“The league really in trouble” said Kevin Durant on his impression of the 2023 top prospect Victor Wembanyama via press conference. A young talent we’ve had our eye on since a viral video surface of him and Rudy Gobert playing a pick up game. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of him playing against Gleague Ignite team earlier this month along with another top prospect Scoot Henderson. In both games he averaged 36 points, 7 rebounds, 4 ast, 4 blocks in both games on Oct 4th and 6th.
He’s a 7’3 talent from Le Chesnay, France who can pretty much play any position on the floor. With an 8 foot wingspan who can handle the ball, court vision, shoot fadeaway shots, consistent 3 point shooter, and provide rim protection. The general masses including fans and pro players believe he’s a product of Kevin Durant. With practically the same abilities as the “Slim Reaper” but I would also say a product of Dirk Nowitzki too. People forget the one legged fadeaway shot that was pretty much unguardable.
What makes Victors game stand out is his rim protection in the interior. The fact that when he’s in the interior makes it harder for anyone to dive to the basket. Iso ball one on one face up with him and he can definitively block those shots with his commitment on the defensive end. Combine with his footwork to make high volume shots like the midrange and three’s point shots at just 18 years old makes you imagine what he’ll look like once he’s in his prime.
Above reference is a highlight clip against G league ignite earlier this month in Las Vegas. Here’s a few breakdowns of his game from start to finish.
In the beginning of the first quarter , Victor with the help defense and blocks the shot at the rim. Second sequence Victor brings up the ball calls for a pick as a decoy, handles the ball , quick step towards his right , takes the contact , spin move towards the basket for a bucket. In the clip there’s one play where his guard Konate sees Victor by the rim. Because of his size advantage and the mismatch konate throws a lob at Victor for a basket. Another play Victor is at the perimeter his guard sets a pick for him to pop and drills a three. Another play Victor does a screen and roll , gets the ball and does a step back three from the perimeter. It’s honestly unreal what his natural abilities can do at his size. At the 2:17 mark Victor goes iso with his defender face up in the post, creates space for the mid range shot.
What this man can do is unlike anything we’ve seen since Lebrons televisied high school games on ESPN in the early 2000’s. A 7’3 player who plays like a point guard is synonymous to a create character played in NBA 2k. As far as his impact he’ll have on the nba and next summers draft lottery. As ESPN Senior writer Adrian Wojnarowski stated in regards to the future prospect “we’re going to see a race to the bottom like we’ve ever seen before in the nba”. In terms of nba teams doing whatever it takes to not compete to win a championship this season but win in the Draft Lottery, to draft a generational talent like we’ve never seen.
