The season hasn’t even started yet but already the Detroit Pistons and rest of the NBA have one eye on the 2023 NBA Draft and top prospect Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama’s highlights have fans drooling, which is why so many fans of the bad teams are hoping their team will be Worthless for Wembanyama this season.
The Wembanyama sweepstakes is going to be a topic for the whole season, as a whole lot of teams tank for a 14 percent shot to land what some are calling a generational prospect.
Hopefully the Detroit Pistons will be on the periphery of this discussion or not in it at all, as they’ve made offseason additions that they hope will push them into the play-in discussion instead of back in the running for the number one pick.
But we know fans are going to have one eye on the win column and the other on guys like Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, two mega-hyped prospects who will square off on ESPN on October 4th.
But Victor Wembanyama‘s Metropolitans already got their first exhibition win in Vegas and he showed why he is getting so much hype, as well as some of the things scouts worry about.
Victor Wembanyama wows but shows biggest potential weakness
It doesn’t take a hoops’ expert to understand why a 7-foot-4 player who can shoot, pass, dribble and block shots is getting a lot of hype as a prospect. It only takes a few minutes of footage to see what makes this kid special and why so many teams hope to land him on their roster.
Here you can see his entire bag, from creating off the bounce, to his 3-point range, to his passing and shot blocking:
Several eye-opening plays for projected No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama in Metropolitans' blowout win over Pau-Orthez. Finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks in 20 minutes after early foul trouble. Next game will be versus G League Ignite October 4th in Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/XkoWCwJM4Y
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) September 27, 2022
Wembanyama ended up with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks in just 20 minutes in his team’s blowout win.
But the last part of that is what has some scouts concerned, as he was limited to just 20 minutes because he was in early foul trouble, something that could plague him in the NBA.
Staying on the court is going to be an issue for Wembanyama, whether we are talking about fouls or staying healthy, something that has to concern teams, especially after seeing Chet Holmgren (another super tall, super skinny guy) suffer a season-ending injury in a pickup game.
Time and time again we’ve seen players this size struggle with foul trouble and injuries, with Yao Ming probably being the most relevant example, as he too was billed as a big man with guard skills.
Wembanyama may be able to dazzle with his play, but it only matters if he can stay on the court, and this is a guy who fouls a lot and has already had a couple of lower body injuries. It will be something to keep an eye on this season, as scouts will have to balance drooling over his highlights with checking how many minutes he played that night.