His name is already on everyone’s lips. About ten months from the 2023 NBA Draft, Victor Wembanyama is truly the dream of scouts and is considered across the Atlantic as one of the most promising all-time prospects. And in the race for the French phenomenon, the Spurs seem in pole position on the starting line, they who could well come out of the worst season in their history.
If there is a good season for tanking, this is the one to come. Like two decades ago when the Cavaliers and the Nuggets competed in mediocrity with a view to placing themselves as best as possible for the famous Draft 2003 (that of LeBron James, Darko Milicic Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh), a similar phenomenon could occur this year. The Victor Wembanyama effect in a way. The French prospect who plays today at the Metropolitans 92 is seen as a generational talent that could potentially change the destiny of a franchise or even become the new face of the NBA version 2030. A turfu prospect, who is 2m20 barefoot with a wingspan of 2m43, and which has the fluidity and touch of an exterior. Seeing it, we have the impression of being in front of a player created on the MyPlayer mode of 2k or straight out of the laboratory of Dr. James Naismith. Something to fantasize about any NBA leader or scout. Especially those of the Spurs. Initially in a period of transition after the end of the series of 22 consecutive appearances in the Playoffs, the San Antonio franchise decided this summer to plunge headfirst into a full reconstruction project, marked by the transfer of Dejounte Murray to Atlanta there. a few weeks. Tanking mode activated, on Wemby the eyes are riveted.
OK, agreed.pic.twitter.com/WVaRP08Z0b
— Nico TrashTalk ???? (@nicolasmeichel) September 17, 2022
Tanking — losing as many games as possible to get the maximum chance of a high draft — has never really been a part of Spurs culture. The San Antonio franchise has only finished three seasons below the 30-win mark in a half-century of history. On the other hand, we must admit that she chooses her years well to squat the bottom of the rankings. 1986-87 season, only 28 wins for 54 defeats, the worst record ever achieved by the Spurs at the time, exactly the year when a certain David Robinson – phenom trained in the Navy – shows up in the Draft. If other teams had an even more disastrous campaign than San Antonio that season, the first choice fell in the hands of the Texans, who selected this pivot who would become one of the best interiors of the 1990s as well as the cornerstone of a highly competitive Spurs team. Ten years later, after three straight campaigns with a minimum of 55 wins, San Antonio is weighed down by the wounds of Robinson (only six games played in 1996-97) but also of Sean Elliott. No need to force, the Spurs know that a certain Tim Duncan – best college player in 1997 – will go to the Draft after four busy years at Wake Forest, and sacrifice their campaign to finish with just 20 successes in total. The lottery smiles on San Antonio, who logically pounces on Timmy with the first pick. Just two years later, Robinson and Duncan’s Spurs were champions for the first time, and four more banners were added between 2003 and 2014.
We don’t have a crystal ball and we don’t want to go faster than the music, but there is a scenario in which Spurs pick up one of the best prospects we’ve seen in recent years – and arguably all-time – to then build a new era of success around its immense capabilities. The management of San Antonio has already done its part of the job to allow the franchise to ideally place itself in the 2023 NBA Draft, setting up a weak team and intended for the development of youngsters during the coming season. It remains to be seen if the ping pong balls will bounce in favor of the Texans in a few months time like in 1987 or 1997. In any case, it is not difficult to imagine Victor Wembanyama joining the Spurs school, as the latter is associated with French basketball with obviously the golden years of Tony Parker but also the passage of Boris Diaw and a few others at Fort Alamo. (Ian Mahinmi, Joffrey Lauvergne, Nando De Colo). Somehow, even if the coach and former mentor of TP Gregg Popovich could hang up the phone just as Victor Wembanyama arrives in Texas, it would be a hell of a wink of fate.
Will the Spurs benefit from a new alignment of planets in 2023 and secure the services of this generational prospect named Victor Wembanyama? Only the future can answer this question. But it’s no coincidence that today we are in front of the worst team in the history of the San Antonio franchise…
