PROMISE VS PATTERN The Untold Potential of Victor Wembanyama

he frst time I saw a photograph of Victor Wembanyama, I thought I caught sight of some sort of apparition. Few teenagers in the history of basketball — perhaps the history of the modern world — have had such lofty expectations bestowed upon them. The French teenager will be poised to further transform the landscape of professional basketball when he is selected at the NBA draft in June.

Wembanyama’s height is listed at 7’4” by the Metropolitans 92, the French professional team he plays for. Some place his height at 7’5” or even 7’6”, and he has an eight-foot wingspan. Remember, Wembanyama is nineteen, the age of a McGill U2 student, and has not fnished growing. There are only a handful of players in NBA history taller than Wembanyama. The majority of them had neither the coordination nor the agility to be productive NBA players. Only two recent players eclipse Wembanyama in size: Tacko Fall at 7’6” and Boban Marjanović at 7’4”. Fall and Marjanović are professionals almost exclusively because of their height. There has never been a player in NBA history taller than 7’3” who can shoot, drive, and pass with the profciency expected of an NBA guard.

But Wembanyama can. Wembanyama shoots excellently from three and can adeptly create his own shot off the dribble. Wembanyama can score by maneuvering inside the arc and hitting contested mid-range fadeways. His pumpfakes and spins generate space at the rim and he is blessed with creativity and intuition as a passer. He glides off the ball with speed and grace and demonstrates exceptional instincts, timing, and, of course, length as a rim protector.

This is why Victory Wembanyama is absolutely terrifying: Nobody of his height in the history of the sport has ever possessed his shot-making, range, and fuidity.

Wembanyama is not just the consensus frst overall pick in 2023 — he’s the best prospect since LeBron James, and possibly the most coveted amateur talent in the history of professional sports.

Sports Illustrated’s 2002 “Chosen One” profle of a teenage LeBron James highlighted his remarkable explosiveness and skill as a playmaker. LeBron was an incredible prospect, but he was not unprecedented; his attributes had been seen before in some form. The size and skill combination of Wembanyama, however, is unmatched by any individual to ever step foot on a basketball court.

Kevin Durant is perhaps the most accurate comparison to Wembanyama. Durant is 6’10” and a preeminent shooter. He can thus move to anywhere on the foor and hoist a jumper that can’t be well-contested due to his height and his shot’s high-release point. Durant’s fusion of height and shot-making produced one of the fnest players in the modern NBA.

Wembanyama is more than a half-foot taller than Durant. At Victor’s height, it is a physical impossibility to stop him from shooting the basketball. If Durant weaponized this combi nation to an MVP, it is truly untold how far Wembanyama can push it. At 7’4”, he also has the tools to develop into the best rim-pro tector in the game. In a few years he might be the best offensive and defensive player in the game, an unequaled achievement.

Victor will not play an NBA game until October but he has already un settled the fabric of the league. A host of teams are purposely losing this seasoning for the opportunity to draft Wembanyama. The draft’s frst overall pick is decided by a lottery that awards the greatest odds to the teams with the worst record. The Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Detroit Pistons have had dreadful seasons and sit at the very bottom of the standings. But this is what they want. They’ve traded away assets and neglected to bolster their roster to ensure they will be allotted the best odds to draft Wembanyama.

Likewise, the draft lottery awards each team who misses the playoffs a chance at the frst overall pick. Teams hovering in the middle of the standings made strategic trades to downgrade their current roster at the trade deadline.

The Portland Trail Blazers parted ways with Gary Payton II and Josh Hart rather than adding depth behind Damian Lillard. The Utah Jazz dealt Mike Conley and the Washington Wizards traded Rui Hachimura. Each of these franchises could feasibly make the play-in tournament or the playoffs. However, their general managers preferred to steer their team south for