I would love a chance at Victor, but there is a concern that no one seems to be talking about. Victor is still playing ball before the draft. After he gets drafted, he will train with the team that selected him and then attempt to play a full NBA season. The next summer Olympics are next year and it's being held in France. More than likely Victor will be playing in that one. If France makes a deep run in the Olympics, that is more basketball that Victor will be playing. Then he will come back to the NBA and gear up for another season. People have made countless comments about his injury potential, but when I thought about this timeline it's already looking like Yao 2.0. Granted he is young, so he has that working for him, but that is a lot of basketball for him in a short amount of time. I don't know how his NBA and national team will manage his minutes, but I hope it's not a repeat of Yao's story. Maybe Victor will learn to say no to certain situations.
I get the concern. But if we get the #1 pick, you select Victor anyway, then do what you can to not work him to death. Let's not over think this.
I think we should pick Wemby and trade him for a player of Sengun's choosing. Our franchise player needs help and he knows best who can help The Rockets get back to the WCF....
Have you ever thought maybe France is the best of the 3 countries at keeping players healthy? That's a scientifically advanced country that has the best protection of workers/employees on this planet. They work 4 days a week. They riot if the retirement age is raised. So I think there's a good chance France will protect him more than his NBA team. These guys train to play 5-10 games in the summer. How can it be that this is the cause of overload rather than the 82-100 games played in the NBA? If we want him healthy, we keep him healthy to the best of our ability and I'm sure then the 5 games in the summer won't matter much.
It's not so much the amount of games, it' more so that I don't see him getting a lot of rest after he is drafted. As I mentioned before, he has his youth working for him and he will have staff monitoring everything that he does. I just wonder if playing for his national team is a priority and if he will have the will to say no.
Why don't we just give him 5 games and 5 practices off then? It just seems like we're blaming someone for something so tiny that's in our control. 99% of his career workload will be with his NBA team.
I should probably elaborate more. With someone like Victor, no matter how talented he is, the risk of injury is to big to ignore. History proves that players of his size are prone to getting hurt more often, which is why I brought up Yao as an example. His commitment to keep playing for his national team led to his injuries that derailed his career. Now the example that I gave for Victor is small in comparison as it will just be one summer. But given the history of players his size, I just think it is a concern when he is playing more than he has too. Even if it is just 5 games, it is still a summer of no rest for him. I just hope it doesn't ended up being a trend. This is all of course if the Rockets even end up getting him. But even if we don't, I still want this kid to have a healthy, full career.
I understand what you're saying but it's just not true. International commitments is not why Yao got injured. Yao got injured because he's 7'5, added a ton of muscle/weight on his legs on the advice of the Rockets, played a brutal bruising brand of basketball under JVG, was trained poorly before the NBA and the least relevant factor was international games. Like I said international games are a fraction of the workload. You can pick and choose which one you think chronologically put him over the edge but international games was the lowest workload of all. If a player is playing 5 games it's not a summer of no rest. They will train for a month before it maybe. The offseason is 4+ months in the NBA. There's plenty of time to recover. As for it not becoming a trend, it's a trend that has existed since sports has existed. Everyone in human history preferred to play for their national team than for the job that pays them, the only exception in human history being the US. So if we're acquiring any foreign player born abroad and bringing them into this outlier culture, you should assume that if they're good they will be playing for their national team in 99% of cases.
I think Wemby playing at a weight around 230-240 will be ideal for his longevity. A good portion of big guys who struggle with injuries are considerably heavier than this notably Yao who played while over 300 lbs. "Load management" WILL be a thing with Wemby, but he seems to take conditioning seriously and plays a style that isnt the traditional banging, rough interior big man game. If you're lucky to draft him you sprint to the podium.
I'm also concerned with his potential for injuries. Trying to figure out anyone that height who had a long career. What are you gonna do?
If he didn't get to chose the coaching staff then it's already a failed rebuild. Sengun should be the chief executive of the Rockets front office as a player. He's that special.
It's a one player draft. Victor is as close to a sure bet as there has ever been.....and there's no other top tier talent in the entire draft. I'd love to have that "problem"
I don't think its possible to draft Sengun and also fail a rebuild, simply put.... If you draft a franchise generational talent like Sengun you have already succeeded. I do agree thou that Sengun should have special privileges when it comes to franchise decisions. Can't wait to see Sengun call Wemby draft night and congratulate him on behalf of The Fertitta and Sengun families.
I saw a video about all the stretching a specific exercise he does to prevent lower leg injuries. If nothing else, at least he and his team are addressing it. Hopefully Hakeem's workouts aren't too hard on him.
100% of the NBA players under 5'4 had NBA playing careers of 14 years or more. They also average 7.6 assists and 1.5 steals. I wonder why we don't see more 5'3 players?
