Damian Lillard believes Victor Wembanyama is ‘generational’ and can do it all
Damian Lillard is the latest addition to the group of people that 18-year-old Frenchman, Victor Wembanyama, has captivated.
The seven-foot-four forward is expected to be the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, and has already put on a show in the G League.
If you haven't seen Wembanyama play, he's a quintessential center-sized guard. He's got perimeter shots, post-jumpers and can play inside and out. On the defensive end, he swats anything near the rim owing to his freakish eight-foot-long wingspan.
On ESPN's NBA Today, Damian Lillard gave his thoughts on Victor Wembanyama. Just like everyone else that has seen him play, Lillard was stunned by the Frenchman's ability.
"I mean I've only seen clips of him, but, man, what is he? Seven-four? I mean he is generational. I've never seen anything like it. You've seen guys that are either that height that are shot-blockers but can't really move well, but he's moving like a wing."
"At seven-four, he's blocking shots, pull-up jumpers, fadeaway jumpers from three, got a fluid shooting motion, he can handle, I mean I'm happy I'm not going to be in the league long time with that."
Victor Wembanyama has single-handedly put the bottom-tier teams in a spiral, so much so that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's apprehensions have led him to consider relegating a few "tanking" teams to the G League.
For the uninitated, tanking is a phenomenon that NBA teams indulge in to possibly land a higher draft pick the following season. One of the steps that Silver took to prevent this from happening was to bring down the odds of landing the first overall pick.
In an interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews, he stated:
"You're dealing with a 14% chance of getting the first pick. I recognize at the end of the day analytics are what they are and it's not about superstition. A 14% chance is better than a 1% chance or a no percent chance."
However, the commissioner did concede that the draft is still the way to build up franchises.
"We still think it makes sense among partner teams, where a decision was made where the worst-performing teams are able to restock with the prospects of the best players coming in."
Victor Wembanyama Tankathon review: Spurs and Jazz off to flying starts
The Utah Jazz and the San Antonio Spurs are two teams expected to be on the hunt for the first overall pick in the 2023 draft. While neither of these teams have explicitly expressed interest in Victor Wembanyama, their moves in the offseason pointed to a poor campaign.
However, both of these teams have started 3-1. The Spurs' young talent is showing up and improving under perhaps the best coach in the league, Gregg Popovich.
The Utah Jazz, on the other hand, might just be propping up their talent to get a higher return if they dispatch them to contending teams at the deadline.