Honestly... if health was a guarantee I think he might be the best prospect ever. I posted a few days ago a hypothetical about the possibility of Scoot overtaking him if he shot +40% of his 3's averaging 30/8/8, but after watching this game I think he could avg 40/10/10 and still not overtake him. Truly an unstoppable force.
Well maybe not ever, I do think rookie Shaq would still be more unstoppable even in today's NBA. Like Zion is like 6'6? Make him 7'1 lol.
He's only 18 and still growing. Probably end up 7'5 with an 8' wingspan at near 260. If healthy he will be an absolute beast and much more unstoppable than Shaq because he can do everything. You could foul Shaq and he couldn't make a free throw to save his live. How would you stop Wemby? You could foul him but he'd drain those all day. Dude shoots fade away's from 3 like it's nothing . There's a reason so many teams are going to tank. Its normal for 4 or 5 teams to tank regularly, but I won't be suprised if it's more like 10 or 12 this year. In my opinion The Rox should definitely be one of those teams. They'd be foolish not to.
I saw him hit his head on the back board, not the rim. He’s a solid leaper for his size. He’s just the most coordinated and fluid guy I’ve ever seen at that height, maybe any over 7 ft. But as far as a run/jump athlete, he’s not a freak. Doesn’t need to be at that height
The agility, foot work, fluidity and coordination combined with above average athleticism at 7’4/7’5 is ridiculous. A true video game player. I wasn’t worried about Chet being hurt, then he did, with no prior injuries. Wemby has a history, and they’re very similarly built. That is the only concern, and honestly it’s not enough to make me not take him. He’s the best prospect I’ve ever seen in real life
I think it's his demeanor that's moved the needle for me. When the tales of the "French 7 footer with guard skills" were being told I brushed them off. Another 7 footer that doesn't pan out is what I thought. Yeah this kid just looks different. He doesn't shy away from the moment (coughChetcough). I highly highly doubt the Rockets will be in position to draft this guy but he almost would make it worth it.
I get that and I can understand why. But personally I'd still just take Scoot and a couple of unprotected picks over Wemby. It's a lot like Ja vs Zion or Ivey vs Chet imo. Wemby is gonna be playing C in the NBA when he transitions and it's gonna get ugly if he starts blowing up. He gonna get hit and assaulted on every play iike Shaq and Yao were. Of course Wemby plays in the perimeter too so maybe one over zealous defender doesn't give him space to land and he steps on someone's foot on the way down....
You don't need to convince me that Chet is a borderline underweight prospect and that will affect his impact until he gains some size. I am not a big Chet believer. I believe he'll take a much bigger beating his first few years than Wemby. Wemby has legit health concerns too. If I remember correctly he had a stress fracture (?) which is a major red flag. History is not on his side as a 7'4" player. Him having a graceful face up game will help a lot though. Victor also has a much better frame and players will not challenge Victor's frame nearly half as much as they try to challenge Chets. Victor shooting a lot of threes in motion are scary too because of the potential of him landing on someone's foot. Also, we are comparing a risk reward of someone who has a chance to be one of the greats vs the modern day Andre Kirilenko IMO
I guess we just see 2 totally different things. They're both thin, but Victor will fill out much easier than Chet. Chet is the very image of a ectomorph body type whose been trying to add muscle weight his whole life. Victor has some rectangular shape to him and is still trying to catch up to his freakishly long frame. Chet could lose 5 lbs and literally be classified as underweight on a BMI scale which is a massive disadvantage in the NBA. Being "overweight" on that same scale is generally fine for NBA athletes (ex Lebron ... amongst a whole nunch of examples) because of the makeup of that composition being mostly muscle. I know you know those details considering the field you work but that's just my view of it and no one here has been able to convince me otherwise, however I moved him from maybe 8-12 on my board last year to maybe 4 or 5 because guys like you and Nook did a great job showing his defensive IQ and timing paired with offensive skills.
I personally find Chet being a bit more ectomorphic. He will struggle putting the weight on, imo. Meanwhile, after following Wembanyama for a couple years I can really tell that's he's put on some muscle on. He's obviously still skinny, but most 18 year olds are. I think he can end up having a Gobert-like build or close to it. I'm not so high on Chet's chances of having an NBA ready body soon even though he's already 20 years old.
But my problem with Wemby isn't the weight, we know he has the frame to put on weight. The problem is will his legs handle that weight? Getting more weight doesn't help your ankles and legs, in fact it hurts them cuz the tendons can't really get stronger with a heavier load. That's why in the UFC BJJ is extremely effective, once you lock someone they got to tap or they're getting their leg or arm broken. There's no way to increase the tendon strength, unless you take it out and replace it with the polymer or w/e. Like for example with Chet now is the least injury prone he will be cuz he is at his lightest. So to me it is really concerning he tore his ligament just by moving on a slippery floor cuz as he ages he will naturally gain more weight and then his ligaments gonna be under ever more stress. What weight does is it helps you finish plays and allows you not to get moved easily by opponents. But that isn't gonna help your health and longevity in fact one of the best things Lebron ever did is realize he needs to slim down and lost a ton of weight during his 2nd Cavalier stint. I think that's one of the reasons he played majority of his career without leg related injuries.
Yeah like I said him being over 7'4" is already a historically bad spot to be in regarding longevity. He'll need top of the line athletic personnel around him. I believe he could gradually fill out his frame and stay under 235-240. Im thinking closer to Kareem Abdul Jabbar. NBA athletes generally shouldn't add weight just to add weight. I would strongly argue hard against getting to Shaq or Yao's 300+ lb weight. I know people view Chet as this gumby-like creature but he needs to add muscle considering how much he will be challenged at the rim. If he were just a Durant clone I wouldn't worry as much actually. Their body demands are different. Adding muscle to a skinny frame can help the ligaments long term too, btw. When a player takes off for a jump and lands he needs proper biomechanics, strong deep intrinsic core muscles, specific finely tuned muscle types used to absorb the force of a jump (more on muscle; less on connective tissue). And just because you can explode upward doesn't mean your muscles are well trained to land softly (ex: Zion; biomechanics). It was one of the reasons Grant Hill made a comeback after he started working with the NASM team at PHX. Now, Wemby is not 6'8" 225 lbs like Grant so that's not his go by, it's just an example of explosive landing vs ability to absorb landing force/external force.
[Givony] Victor Wembanyama has been seeing top specialists for feet, knees, and back in order to increase his longevity
