Staggering stat reveals Victor Wembanyama's shot-making range, puts him ahead of Damian Lillard
Victor Wembanyama led the San Antonio Spurs to a 116-96 rout of the Sacramento Kings on Monday. 'Wemby' attempted 22 shots, 12 coming from behind the arc, where he made half his launches. The Frenchman’s six 3-pointers were the most in the game with second place going to his teammate, Julian Champagnie, who hit 3-of-8.
NBA analyst Kyle Neubeck commented on X, formerly Twitter, that Wembanyama could have done more damage inside the paint. He said the 7-foot-4 center could “tip-toe dunk on offensive rebounds.”
Joe Wolfond, another analyst, responded to Neubeck’s post:
“average shot distance
“wemby this season: 16.5 feet
“damian lillard career: 16.4 feet”
Per Basketball Reference, Victor Wembanyama’s average shot distance was 13.0 feet last season. He moved back 3.5 feet since the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
Meanwhile, Damian Lillard averaged 17.2 feet last season and is now launching from 18.1 feet for the 2024-25 campaign. For his career, though, he's averaging 16.4 feet.
Wembanyama is hitting 21.1% of his shots between 16 feet and the 3-point line, a significant drop from his 30.0% average last season. He had back-to-back games where he shot well from the perimeter. He shot 53.3% versus the Utah Jazz on Saturday before hitting 59.1% against the Sacramento Kings on Monday.
Victor Wembanyama is taking more 3s than last season
Victor Wembanyama told reporters during the San Antonio Spurs media day that he would average the same 3-point attempts this season. The Frenchman, however, vowed to be more efficient in his second year in the NBA.
So far, the reverse has happened. He is averaging 7.1 attempts on 28.2% accuracy. Last season, he averaged 5.5 3-pointers with 32.5% efficiency.
How teams defend Wembanyama may have something to do with his increased shots from deep. When he gets the ball in the paint, he is usually swarmed by defenders. It doesn’t help that his teammates don’t usually punish defenses by hitting outside shots.
Jeremy Sochan shoots 25% from behind the arc. Stephon Castle makes 19.4% while Keldon Johnson averages 24.2% from the same range. Chris Paul is hitting 37.0% but has trouble getting it off 3-pointers.
Defenses have forced Victor Wembanyama to step more outside and launch triples against wings a foot shorter than him. More often than not, opponents have succeeded in using that strategy.