Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread - For all your Wembanyama needs!

[JN61]

Don't get the hype for this guy. I'm sure he is pretty ok player in NBA but I don't think he is all that what people here and elsewhere tout him to be.

I get it if you feel he won't stay healthy, that's a fair concern. But not understanding why his game/physical gifts warrant the ridiculous hype, is something I cannot wrap my mind around.

To me the whole package. He is just too thin to play on NBA level and that leads to issues on both sides of the floor where he can be bullied with ease. And that leads to injuries. But if he bulks up. Who knows what. he loses his quickness. To me he is like Zion hype. All the hype Zion had, sure puts up cute numbers but there is no winning coming out of his play. Also honestly on NBA level, I'm not scared of this guy shooting over other players; he makes some and misses some, won't be too efficient or changing the flow of the game with easy buckets. I don't care about that. However he can't score on drives on NBA level.

[D.Brasco]

I get it if you feel he won't stay healthy, that's a fair concern. But not understanding why his game/physical gifts warrant the ridiculous hype, is something I cannot wrap my mind around.

That's my thought the hype is warranted but I just can't see him being healthy long term at his height. It's almost like it's too good to be true, he's still human there are certain trade offs the human body has to make. I want to be proven wrong because it would be something we've never really seen before.

Will he be playing center or PF? If center, he’s going to have a hard time positioning in the post against much stronger players like Embiid.

It'd have to be power forward. He has a super narrow base and legs which wouldn't work in the post.

There are trade-offs to playing more perimeter oriented however, as you need to play mobile and quick which has its own risks at that height.

Ralph Samson is probably the closest historical comparison (Wemby is actually taller) and injuries derailed him.

[Michael Jackson]

Is he actually the best prospect ever or the best prospect since LeBron.

To me there is a pretty clear difference there.

The potential is “ever”.

The reality, coupled with the risk, is certainty less. LeBron’s feel for the game as a teenager was unreal, as was his athletic ability. I’m not comfortable calling VW a better prospect than James, but he’s certainly a unique prospect.

I am easily comfortable in saying Wemby is the best prospect since Anthony Bennett.

[King4Day]

Protected first? Lolz.

Any team at 2nd overall in this draft that wants the first pick, assuming VW hasn’t severely injured himself, would be paying upwards of FIVE unprotected firsts, and that’s assuming those are likely lottery picks, as in that team + Scoot can still be projected to suck.

Scoot’s a great prospect, don’t get me wrong. But imagine if Cleveland were willing to move off LeBron, or Orlando were willing to move off of Shaq. That’s what this costs.

would be paying upwards of FIVE unprotected firsts, I just cannot agree, why would any franchise do this??

I don’t see it happening, for the same reason Cleveland rebuffed any offers on LeBron. You just don’t trade away a true generational prospect. Victor is one.

I guess it depends on how valued Scoot will be. If he's seen as a 1b franchise changer, you never know. Teams may fear the tall lanky guy (albeit insanely talented) running the risk of getting hurt.

[Jzh]

20pts / 9 rebounds on 46% shooting and 7/7 FT in 23mn vs Lithuania - didn't seem that great but clearly doing the job / a bit clumsy and naive on the defensive end like any young player

[bravor]

For those interested, Victor had a good start with french NT : 20pts, 9 rbs, 1as, 1stl (no block) for 1 to (6/13 shooting and 1/2 on 3's). Some crazy finger rolls. But Lith's (Blazevic was pretty good on him) defended him well (esp on the perimeter, apparently they did not want him to get hot from 3).

highlights from the game (some scout will provide Victor's highlight and maybe the 'scary moment' when he slided on the court in the beginning of the game).
He shot (and made) a technical free throw btw (not a big fan of this but i assume he wanted to do it and coach/players were fine with it).

Watch on YouTube

[krakdol]

20pts / 9 rebounds on 46% shooting and 7/7 FT in 23mn vs Lithuania - didn't seem that great but clearly doing the job / a bit clumsy and naive on the defensive end like any young player

...in only 23 mn. He's 18 and that's his first NT game, plus it's away vs a very good NT they crushed in good part because of him.

I'd say that's very impressive.

[YouMustBeJoakim]

So far, Houston is leading the tank wars. With Charlotte, Magic, Detroit, OKC in the mix.

Anyone else rooting for a certain team (besides their home team) to get Wemby? I personally feel like Detroit and OKC would be a good fit — both teams already have good young guards to pair with him. And Orlando would just be absurd having Paolo, Bol, and Victor in the same lineup.

Him on the Rockets would be the worse case imo.

[Exp0sed]

Eh, at best we’re talking the Lakers failing into like a 6% chance of landing Wemby. Yeah it could happen but it’s too unlikely to be licking chops about it now imo.

what do you mean by "at best"? Lebron hasn't been the picture of health in these later years, AD is one the most injury prone players ever and they have very little apart from these two

if they don't trade WB and picks for some win now vets and\or one or two of these can't play for extended periods in the season (especially if they happen to be injured at the same time) this Laker team might finish dead last and more realistically - be bottom 5

edit: perhaps it's unlikely but it's certainly possible and plausible, "at best" 6% simply isn't true

No, the Lakers won't finish dead last--at some point multiple teams will get serious about losing and they'll easily place well below a team like the Lakers, who will try to win every minute Lebron and AD are around and have nothing to gain by being bad this year.

If you want to grill me on the 'at best,' sure there is a chance that everything falls apart and the Lakers finish in the bottom 6 of the league, like there's a chance that I'll die today. If you want to talk as two regular basically intelligent humans trying to have a conversation about the question 'what's a reasonable range for that Lakers draft pick?' then I'll stand by saying that it seems overwhelmingly likely to be somewhere between #7-20.

Is it still "overwhelmingly likely"?

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[_jin]

20pts / 9 rebounds on 46% shooting and 7/7 FT in 23mn vs Lithuania - didn't seem that great but clearly doing the job / a bit clumsy and naive on the defensive end like any young player

...in only 23 mn. He's 18 and that's his first NT game, plus it's away vs a very good NT they crushed in good part because of him.

I'd say that's very impressive.

I think you're both right. He had a pretty good game considering it was his first and how young he is. But he still made a lot of mistakes, yet most of them are normal, the kind of flaws that fix themselves naturally with experience. Lithuania is a great team, they have good, quick slashers and they didnt hesitate to attack him at the rim with pretty good success. While he didnt get a block I think, I know there's one that was missed early on a 3pt attempt he clearly deflected, he was very active defensively. On offense I liked that he accepted the physical challenge and spent most of his time in the post, drawing fouls and going to the line at 7/7 FT.

Also completely useless trivia: it was only the 4th time a rookie in the France national team scored 20+ points, the last one happened 43 years ago.

[UcanUwill]

20pts / 9 rebounds on 46% shooting and 7/7 FT in 23mn vs Lithuania - didn't seem that great but clearly doing the job / a bit clumsy and naive on the defensive end like any young player

Watched the game, his defensive presence is insane, few lower level very brave players on Lithuania did score layups against him, he can be slow at times, but most of the time when he just inside, you could tell how Victor just being there impacted whole Lithuanian offense, players were afraid to shoot. Its not about blocked shots, it is not about altered shots, its about how many shots and opportunities opponents waved off entirely because they saw Victor was close. Kid is seriously Bill Russell 2.0.

[UcanUwill]

6'10 Lithuanian Center, Marek Blazevic, said that he hasn't had many experiences in life seeing a person so much taller than himself. I am telling you, this kid is taller than they say, he is 7'5, maybe we can even push it to 7'6. He is defeinitely taller than 7'2 or even 7'4 how recent reports claim.

[lambchop]

20pts / 9 rebounds on 46% shooting and 7/7 FT in 23mn vs Lithuania - didn't seem that great but clearly doing the job / a bit clumsy and naive on the defensive end like any young player

...in only 23 mn. He's 18 and that's his first NT game, plus it's away vs a very good NT they crushed in good part because of him.

I'd say that's very impressive.

I think you're both right. He had a pretty good game considering it was his first and how young he is. But he still made a lot of mistakes, yet most of them are normal, the kind of flaws that fix themselves naturally with experience. Lithuania is a great team, they have good, quick slashers and they didnt hesitate to attack him at the rim with pretty good success. While he didnt get a block I think, I know there's one that was missed early on a 3pt attempt he clearly deflected, he was very active defensively. On offense I liked that he accepted the physical challenge and spent most of his time in the post, drawing fouls and going to the line at 7/7 FT.

Also completely useless trivia: it was only the 4th time a rookie in the France national team scored 20+ points, the last one happened 43 years ago.

This version of Lithuania definitely isn't great with all the euroleague guys missing. That said, it's still very impressive how much of an impact Wemby was able to have. He also showed his versatility and lack of ego by simply doing what they needed him to do, protect the paint and be a finisher.

He can be plug and play and immediately contribute to winning by using his length and positioning himself well on both ends, but he also understands how to expand his game and add more and more finesse and perimeter stuff.

[Eagle4]

Eerily similar to Wilt on that last play

Watch on YouTube

[UcanUwill]

Eerily similar to Wilt on that last play

Watch on YouTube

his lay ups are above the rim

[sisibilio]

So far, Houston is leading the tank wars. With Charlotte, Magic, Detroit, OKC in the mix.

Anyone else rooting for a certain team (besides their home team) to get Wemby? I personally feel like Detroit and OKC would be a good fit — both teams already have good young guards to pair with him. And Orlando would just be absurd having Paolo, Bol, and Victor in the same lineup.

Him on the Rockets would be the worse case imo.

Sengun / Wemby is not a bad starting frontcourt either. With Green, Garuba...

[Movics]

He is definitely stronger than what his built would suggest based on that NT highlights. That jumpshot is looking smoother and smoother. Man, I hope he stays healthy and we get to see a transcendent player in the next two decades.

[SNPA]

Don't get the hype for this guy. I'm sure he is pretty ok player in NBA but I don't think he is all that what people here and elsewhere tout him to be.

I get it if you feel he won't stay healthy, that's a fair concern. But not understanding why his game/physical gifts warrant the ridiculous hype, is something I cannot wrap my mind around.

To me the whole package. He is just too thin to play on NBA level and that leads to issues on both sides of the floor where he can be bullied with ease. And that leads to injuries. But if he bulks up. Who knows what. he loses his quickness. To me he is like Zion hype. All the hype Zion had, sure puts up cute numbers but there is no winning coming out of his play. Also honestly on NBA level, I'm not scared of this guy shooting over other players; he makes some and misses some, won't be too efficient or changing the flow of the game with easy buckets. I don't care about that. However he can't score on drives on NBA level.

The last thing VW should do is bulk up. He can add some strength and a little bit of weight but staying thin is the key to him staying healthy. It would be stupid for a team to draft him and look to add weight.

People need to stop thinking about him like a typical big man. He isn’t. Think more like KD but 5-6 inches taller.

[HotelVitale]

what do you mean by "at best"? Lebron hasn't been the picture of health in these later years, AD is one the most injury prone players ever and they have very little apart from these two

if they don't trade WB and picks for some win now vets and\or one or two of these can't play for extended periods in the season (especially if they happen to be injured at the same time) this Laker team might finish dead last and more realistically - be bottom 5

edit: perhaps it's unlikely but it's certainly possible and plausible, "at best" 6% simply isn't true

No, the Lakers won't finish dead last--at some point multiple teams will get serious about losing and they'll easily place well below a team like the Lakers, who will try to win every minute Lebron and AD are around and have nothing to gain by being bad this year.

If you want to grill me on the 'at best,' sure there is a chance that everything falls apart and the Lakers finish in the bottom 6 of the league, like there's a chance that I'll die today. If you want to talk as two regular basically intelligent humans trying to have a conversation about the question 'what's a reasonable range for that Lakers draft pick?' then I'll stand by saying that it seems overwhelmingly likely to be somewhere between #7-20.

Is it still "overwhelmingly likely"?

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Yeah losing at home to the Kings is pretty bad. Maybe I’ll have to eat my words but I’d still bet a lot of money on them not finishing lower than 7. No bias either, I don’t care about the lakers or pelicans, just don’t see a realistic scenario in which they’re in the bottom 5. Long season and again there’s no incentive for lal to lose unlike all the other lotto teams.

[Exp0sed]

I get it if you feel he won't stay healthy, that's a fair concern. But not understanding why his game/physical gifts warrant the ridiculous hype, is something I cannot wrap my mind around.

To me the whole package. He is just too thin to play on NBA level and that leads to issues on both sides of the floor where he can be bullied with ease. And that leads to injuries. But if he bulks up. Who knows what. he loses his quickness. To me he is like Zion hype. All the hype Zion had, sure puts up cute numbers but there is no winning coming out of his play. Also honestly on NBA level, I'm not scared of this guy shooting over other players; he makes some and misses some, won't be too efficient or changing the flow of the game with easy buckets. I don't care about that. However he can't score on drives on NBA level.

The last thing VW should do is bulk up. He can add some strength and a little bit of weight but staying thin is the key to him staying healthy. It would be stupid for a team to draft him and look to add weight.

People need to stop thinking about him like a typical big man. He isn’t. Think more like KD but 5-6 inches taller.

Kd couldn't do a single bench press at the draft combine

He obviously got much stronger when he was at his peak - a very good defender

All that length wouldn't be nearly as usefull if every PJ Tucker can body Wemby with ease, box him out and keep him far from the rim\paint

He def needs to get stronger, his skiils snd length will make him a productive player regardless but there is no world in which he dominates the NBA at an all nba, MVP or generational talent level, without getting considerably stronger imo

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