Victor Wembanyama’s scouting report seemed impossible: a 7-foot Frenchman with the ball-handling and shooting skills of a guard and the defensive instincts to guarantee scoring on every possession.
The San Antonio Spurs’ first overall pick entered his rookie year with some of the highest expectations we’ve ever seen from a rookie and was one of the NBA’s biggest attractions from day one. any.
And, somehow, Wembanyama delivered. So it was only natural that he would be named the NBA Rookie of the Year on Monday. It’s hard to overstate what Wembanyama accomplished on an individual level as a rookie. The Spurs struggled to a 22-60 record, the same record as last season, but under the hood was a player who changed with every play he played.
It’s not an understatement to say that Wembanyama, who played at age 19 and 20, was one of the 20 most impactful players in the NBA. By player efficiency rating, he ranked 12th in the league. In the plus/minus box, he placed 11th. Full recovery rate: 10th. Usage rate: 6th. Block rate: first (all statistics are from basketball-reference.com).
To put Wembanyama’s top-10 usage rate into perspective, the next best-performing rookie in the league was Scoot Henderson of the Portland Trail Blazers, at 38th. And despite being a central part of a poor offense that opponents could focus most of their attention on, Wembanyama posted a respectable .565 true shooting rate, ahead of the likes of Dejounte Murray and Malcolm Brogdon.
Now imagine him improving, which is what 20-year-olds tend to do.
On a more traditional statistical level, Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports noted that no other teenager can match what Wembanyama did. Including LeBron James:
-
Wemanyama (2023-24): 21.4 PTS (47/33/80), 10.6 REB, 3.9 AST (3.7 TO), 1.2 STL, 3.6 BLK
-
Tiago (2003-04): 20.9 PTS (42/29/75), 5.5 REB, 5.9 AST (3.5 TO), 1.6 STL, 0.7 BLK
Virtually every NBA player who ever had a breakout season like Wembanyama is resting comfortably in the Naismith Hall of Fame. His PER comparables include Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, and Shaquille O’Neal.
About the only problem for Wembanyama entering the NBA was that his 209-pound frame might not be able to hold up against the league’s big men. He still played 71 games, averaging nearly 30 minutes every night, despite facing a minutes restriction at one point.
We could continue. The fact is, Wembanyama should receive All-NBA and All-Defense votes in addition to his rookie accolades. He checked off every box on one of the toughest rubrics the NBA world has ever given a rookie, while providing physics-defying highlights along the way.
Here are some of them, real quick.
Let’s look at some highlights from Victor Wembanyama
Spurs’ next step: giving Victor Wembanyama the help he needs
Landing the generational star is often the hardest part for potential candidates. The next step for Spurs is, well, another difficult part: building around Wembanyama.
With all due respect to players like Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan and Tre Jones, San Antonio’s supporting cast didn’t exactly look ready for the playoffs this season. Wembanyama needs help, and the good news is that, in theory, he should fit in alongside many players, even some ball-dominant stars. Wembanyama’s defensive prowess and versatility in attack as a post-player, driver and spot-up shooter make for a malleable presence depending on what Spurs want to do.
Apparently, Wembanyama has no shortage of interest from his fellow players in joining, as he told The Ringer:
“Yes, I received some messages,” replied Wembanyama. “Even from potential customers. But I try to support my role. It’s a whole new world that I’m excited to discover. For sure, one day or another, I will have to be involved in that, I think, even while maintaining my role as a player.”
Wembanyama was ecstatic that the Spurs won the lottery because of Gregg Popovich. Now, he will depend on Popovich to once again show that he can build an NBA title contender after receiving a generational perspective. First it was Tim Duncan, now it’s Wembanyama.
Chet Holmgren was an impressive second-place finisher for the Thunder
The funny part of Wembanyama’s brilliance is that he wasn’t the only absurdly skinny 7-footer with guard skills to star as a rookie this season.
In almost any other season, Holmgren would have taken home Rookie of the Year. He was actually very good, finishing second to Wembanyama in the NBA in blocks, while ranking 17th in the NBA in true shooting and seventh in defensive rating. Rookies are not expected to be elite interior defenders and efficient perimeter shooters from the start.
The big difference between Holmgren and Wembanyama was the team’s circumstances. While Wembanyama joined one of the worst teams in the NBA, a team that could feature him as much as he wanted, Holmgren joined a Thunder team that was already loaded with young talent.
With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dominating the ball and players like Jalen Williams, Lu Dort and Josh Giddey also needing touches, Holmgren was used much more as an off-ball threat. That’s not a knock on Holmgren or the way the Thunder used him; he is a very good player, used in a very useful role on a team that finished first in the West.
The Thunder have every reason to be excited about Holmgren as their future star. He simply picked the wrong year to pursue the Rookie of the Year award.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25476438/Gen_3_Cube_Rendering.png?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1 "It’s getting cheaper to filter carbon dioxide from the air")