We are nine months away from the next draft but the NBA leaders have seen enough. For them, the baby has been born and is already mature. To the point where some of them would have asked Bouna N’Diaye, the agent of Victor Wembanyamato take no risk with his colt and to leave him on the sidelines when the championships have barely resumed.
“We are not going to put an end to his season. Victor would never accept such a proposal. He wants to play and progress. With him, basketball comes first. entrusts the player’s representative.
This extravagant request from a few members of the NBA franchise organization chart is just one more consequence of the demonstration made by the 18-year-old young man last Tuesday. Opposed to G-League Ignite and Scoot Hendersonthe other favorite for the first pick, the Frenchman was unleashed by compiling 37 points in front of around 200 scouts and GMs. 2.24 meters, 37 points, 7 award-winning baskets, 5 blocks. So many key figures. Basketball America spoke only of him during the hours that followed to the point of eclipsing the highly anticipated return of Zion Williamson on the parquet floors.
Monstrous Victor Wembanyama vs Team Ignite, America gets it
A story of perception
Victor Wembanyama was a phenomenon, he has become a fantasy. He became “Wemby”, this player that everyone knows and everyone covets. In historic proportions. Social networks oblige, the craze is perhaps unprecedented. And that could have many consequences for the coming season.
“Victor alters the reality of basketball. The transfer and tanking market will be turned upside down after this performance. We are going to have a race for the absolutely historic last place, “says a GM to ESPN.
For all the complainers, the skeptics by nature as soon as a player makes the buzz or simply the cautious ones who will hasten to note that it’s too early, that the kid has to be let grow up or even that it’s not not justified to pay such attention to it, blah blah: maybe you’re right but you’re missing the point right now. In the end, at the immediate moment, the question is not even to wonder if Victor Wembanyama will live up to the expectations which seem disproportionate anyway.
What matters isn’t whether or not he’s been the best prospect since. LeBron James. No, what matters is that NBA executives think so. What matters is the perception of the franchises more than its actual level of play. It’s like on the stock market: sometimes (often), the reactions are only the result of speculation and market anticipation.
Unprecedented tanking for Victor Wembanyama?
So concretely, what could it give? The San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz are currently the only “official” candidates for the jackpot on draft night. The first by aligning a team without any flavor after having transferred their best player during the off-season without having signed any recruit likely to take them on a course. The latter by sacrificing their two stars, Rudy Gobert et Donovan Mitchellessentially salvaging future draft rounds.
Other teams will naturally draw. These are all formations in reconstruction like the Orlando Magic, the Detroit Pistons, the Houston Rockets or the Oklahoma City Thunder. They may eventually be tempted not to progress too strongly in terms of victories, just to keep the possibility of adding a young player perceived (the key word, once again) as generational.
Several franchises could join the race. A quick overview. The Charlotte Hornets definitely seem below many of the best teams in the East. Playing the play-in already seems uninteresting with the prospect of going for Victor Wembanyama. Same story for the Washington Wizards, who must also feel very, very stupid for having passed on a “no trade clause” to Bradley Beal.
DeMarcus Cousins stunned by phenom Victor Wembanyama
Even the Chicago Bulls – and yes! – will perhaps ask the question. If the season starts timidly, a transfer of DeMar DeRozan and or Nikola Vucevic and or Zach LaVine could put the Illinois franchise in position to draft high enough. The Indiana Pacers will certainly be even more tempted to part ways with Buddy Hield et Myles Turner. History to really begin for good the reconstruction. Especially since it’s not just Wembanyama but also Henderson, who also shone during the exhibition match between the Ignite and the Mets.
An impact on the title race
If 8 or 9 teams start tanking, 20 others will fight for… 20 available places. Finally, 12 directly in the playoffs and 8 in the play-in. What possibly facilitate the task of certain franchises like the Sacramento King or the New York Knicks, who want at least to hang the top-10 of their Conference. There will be easy wins to pick up on the court this season.
Even the title contenders will be impacted. Indeed, from December, leaders will eventually be tempted to pass on their veterans. Mike Conley. Hield et Turner. Bojan Bogdanovic (already sent to Detroit but could still move). Eric Gordon. Maybe a Bulls star. Gordon Hayward, etc. So many experienced players who can be obtained without much consideration to strengthen the workforce of an armada cut for the title.
Now, a little calm. In the NBA, everything goes fast. With the internet, everything goes even faster. The reality of June is not always that of October. If Victor Wembanyama makes even an average match tonight, for his second opposition against Scoot Henderson, the words may already be more tempered. The truth of the present moment governs – probably wrongly – this world. But if he plants 50 pawns… anyway. The Americans are currently in full swing. And U.S. too.