Yes, I posted a video a few pages back that said this exact thing. It's worth noting, but if you get the #1 pick, you nearly have to take him. It may be a Zion/Ja situation. Where getting the #2 pick may be a blessing in disguise despite the initial disappointment.
Professional analysts who watched all of his full games are calling him the best prospect they've ever scouted. The injury risk is a real thing, but you can't pass up on a talent like this. If he ends up staying healthy and becomes the best player of his generation, your organization never recovers from passing on that type of talent. Fans will talk about it literally forever. If you take him and he's an injury bust then people will be sighing and talking about what could have been, i.e. Greg Oden/Brandon Roy, but they won't blame the organization. That said, I agree there's a real chance Scoot, or possibly even Amen Thompson (not Brandon Miller though) has the best career of this draft class.
Yeah, getting the #1 pick in a draft with a guy like Wemby can be a blessing and can be a curse. You can't pass up on him, but the risk is very real. The #2 pick is a lot safer.
People have been reaching for comps with him, you hear people talking about other super tall players like Kareem, Sampson, but Wemby plays nothing like those guys. He is a modern player who likes to play off the perimeter and thrives playing in space. Astonishingly solid ballhandler for his size. Can drive, play in transition, shoot over anyone. KD is closer, but the height differential is huge. For me, the real comp is pretty obvious--Giannis. Wemby is still taller, but it's a much closer comparison than KD.
Where will the NBA rig the next biggest prospect to? Most likely: San Antonio with it's winning prestige and growing population? Houston with it's history of superstars, 4th largest pop. but not the winning history of neighboring SA. Portland: Near Nike headquarters. Female owner. Loyal star in his prime. Could find quick success until Dame retires and then with extra cap to rebuild on the fly and keep Wemby in the spotlight. Chicago: 3rd largest and one of the most popular brands in sports. Would take a big lottery leap. Toronto: Big city and market and brand. Would take a big leap. Possible: Dallas has similar pros and cons to the other 2 Texas cities, but it would take a big jump-and bring unwanted controversy after tanking for their lottery pick. Charlotte: MJ selling the team. Wemby adds ton of value. Maybe some NBA-Nike/Jordan brand deals going under the table to make this sale happen and Wemby is key. Orlando-somehow, they have a history of lottery luck. The NBA seems to have always wanted this team to find success and they do grow popular when relevant due to their brand. New Orleans: A French connection? Unlikely: Detroit, a city showing resurgence but still far away from relevance. Stadium in the suburbs away from downtown Detroit. Indiana. Washington. You would think sports teams from this area would be teams their league would want to be popular and successful, but they have a losing history. 2 franchises with the coolest names-Redskins and Bullets- to 2 of the lamest names. The Commanders and The Wizards. No one wants to root for a team named The Wizards. An awful brand. A losing brand. Utah, OKC: No.
I see some doubters out there. Expected. This overrated/underrated topic reaches every prospect. We can't help ourselves. I get it. I look at it this way. Wemby is a unique talent unlike anything we've seen. The hype that he's maybe the biggest prospect since LeBron or ever is something that couldn't be sold to us without the eye test being able to confirm. Father time is undefeated. LeBron is 38. Curry is 35. Those are the 2 faces of the NBA. KD 35. There's great talent in the league, but Giannis(28), Embiid(29), Jokic(28), Tatum, Luka, Ja, Zion etc etc...no one has taken the role for themselves. I doubt if LeBron and Curry both have a career ending injury this series that the NBA would feel comfortable heading into the next decade with what's left as the face to carry the league. The NBA will be looking for that next phenom and push him to success right out the gate so he can be the face for at least a decade. Wemby is the obvious choice. Superstars get superstar treatment, but the boost teams get is there too. Wemby will be the new face of the franchise. He's well spoken without much of an accent. He's likeable. He's handsome. He's unique in how his size was something to marvel like Wilt and Kareem. He's mature and classy. He's highly marketable to the world. The team that gets Wemby will be the team that the face of the league represents=championships.
detroit has had a brand new arena downtown for a few years. also Houston isn't the 4th largest market despite being the 4th largest city. it's more like 5th or 6th behind nyc, la, chi, bay area, and dfw. still high up there and attractive for the league I would think
Chet Holmgren, James Wiseman, Marvin Bagley, Lonzo Ball, D'Angelo Russell, Jabari Parker, Victor Oladipo, Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist, Derrick Williams, Evan Turner, Hasheem Thabeet, Michael Beasley, Marvin Williams, Emeka Okafor, Darko Milicic, Jay Williams, Tyson Chandler, and Stromile Swift fall in a faint.
1 100%. I think gap between him and other prospects, even Scoot, is pretty big. He'll likely be the face of the NBA in a few years. The team that gets him is just super lucky. That team is guaranteed to at least make Finals appearance several times
Some things I have come to terms with: Believe the hype. Victor will be a franchise changer. The Houston Rockets will not get the # 1 pick. I am expecting them to get the 5th, or 6th pick.
