Dawn of an era: Spurs set to draft generational prospect Victor Wembanyama first overall

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — “With the first pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs select… Victor Wembanyama.”

When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks those words at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday night, a thrilling new era of basketball officially will begin in San Antonio. 

Unofficially, it started on the night of the draft lottery, when a 14% chance of getting the top pick came through for the Spurs and sent the Alamo City into a frenzy. There was pure jubilation for the team and the fans, and there’s been no serious conversation about what they should do with the pick. 

Victor Wembanyama is the consensus No. 1 pick in this draft, and most talent evaluators believe he’s the best NBA draft prospect since LeBron James 20 years ago. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski went so far as to call him “maybe the greatest prospect in the history of team sports.”

As sensationalized as that may sound, it isn’t so far-fetched. The 19-year-old Frenchman possesses a combination of size, skill, and fluidity that simply never has been seen before. He’s 7’5″ with an 8-foot wingspan, and he moves like a guard.

Wemby grew up doing Pistol Pete ballhandling drills, taking the ball up the court like a point guard, and shooting from wherever. He can shoot off the dribble, even on a stepback, even one-legged runners from three-point range. He’s an unselfish passer with fantastic feel for the game, and despite his slight frame, he’s been able to find success in the post against grown men in the French league.

Every single game, he makes a handful of plays that simply aren’t possible for anybody else. The season was full of them, but one sticks in the mind as the prime example of his otherworldly ability.

Wembanyama’s Metropolitans 92 team was facing off against Monaco, one of the best teams in all of Europe. Wemby isolated at the top of the arc, driving right before crossing over between his legs and hesitating with the ball in his left hand. He got low, quickly threw it between his legs and then back into the left, then jabbed in and stepped back for a three. 

It was a dazzling display of skill for a player that big, but the defender stuck with him. He couldn’t really contest the jumper due to Wemby’s sheer size, but the shot missed off the front iron. All that did was allow the gigantic teenager to soar in for an insane put-back slam. His right hand came off the rim just before his right foot landed on the ground.

Wembanyama is equally menacing on the defensive end of the floor. His size allows him to block and otherwise deter shots at the rim, but again, he’s much more than just a big man. His length and footspeed allow him to cover more ground than 99% of area rugs. He can switch onto guards on the perimeter and either stay in front or recover from behind. 

He’s been on NBA radars for years, and at 19 he earned a ton of LNB Pro A League awards. He was MVP and Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league in scoring and blocked shots. 

Wemby averaged 21.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, and 2.4 assists in 32.1 minutes per game while shooting 47% from the floor, 27.5% from three, and 83% from the free throw line. Perhaps most importantly, he played in every game and led Mets 92 on a surprising run to the Finals, where they fell to Monaco.

In a pair of games near Las Vegas against the G League Ignite, Wemby showed what he can do under NBA rules that favor more spacing and less physical defense. He put up 37 points, seven triples and five blocks in the first game, then had 36 the next game. The dominant performances in front of NBA talent evaluators cemented him as the number one pick. Many others would have shut it down then, but he played every game of Mets 92’s season.

Wembanyama grew up just outside of Versailles in France, where former Spurs Tony Parker and Boris Diaw are national heroes. There’s a picture of a young Victor in Parker’s jersey, and he later went on to play for the ASVEL team Parker owns as well as the Mets 92 team that Boris Diaw is the general manager of.

Wemby called Ray Allen’s 2013 dagger ‘the villain shot’ and seemed to celebrate on lotto night when he realized he wouldn’t be going to the Houston Rockets. The alien superstar grew up on Spurs basketball, and now he’s heading to San Antonio to represent a nation full of Spurs fans. 

“When the Spurs got the No. 1 pick, I was just thinking that I was feeling lucky that they got the pick as a franchise that has that culture… that experience in winning. Making and creating good players. I really can’t wait,” he said before the draft.

Off the court, the 19-year-old is clearly wise beyond his years. JJ Redick hosted him on his podcast Old Man and the Three, and the kid started talking like an 18th-century philosopher.

“I don’t feel any pressure on my shoulders, and I think the reason is because I try to live free, sort of be a free man at all times. And the way I play is just the way I truly want to play, and have wanted to play for my whole life. This is me, and I’m trying to show my true personality on the court, and just be myself,” he said. “I know what I want. I’m driven from the inside of my heart, and nothing can put me out of my path. I do everything I can, so I deserve what I get.”

Redick wondered how someone in his position doesn’t lose touch with reality, and brought up the movie Inception. He asked what Victor’s totem is, the thing that keeps him grounded.

“My totem is something bigger than basketball. It’s accomplishing yourself inside this universe. When I need motivation, when I need energy and I feel tired, when I need to fight on the court and it’s hard, I always remember: I’m free in that universe, I do whatever I can, and I know what I want to do, and nothing’s gonna stop me from doing it. I’ve always got that in my mind, and it’s not just about basketball, it’s about life.

Redick was left stunned.

“F**k man… he’s reached enlightenment,” Redick said. “I wish I was free in the universe.”

“You are,” Wembanyama responded without missing a beat.

It sure seems like Wembanyama will be a culture fit in San Antonio. He’ll start his career with arguably the best coach in basketball history in Gregg Popovich, and the legendary Tim Duncan will be around the brand-new practice facility to help mentor the kid like he’s done for all of San Antonio’s young players since his playing days ended.

Speaking of which, San Antonio has built a solid young core that can support Wembanyama and grow with him. Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan are poised for a big year on the wings, and Zach Collins is healthy and ready to play center if Wemby is a better fit at power forward. Tre Jones will likely be back, and Malaki Branham looks ready to break out in his second year. Blake Wesley is another first-round pick from last year worth watching.

On top of that the Spurs have plenty of cap space to add players via trades or free agency, and two dozen draft assets through 2029. That opens up a ton of options for building around Wembanyama, who said on lottery night that he wants to win a championship as soon as possible.

The Spurs own picks number 33 and 44 in the 2023 draft, but it seems likely that they’ll try to trade one or both of those picks and possibly future picks to move up for another first rounder this year. Teams with stars on big contracts that need depth (i.e. the Suns) will find those second-round picks extra valuable if they can find rotation players there on cheap deals, and the addition of Wembanyama means the Spurs would probably be wise to consolidate some of their draft capital and accelerate the timeline for returning to contention.

LJ Ellis at spurstalk.com reported that Anthony Black out of Arkansas and Michigan’s Kobe Bufkin have been mentioned as possible targets. Wembanyama’s teammate on Mets 92 Bilal Coulibaly has been a big riser in recent weeks. It would cost a lot to get up high enough into the lottery to select one of the Thompson twins, but not impossible. 

Whether the Spurs make picks at 33 and 44 or trade up, we’ll have full coverage here. 

There are watch parties across San Antonio, with the biggest at the AT&T Center. KENS 5 will have special team coverage on air at 6 and 10 p.m., as well as our website and social media accounts. Nate Ryan, Jeff Garcia, and Tom Petrini are in New York for the draft, and Vinnie Vinzetta and Casey Viera are in San Antonio.