Victor Wembanyama: 7'5" 220 lbs 19.4 years old Metropolitans 92 (France) 21.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.2 apg, 3.2 bpg, 0.8 spg, 46.5% fg%, 30.4% 3%, 82.9% ft%.

Victor Wembanyama is a phenomenon that has been a known commodity since he was 13, Yet, he still got better and is set to be a force in the NBA from day 1. Victor is a 7’5” power forward with skills of a guard and the shot protection of an all NBA caliber rim protector. I believe the reigning NBA Defensive player of the year, Jaren Jackson JR. is a comparison for Wembanyama but Victor should be better on both ends. He can average 20 plus points and 10 plus rebounds and 2.5 plus blocks as soon as he steps foot in the NBA combining unreal ball skills, shooting and all world defense to be a potent weapon on both ends. He can get stronger and improve in many ways to get even better, but he is as NBA ready to be very good as anyone with as high of a ceiling down the road as any prospect in the last 20 years. The Spurs won the lottery and will be gifted a 3rd franchise center number 1 pick. Saying he can be David Robinson or Tim Duncan may be rich, but this guy will have as good of a chance as anyone to be special in the NBA with size, grace, fluidity and the will to improve he has shown.

Strengths: Tremendous size and coordination combination. All time level Shot blocker who can defend the perimeter. Can rim run very well. Very good shooter. Roll and pop threat. Has the ability to self create in half court on perimeter and down low and anywhere in between. Soft touch around rim. Finishes well at the basket. 71% at the basket.
Willing passer. Sees over the defense and fires. Spot up shooter with potential to shoot on move. Lob threat. Weaknesses: Has to get stronger. More turnovers than assists. Not super efficient in the post.

If Wembanyama stays healthy, he has a chance to become one of the best bigs since the game became more skill oriented. He has every capacity to be a bigger, better Anthony Davis or Jaren Jackson Jr. type. Wembanyama could be a league altering talent. The Spurs have fast tracked their rebuild and the world should be excited to see Wembanyama in the NBA, scoring inside and out and becoming one of the most talented defenders ever instantly.

Strengths

• insane physical specimen (Yao Ming tall [7'5], but even longer arms [8'0 wingspan])

• incredible production (24 points 11 reb, 3.5 blocks per36 in Europe, albeit relatively weak league)

• can hit ft (83%)

• can dribble the ball

Weaknesses

• needs to work on 3p% (30%)

• very long road ahead to build his body (google his toes, very gross)

Tier: Generational

Player Comparisions: Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gobert, Bol Bol

Victor Wembanyama is one of a kind. He's widely regarded as the greatest draft prospect since LeBron James in 2003. He's 7'3" yet only about 220 lbs. He's got a frame that we've never seen. For comparison, Kristaps Porzingis is 7'3" yet he's about 240 lbs. The Frenchman is tall and lean, yet he's got the skill set of like, every single NBA player combined. He's extremely fast for his size, towering over players to block shots, yet he's a great 3-point shooter and he's got as good handles as anyone in the NBA. He's a major factor on both offense and defense, which explains why teams can't tank fast enough. We've seen multiple teams, like the Jazz and the Spurs blow up their roster for just a chance at this guy. The only real worry with him right now is that his frame will make him injury-prone, but if he can stay healthy, it seems certain that he'll go down as one of the greatest NBA players of all time.

Bio: Metropolitans 92, January 3, 2004 (19), 7’3”, 230 lb, Center/Forward

Stats:

Strengths:

• Defensive instincts

• Shot Blocking

• Shot Making

• Handles (for size)

• Shooting Potential

Weaknesses:

• Shot selection can be iffy

• Lacks strength

• Has injury history

• Not Steph Curry

Rundown:

Wembanyama is a once in a vicennial prospect. His size and length, defensive ability, combined with his off the dribble shooting potential, make him an absolute nightmare for opposing defenders. There are injury and decision making concerns, but the team that lands him will be the envy of the entire league.

Shades of: N/A

• The LNB Pro A is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France.

• LNB Pro A champion (2022)

• LNB Pro A All-Star (2021, 2022)

• LNB Pro A Best Young Player (2021, 2022)

• Born in Le Chesnay, France.

• On December 12, 2020, Wembanyama suffered a stress fracture in his fibula during an Espoirs game, missing over 2 months.

• Wembanyama was unable to play for one month at the start of the 2021-22 season because of an undisclosed illness.

• On November 10, 2021, ASVEL announced that Wembanyama would miss two to three weeks with a fractured finger.

• On December 2, 2021, Wembanyama was sidelined after suffering a bone bruise in his right shoulder against Zenit Saint Petersburg, with an estimated recovery time of five weeks.

• On June 3, 2022, Wembanyama was ruled out for the remainder of the season with a psoas muscle injury he sustained during a Pro A semifinal game against JDA Dijon.

• Did not participate in NBA pre-draft combine.

19.5 year-old 7'4 C/PF/SF. 2-Way Glass Cleaning Playmaking Shot Creator. Highly-skilled alien with an 8'0 wingspan. Victor will undoubtedly be picked by whichever team lucks into the #1 pick.

Strengths:

++++Shot Blocking

+++3P Shooting

+++Interior Scoring

++Shot Creation

++Foot speed

++Handles

+Passing

Weaknesses:

--Weight

--Strength

-Hustle

-Defensive IQ

-Potentially High Injury Risk

Shades Of:

Kevin Durant, Bol Bol, Rudy Gobert, Kristaps Porzingis, Chet Holmgren, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Ceiling: Hall of Fame, The G.O.A.T.

Floor: All-Star, Skilled Bucket-Getter

Team Fit:

No team will hesitate to make Victor their franchise player if they get the opportunity to draft him. He is 7'4, but with his foot speed, length, and ability to space the floor, he could in theory be used more like a wing by a team like Detroit that may already like their rotation of bigs.

Best fits within range: San Antonio, Orlando, Portland, Detroit

I mean what can I say that hasn’t already been said about Victor Wembanyama? The dude is a really good basketball player and has so much upside. Every non playoff team will be praying to the basketball gods that they are lucky enough to get the 1st overall pick and draft Victor.

Best team fits: San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets

It is tremendously arduous for me to describe Victor Wembanyama with one paragraph. Sometimes, when watching the game, we experienced one phenomenon, one specimen, one human being that is easier to comprehend when watched, rather than being written about. I'm sure most of you have tuned into a Wemby game, whether it was his prodigal FIBA play with France, his breathtaking bouts with fellow top projected pick Scoot Henderson, or his contemporary tape that is expanding every few days with Metropolitans 92. So it's almost futile to go too into depth about a prospect that has been covered on par with the attention of the collapse of the app with the little blue bird on it. But, screw it, I have to! I have to go in depth about a prospect that is so unique (forget about the mundane Chet Holmgren!), so skilled, so gifted. Wemby's sell as a generational prospect obviously starts with the defense. There is so much margin for error with little mishaps and positioning errors just because of his immense wingspan. He erases shots and the rack and instills a fear factor on the other side of the arena with his shot blocking skill. The mobility is something that I have previously said separates him from a guy like Chet defensively, and makes the comp more like Evan Mobley. His footspeed is insane for his size, he has a flexible hip turn, focus and passion to stay in front of his man, and even if he gets switched on to the ultra quick ball handler type that has become commonplace in the NBA over the last few years, his recovery length and strides allow him to mitigate offensive advantages and get clean contests. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Victor is a god at defense. The positioning and feel of where to be at isn't Jeremy Sochan esque for example (very few players have that uncanny sense). He could take a bit to get acclimated to NBA finishers. But the athletic tools, easy or not easy to see (load time, second jump, FUNCTIONAL length, footspeed, footwork, size) already give him the edge over the Sochans and even Chets on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively is where a fair share of the highlights go for Victor, and, frankly, why wouldn't they? Seeing a 7-5 guy handle the ball so fluidly in transition, attempt stepback threes (a differentiator from Mobley at this age) is freaking enticing. My biggest worry with him has mostly been centered around the handle and the creation in the post, and whether I'm willing to buy that. But he's getting stronger. It's evident that while watching his games in Europe he's going to have a sense of freedom to experiment and improve. This will be a massive year where I'm excited to track how much gravity he commands on the floor, whether the flashes of counters and moves will become actuality, and whether his shooting is as up to speed as the highlights say. And by the way, his shooting isn't perfect at this point. The percentages show some rough stuff, likely because of shot selection and lack of ELITE ELITE touch, but I still buy he has the potential to be one of the best big man shooters in the league. So yeah, that's why everybody is high on Wemby. Perfect prospect, right? But then come the injuries. BOO! BOO! The masses of Wemby fans are made irate by this topic. Over the summer, I pondered whether Chet Holmgren's downright tragic foot injury would affect the prospect case, and let's be honest, it probably does. Historically, the 7 footers of the NBA, Chet, Yao Ming, Kristaps Porzingis, have been very prone to injuries. It's the same thing with Wemby! It feels likely, almost inevitable, that one of these long term injuries are going to come to him, and that's the blatant worry. But at the end of the day, as I posed in my previous assessment of Wembanyama super early in the process, the allure may be greater than the risk of Wemby.

Comparison: Kristaps Porzingis, Rudy Gobert, Evan Mobley, KAT

Ceiling: One of the best players of all time, Hakeem career arc

Median: Kristaps

Floor: Injury Prone Rotational Big/Shorter Career, but still a high level role player