Victor Wembaneyama’s scouting report seemed impossible. The 7-foot-4 Frenchman had the ball-handling and shooting skills of a guard and the defensive instincts to shut down the paint on every possession.
The San Antonio Spurs’ No. 1 overall pick entered his rookie year with some of the highest expectations ever seen on a rookie and was one of the NBA’s biggest draws from day one. The Spurs didn’t hesitate to give him a superstar workload. which one.
And somehow, Wenbanyama succeeded. So it was no surprise that he was unanimously named NBA Rookie of the Year on Monday, receiving all 99 first-place votes from members of the media. He becomes the sixth player in league history to unanimously win the award, joining Ralph Sampson, David Robinson, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren placed second with 98 of 99 second-place votes, while Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller received the remaining second-place votes and 83 third-place votes. totaled 3rd place.
Victor Wembaneyama received all 99 first-place votes from the media panel, becoming the first unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year since Karl-Anthony Towns in the 2015-16 season. pic.twitter.com/cWcjdXRrUD
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 6, 2024
It is impossible to overstate what Wenbanyama has achieved on an individual level as a rookie. The Spurs struggled with 22 wins and 60 losses, the same as last season, but behind that was a player who changed his play every time he touched the ball.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Wembaneyama, who played at the age of 19 and 20, is one of the 20 most influential players in the NBA. He was 12th in the league according to Player Efficiency Rating. He was 11th in box plus/minus. Total rebound rate: 10th. Usage rate: 6th place. Block Rate: 1st (all stats from basketball-reference.com).
To put Wenbanyama’s top 10 usage rate into perspective, the next highest rookie in the league was Scoot Henderson of the Portland Trail Blazers, who ranked 38th. And Wembaneyama has a respectable true shooting percentage, better than the likes of Dejounte Murray and Malcolm Brogdon, despite being the centerpiece of a bad offense that opponents may focus most of their attention on. 565 was recorded.
Now imagine he is getting better. That’s what 20-year-olds often do.
On a more traditional statistical level, Yahoo Sports’ Ben Rohrbach pointed out that no teenager can match Wembaneyama’s performance. Including LeBron James:
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Wemanyama (2023-24): 21.4 PTS (47/33/80), 10.6 REB, 3.9 AST (3.7 TO), 1.2 STL, 3.6 BLK
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James (2003-04): 20.9 PTS (42/29/75), 5.5 REB, 5.9 AST (3.5 TO), 1.6 STL, 0.7 BLK
Almost every NBA player who completes his rookie season, like Wenbanyama, rests in peace in the Naismith Hall of Fame. His PER is matched by Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, and Shaquille O’Neal.
Almost the only problem with Wenbanyama entering the NBA was that his 209-pound frame might not hold up against the league’s big men. He appeared in 71 games, averaging nearly 30 minutes per night, despite being hit with minutes restrictions at one point.
You may continue. In fact, Wembaneyama should also receive All-NBA and All-Defense votes in addition to his rookie honors. He ticked all of his boxes on one of the most difficult rubrics the NBA world has ever given a rookie, offering physics-defying highlights along the way.
We will briefly introduce some of them.
Take a look at some highlights of Victor Wenbanyama
Spurs’ next step: Victor Wembaneyama gets the help he needs
Recruiting generational stars is typically the difficult part for candidates. The next challenge for Spurs is building around Wembaneyama.
With all due respect to players like Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and Tre Jones, San Antonio’s supporting cast didn’t necessarily look playoff-ready this season. Wembaneyama needs help, but the good news is that he should theoretically be able to match many players, including the ball-dominant stars. Wenbanyama’s defensive ability and offensive versatility as a post player, driver, and spot-up shooter make him an adaptable presence depending on what the Spurs want to do.
Apparently Wembangyama is not lacking in interest from his fellow players to participate, as he told The Ringer:
“Yes, I received some messages,” Wenbanyama replied. “From prospects too. But I try to maintain my role. It’s a whole new world that I want to discover. Indeed, even if I continue in my role as a player. , I’m going to have to get involved in this at some point.”
Wembaneyama was elated that the Spurs won the lottery thanks to Gregg Popovich. Now, he’ll turn to Popovich to prove once again that he can build an NBA title contender after being given a generational crop of promising talent. First it was Tim Duncan, now it’s Wenbanyama.
Thunder’s Chet Holmgren finished an impressive second place.
The interesting thing about Wenbanyama’s talent is that he wasn’t the only absurdly skinny 7-footer with guard-like skills to star as a rookie this season.
In most other seasons, Holmgren would have won Rookie of the Year. He was really good, ranking second in the NBA in blocks behind Wenban Yama, 17th in the NBA in shooting, and 7th in defense. Rookies aren’t supposed to be elite inside defenders or efficient perimeter shooters from the start.
The big difference between Holmgren and Wenbanyama was the team situation. Wenbangyama joined one of the worst teams in the NBA, a team that could feature him as much as they wanted, while Holmgren joined a Thunder team already loaded with young talent.
Holmgren was often used as an off-ball threat, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dominated the ball and players like Jaylen Williams, Lou Dort, and Josh Guidi also needed touches. That’s not a criticism of Holmgren or Sander’s use. He is a very good player who played a very useful role on a team that finished first in the West Division.
The Thunder have good reason to be excited about Holmgren as a future superstar. He just picked the wrong year to go for Rookie of the Year.