent two seasons and won the French league in 2024, before moving to Turkey. With the French national team, he has an Olympic silver medal from the Tokyo Games.