[Anton1234Participant]

… measures 7’4″ without shoes with an 8-foot wingspan
I’m not even sure if that makes me excited or concerned. There’s like never been a guy this tall and slim who did not have injury issues all his life. Is he a Shaq-like genetic outlier, or is it wishful thinking to believe he might be able to stay healthy?

[Robb_CParticipant]

I think he’ll be fine.. the one thing he has going for him that most don’t is his shoulder width.. I think he will be able to put on good size.. he reminds me so much of Ralph Sampson.

[HitsterParticipant]

Victor is already about 14lbs heavier than Chet and is two years younger, I’ll be more interested to see what sort of weight he is when he joins the NBA.

Ralph Sampson is a good comparison but hopefully he has a longer NBA career than Ralph did. How about Chet and Victor on the same Thunder team as a twin towers like Ralph and Hakeem at the Rockets?

One maning the paint and the other on perimeter we’d really see how good these elite shooters are.

I’m not too worried about Victor in the NBA as the game is now more about shooting and less scoring in the paint and he’ll have elite defensive potential at minimum.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Wemby is not Chet thin and he has a wider frame to grow in. That being said, the WORST case scenario is a Ralph Sampson that this dude becomes. This guy’s the real deal… but @Anton1234 has a point… guys just get injured that are that size… That seems to be the biggest reason Scoot Henderson is a sucker puncher’s chance at getting drafted #1. (Not that Scoot is a slouch of a #1 pick). On the other hand, not many guys possess a 7’4″ height and an 8′ wingspan. It will be a very interesting pair of exhibition matches early October. We will see why the top 2 prospects are ranked where they are. This should be a very good draft year. To me Wemby is a remix of Lew Alcindor 50 years later. His defense is already amazing and his post moves are similar. Barring injuries, this guy is a stud.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

Whether he is 7’1″ or 7’5″, his frame, as well as his history of injuries at such a young age, is going to be a legitimate concern. This also connects to the reality that what he can be differs from where he is at as a player. He is not what Luka was going into his draft year. Luke had 2300 pro minutes prior to his dominant best in the Euroleague season in his draft year. Victor played less than 600 minutes last year, and had 300 the year prior. Victor has promise as a shooter, but he has been sub-30 percent from 3 and sub-70 from the line. Again, Luka was playing quite well in rotation minutes for a Euroleague contender. This is fine and perfectly understandable, but one should be aware that if he is going to have another season where he has three different stretches of injuries that it will slow his development as a player. This isn’t a video game where guys get better simply by going from 18 to 19 to 20. Players actually have to be healthy enough to put in the work and get experience on the court to get better. All that said, Victor is the type of prospect that teams are going to be willing to be wrong on. Knock on wood, if he breaks his foot and misses the season, he is not going to fall in the draft. Even if someone with a crystal ball comes out and says, he will be a lot like Kristaps Porzingis in production, style, and that he will miss a ton of time and teams will have to manage his minutes and overall load as if he was a 15-year veteran by the time he is 25, then you will still have Utah or San Antonio happily signing up to take him in the draft.

[JK44Participant]

Statistically and eye test he is not a 1. pick. Player like Kristaps, Dirk ( Luka) were way better and more NBA ready at the age of 18. He is to slow and he does not shoot well. There are about 25 (ex-) NBA player with comparable skillset. Some had careers (Ralph, Eaton), some not (sorry Bol Bol). His shoot is a little bit better than Rudy’s and he is a little bit quicker than Boban. He is bigger than Chet, but Chet is quicker, not a turnover phrone and has got a way better shoot and passing game. Rick Smits and Shawn Bradley are good comparison! He definitely could develop a better shoot or learn that defense is more than shootblocking. Maybe he could gain weight and develop a better finish at the basket than just being a lob threat.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

So is Wemby the #1 pick for your eye test yet?

[GronounoursParticipant]

@JK44: Saying he’s to slow is crazy. For a guy his size, he moves incredibly well. He even looks smooth when handling the ball or shooting, which is insane at 7’3. Sure, he’s not efficient at this point, but the potential is off the charts.

As BTPH mentioned, everything will depend on his health. It’s obvious that getting hurt every few months prevents him from progression like he should.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Firsr of all just to say bluntly, please do not compare anybody to Luka. What he did in Europe as a teenager will more than likely never be done again and its insane how people thought it wouldn’t translate to the NBA game. He will probably go down as the best European player to play the game.

To say he is slow is just ridiculous. You could say he doesn’t run the floor hard, thats fine but he is clearly extremely agile, quick and coordinated. The defensive potential is the intrigue here. Offensive skillset he is developing is just the icing on the cake but he is getting drafted to be a Rudy Gobert impact defensively which is a 1st overall pick in just about any draft. Then you figure with the right development he should be able to at the very least not be a liability offensively as a vertical spacer and a floor spacer then you have to pick him. The way he is able to move for his size and cover ground defensively is amazing. I’ve seen him make three stops defensively in one sequence.

As far as the health goes thats a legitimate concern. Just don’t get players that can do the 82 games/34 minutes per game for 10 years at that size. Especially nowadays with the pace where it is. Even Joel Embiid last year had his most games/minutes played at 68 and 31.2. Only 7’3 plus player I can think of that stayed relatively healthy in the time I’ve been watching basketball is Shawn Bradley. Btw Shawn got into a motorcycle accident and is now paralyzed, poor guy…

@JK44 Dragan Bender and Bol Bol’s issues are not their skillsets, both those players lack the commitment or mindset it takes to be a professional at the highest level. It just isn’t there for them like Bruno Caboclo as well.

[JK44Participant]

Dragan Bender and Bol Bol look smooth while handling the ball or shooting. Everybody said Alex Len has got a superb footwork and he moves incredibly well. They are solid basketball players. He is to slow to run the fastbreak like Embiid or Jokic or even Porzingis. I watched him live a couple of times and he is the last on offense and the last on defense. Time and health will show if he will find his role.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Evan Mobley’s rookie year a year ago will be about 85% of what Wembanyama’s will probably be in his rookie year. Mobley will be one of Wemby’s better rivals imo. Don’t see the slow footedness of Wembanyama either. Only concern is his health maybe holding him back. But then, for all I know, a tiny minor injury at this point in the kids’ career would be sitting him out for precautionary reasons.

[GronounoursParticipant]

@OhCanada: I didn’t even mention Luka…

@JK44: Is it Wembanyama you’re talking about? Slower than Jokic?

[OhCanada-Participant]

Yeah I meant BTPH.

[armchairgmParticipant]

Webby should be all star level player and really good, but he isn’t generational in my eyes as most people seem to think.

[HitsterParticipant]

Generational big men have been rarer in recent years in the last decade going into the drafts AD, Embiid, KAT, Ayton have probably been the most hyped bigs. Three have become franchise level players whilst jury is still out on Ayton. KAT has potentially had the best durability of these guys as he has played 5 seasons of over 74 games and one of his lengthy spells out was with Covid.

Chet I’d put into the hype camp but like Wemby we are not sure what the comparision really is. If whoever drafts Wemby ends up with a durable All Star they will be happy.

Whether Wemby and Chet can be elite shot changing big men who have a top level offence game I don’t know but how often do you get a Hakeem level prospect or will they be merely elite level defensive guys such as Gobert or the other names mentioned we’ll have to wait and see.

At one time you had great defensive specialists like Mutombo and Ben Wallace or in a different position Dennis Rodman and we never worried about their 3 point range or their offensive game so much. A quick mobile defensive guy can still be a game changer with their scoring a bonus and the key thing being having a good BB IQ.

[Robb_CParticipant]

He’s a solid talent – I agree I don’t see him as this game changing prospect others see him as either but defensively he has a lot of tools and potential that other players mentioned in this post will never possess including one that just got beamed by Poland… Wembanyama has great fluidity and seems to be comfortable defending in space for a guy his size, all very promising traits.. He’s not going to be able to horse your offense in a 82 game season.. but if he adds size and develops his ability to defend in space at his size he’ll be a no brainer… you just dont get guys at his size that can do that.

[r377Participant]

From what i read ” The best prospect since Lebron ”

I have no idea how he will go but injury concerns are a serious question, who knows he might even go down injured before the draft !

[HitsterParticipant]

“The best prospect since LBJ” has been hyed a lot in the 20 or so drafts since LBJ was chosen top – Greg Oden and KD were heavily hyped and Greg was since as the best big man since Tim Duncan was drafted. D-Rose, OJ and Beasley had a lot of hype in their draft year and injuries and substance issues blighted those careers. AD was more hyped than any of the Cavs top picks in 11 to 14 even Wiggins in 14 in what was a powerful draft year with Jabari Parker and Embiid. Simmons and Zion were seen as very exciting prospects as they were different players to what you’d expect for their position Chet likewise.

But possibly the best highest drafted talent since LBJ who had a load of hype could turn to be Luka or he can certainly get to KD level.

[HitsterParticipant]

NBA Draftroom lists Wemby as 7ft 4ins 230lbs now so if the weight is correct he has certainly filled out a fair bit. That is almost Ralph Sampson and Rik Smits size give or take a few lbs.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

FYI, Gravelines-Dunkerque vs Boulogne-Levallois today at between 2pm and 11am in the US/Canada. Matthieu Gauzin SZN? Will Tremont Waters freeze out Victor to get his 20+ shots? Will Victor go full Chet with an injury and get hurt in warmups? Oh, the possibilities!?!?

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

If you want to register, you can stream the game through the league’s lnb.tv site or app.

[BothTeamsPlayedHard-Participant]

One thing a person probably knows but finds hard to grasp until you see it, but when a guy doesn’t have to jump to dunk it makes the catching radius on lobs so much wider. In a lot of ways, he has immaturity to his game. It appears to be a bad team, and the 12-point loss flatters them. That said, he got 23 points mostly on being absurdly long. He tried crossing people up off the dribble, step back threes, and seems to want to show off all the things he thinks he can do but can’t yet, but he is going to be a fantastic offensive threat on lobs alone. Dominik Olejniczak was a journeyman college big man having played at Drake, Mississippi, and Florida State. He is a legit 7-footer who looked 6-8 out there. Maybe Victor is 7-4. Dominik did get in a blocked shot on Victor, but still. I guess the one good takeaway is that by moving down a bit from ASVEL to Mets that Victor will be getting plenty of court time. Fingers crossed, he stays healthy with it, because he does look like he will break apart every time he hits the floor.

[HitsterParticipant]

With his catching radius being so big he’ll get an insane amount of points with tip ins and put backs before you consider his shooting range. He’d almost be the perfect player to bring back the skyhook but that and the triangle probably don’t work in today’s NBA.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

I’ve actually seen Wemby do a baby hook before. Just read some rave reviews about Zion dominating in scrimmages. I think Zion could possilbly be a Kryptonite of Wembanyama if he doesn’t improve against wide loads.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

We could get a nice glimpse of a Wemby vs Scoot battle tonight 10PM ET on ESPN2.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

The final countdown to round 2 is here… 3PM ET on ESPN2 again.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

The first half was I thought a joke. Then they played the Metropolitans 92 started playing for real. Saw glimpses of why Wembanyama’s the number 1 pick, including the block of the game on Scoot! If Wemby figures it out just a little more, he will be unstoppable. His turnovers were a little high, but once he gains his speed within the game by playing more, he will be a bad dude. Round 2 on the 6th. That’s around the corner!

[GronounoursParticipant]

“Glimpses”?

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Yeah, I though it took him a bit of time for Victor to warm up. Once he woke up he was really good. I loved how he dove on the floor going after the ball. He’s still figuring out the game, but you can tell he’s got “it”. I’ve never seen someone that tall handle the ball quite like he does. His FTs look goofy when he shoots. His 3 ball looks better than his FTs. Guess because they were actually falling last night. He’s the real deal.

[sweaterflexParticipant]

Lmao now Victor is at #1 on the mock, glad that bit of clickbait was put to rest.

[HitsterParticipant]

I saw Victor has gone to number 1 on the mock draft. I watched the highlights of his game from last night and I’ve never seen a guy of that size have such a good shooting touch at only 18 years old. It reminded me of Embeast’s NBA debut against LBJ andCavs I think when he was hitting 3 pointers.

The guy can be a game changing defender and has such height he is almost hitting uncontested 3’s plus he is a huge threat in the paint from any lobs and did almost show a skyhook tyoe shot. Also for his size he is a good ball handler so if he could be a Jokic type player his potential is frightening.

[JK44Participant]

Good game. A lot of potential. Best shooting game of his career. But still inconsistent with his shot. No rebound, sorry 4 uncontested defensive. No assist despite a lot of possessions. Some of the blocks were „ignite-assists“. Still a lot slower than the most NBA centers. Often to late in transition. His defender has got a standing reach of only 8‘11 and doesn’t stretch the floor! Henderson was the winner!

[GronounoursParticipant]

Also, 1 turnover, which is really too much, he will be shorter by the time he enters the NBA because of aging, jet-lag actually helped him, he didn’t have a quadruple double, and he didn’t tie his shoes correctly. Not impressed either.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Hmm, at least he didn’t bring 2 shoes for 1 foot… Benoit Benjamin did that one back in the day. lmao!

[OhCanada-Participant]

JK you at least know your a hater right? I get it, your sticking to your guns. But he’s 7’5 knocking down threes like KD and blocking your #1 projected picks shots without even jumping, be barely even stretched his arms lol. They both had great games, but what Wembanyama has really hasn’t been seen before.

And yes I do acknowledge Ralph Samson exists. But the game is just so different nowadays I find it hard to compare players from past ages. His entire career he never took more than 2 three pointers.

[HitsterParticipant]

Wemby has been described as a Durant like 3 point shooter with a game changing defensive size. Even if he didn’t have a 3 point range you’ve got a potentially dominant defensive guy who will always be a scoring threat in the paint.

I’ve seen his height listed between 7ft 2ins and 7ft 5ins so it would be interesting to see the real measurement. He is getting into Yao height range now minus 80lbs odd weight.

[JK44Participant]

I am a Wembanyama Fan. That’s why I watch every game of this kid. Wembanyama is a very interesting unicorn. Felipe Lopez is the next Jordan. Wembanyama could be GOAT, an all star, an starter or what ever. But you don’t win games with hype. We are stupid nerds talking about the future of kids.

[HitsterParticipant]

ESPN have listed Victor at 7ft 4ins and 240lbs and said he is 7ft 5ins in his trainers/sneakers. If he is weighing that much now he is already much bigger and stronger than Chet and should be easily able to add more body weight over the next year.

There is also talk teams will try even harder to tank to get a good shot at him or Scoot so may give assets up for less or the contending teams know some teams want to tank so will offer less. A race to the bottom as Woj called it on ESPN. Plus with talk the 2024 draft won’t be so good and GG Jackson having reclassified it does look if the current season is the one to tank. Could we see Ainge, Pritchard, Pops, Presti and co all vying for top pick. Rumours Sam Hinkie may return to a front office are so far unconfirmed.

Another monster game from Victor tonight too showing his full range of shots and getting a double double.

[OhCanada-Participant]

ESPN/WOJ just said he is the greatest prospect ever. Idk about all that but in theory yes, he has the greatest upside of any prospect ever.

[Robb_CParticipant]

Michael Wilbon and Stephen A Smith had a nice back and forth on about the Ralph Sampson comparison.. Wilbon seemed to love the Ralph Sampson comparison and Stephen A Smith tried to shoot it down with Sampson being a “interior” player that didn’t shoot threes.. Stephen A Needs to watch some more film on Ralph, dude had it all for his size and was more than capable of shooting from outside.. and was able to run a fast break much like Wemby..

Larry Bird was only averaging 2.0 three point attempts during this Era- Nobody was shooting threes at a high clip.. Ralph Sampson was a very solid outside shooter and wasn’t just an “interior” guy that Stephen A Smith tried to argue. terrible misinformation on his part about him as a player.

Wilbon was right on the money – He’s in the mold of Ralph Sampson in terms of his fluidity and what he brings to the game at his size. I’ve never seen anybody at Wemby size able to do the stuff he can do Ralph Sampson is the closest I’ve ever seen to him.

You allow Wemby to get comfort playing on all spots of the floor it allows your offense to become multi dimensional in ways we never seen before.. that’s where he becomes “game changing” if Wemby adds size and becomes offensively efficient on all levels its going to force these uber unicorn type bigs to follow suit and not be oversized three ball chuckers..

thats where he changes the game.. which hes more than capable of doing.

[HitsterParticipant]

The 3 point range seems to have become a total NBA obsession. I don’t know if the points per shot return is now higher per 3 point shot than a 2 point shot. The rise of Steph Curry has pushed the 3 point game to new heights but what if we suddenly saw the next Shaq in a future draft would he be expected to be a 3 point shooter or have it in his game if he was dominating in the paint?

The same with greats like Duncan and KG would they be expected to have that range and would a Ray Allen now rank higher than his elite SG colleagues in the modern game?

Wemby looks as if he can be a threat in the paint, mid range and beyond the line. How do you defend him, a smaller guy he shoots over or a bigger slower guy he’d just go past.

I wouldn’t call him the greatest prospect ever but since LBJ I’d say his hype is up there with what Greg Oden’s was.

[GronounoursParticipant]

When you watch the complete highlights, including his misses, you notice that some of his shots are far off the mark (he even airballed a 3). But still super-impressive. He’s only scratching the surface.

It was amazing to see him stand next to Gobert at the end of the game. He made Gobert look short, which is laughable.

[HitsterParticipant]

He did miss a fair few shots but if he is able to take a lot of shots he’ll get a certain percentage and playing with better players in the NBA he’ll not have to carry the scoring himself and will either onlybe given better shots or he’ll learn when to take the perecentage shots.

The photo of him next to Gobert is scary when you think Gobert is the outstanding modern defensive big man. So you’ve got a guy with that sort of defensive game and a much more advanced offensive game so you are getting into Hakeem level territory.

As a neutral which team would you like tp see Victor land on. The Spurs would really be a good place for him to develop and it might keep Pops in the NBA longer. Ainge and co would know how to develop him at Utah. The Pacers would be a nice fit too and then you are into the current high lottery teams. Ideally I’d like him to land in a smaller market but with a good coaching staff to really help push him forward. My total outsider would be Hornets who end up outside play offs and get lucky in the lottery. MJ drafting Wemby would be a great story.

[HitsterParticipant]

Just been trawling through all the stuff on Wemby in an interview where he was sat next to Sgt Bilko he confirmed he is 7ft 3ins tall and 7ft 4ins in trainers. Really interesting to hear Richard Jefferson saying that if Wemby and LBJ both at the same age were in a draft then Wemby would go ahead. Richard won a title with LBJ played on powerhouse Nets and Spurs teams too so played against most of the great players in the last 30 years.

Also the feature on Wemby’s shooting trajectory where they were saying he is so tall nearly all his shots are uncontested so it is like hitting shots in the gym showed his unique potential.

[HitsterParticipant]

Wonder how excited NOP could get if Lakers continued to struggle and their pick could be in the mix to have a shot at Wemby. I don’t think any other traded picks could potentially cost a tam or provide another a shot at Wemby.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Yeah, that’s a bummer for the Lakers. At the same time, I hope the Pelicans get Wemby and the Lakers get someone good this year. Max Christie was a hard pick to swallow.

[HitsterParticipant]

Another fun Victor thought was if the Magic happened to draft him!

In recent games they had a starting line up of Suggs, Wagner, Banchero, Carter and Bol where 4 of the guys were 6ft 10 and over which must be one of the biggest NBA starting line ups ever as Bol Bol at 7ft 2ins and Jalen Suggs the smallest at 6ft 5ins gave the starters an average height of just under 6ft 10ins.

So if Wemby went there we could see some real outsized line ups!

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Metropolis 92′ is playing Dijon… It’s about to start. Went on youtube to check out a Spinella video on Maxwell Lewis and the NBA channel on youtube and it turns out youtube has live coverage of this game. I think I’m switching gears and watching Wemby instead.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Metropolis 92 vs Fos-sur-Mer about to start.

[NorrinRaddParticipant]

Wemby and Metropolis 92 vs Roanne about to start in a bit.

[HitsterParticipant]

Wemby got 31 points last night looks a threat from anywhere outside the 3 point line to under the basket. He can put the ball on the ground as good as any young big I’ve ever seen. Even the suggestion that powerful strong big men can outmuscle him didn’t look and issue as he was hitting mid range jumpers moving backwards.

[Author]

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