Rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama seems set to change the NBA in ways unknown, and the league—featuring the Spurs on ESPN or TNT 11 times this season, up from just one national TV appearance last year—certainly seems ready to capitalize.
But in analyzing Wembanyama through his first two preseason games, it’s becoming very clear how the 7’4” French phenom will immediately impact the young Spurs.
San Antonio was one of the highest-tempo clubs in the league last season, ranking second overall in pace by getting shots up second fastest after securing defensive rebounds and third fastest after forcing turnovers, according to advanced data site Inpredictable.
Yet playing fast on its own doesn’t necessarily equate with scoring efficiently. And for how brisk the Spurs were in transition, they weren’t all that effective. In fact, they rated dead last, as the NBA’s least efficient club in transition scenarios, scoring just 107 points per 100 opportunities. For fuller context, the league-champion Nuggets scored 121 points per 100 transition possessions, while the Pistons and Raptors, who finished around the league’s 50th percentile, scored 114 points per 100 possessions on such looks.
So how exactly will Wembanyama help there?
With the ability to cover ground quickly, both generally and on defense, Wembanyama will start countless fastbreak opportunities. Even early on, through just two games, he has shown that will be the case.
He can do it by grabbing a rebound and putting the ball on the floor, then finding someone like a streaking Jeremy Sochan on the way to the basket. Or he can put pressure on the opposing team with his own defense by blocking a shot—he is averaging two rejections per contest—then racing down the court himself. He’s an easy, massive target for his teammates to get the ball to in the open court, and he’s fluid enough as a ballhandler to make a play without needing to be right at the rim when he catches the ball. (As much upside as there is on such plays, Wembanyama and the Spurs will have to be careful to make sure he doesn’t leave himself in position to get undercut with his towering height.)
It’s that ability, which TNT analyst Reggie Miller alluded to recently, that makes Wembanyama such a threat. Despite his height and length, he has a handful of skills that make him something of a guard-forward combo at times. Certainly in terms of his ability to hit stepbacks and jumpers generally, but also his willingness to look for and find teammates and his solid ballhandling. It gives the Spurs another decision-maker to play alongside Sochan, Tre Jones, Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell. And that should help a team that needs to get better when it has golden opportunities to score, before the defense is fully set up in halfcourt scenarios.
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Transition ability is just the thing Wembanyama—who’s averaged a whopping 21.5 points, 4.5 boards, two assists in just 21 minutes per preseason game—figures to help with. But with his limitless potential, there’s almost no way to know yet just how many areas of the game he’ll impact.
