NBA exec thinks Wembanyama will be greatest defender ever

Victor Wembanyama continues to amaze together with his versatility and agility for a person of his measurement. Apart from leading the league in blocks per recreation (3.3), the Spurs phenom is twelfth in steals (1.3) and eighth in deflections (3.0), numbers that trace at a perennial Defensive Participant of the 12 months candidate.

Nevertheless, the possibilities of him profitable that award as a rookie are slim to none. Within the fashionable NBA, the place protection is a workforce idea, Wemby’s defensive influence is incumbent upon his teammates being extra versatile on the perimeter the place a lot of the scoring occurs. That is exactly why Wembanyama is contesting solely 8.7 photographs per recreation compared to Brook Lopez (17.3) or Rudy Gobert (11.3), who profit from point-of-attack defenders making their lives simpler as rim protectors.

When Wemby is surrounded by higher perimeter defenders, you’d higher imagine his defensive win shares, not even in the top 50 currently, will skyrocket to the higher echelon. Additionally, his capacity to modify onto perimeter gamers is already on show, however until he is surrounded by gamers speaking higher on that finish, his superior stats will proceed to take a success.

Regardless, Wembanyama’s particular person influence is palpable and unimaginable to disregard. Throughout a recreation in opposition to the Lakers final Friday, Wemby turned the primary participant since Michael Jordan to register consecutive video games with at the least 5 blocks and steals, just some weeks after registering a triple-double with blocks.