San Antonio Rookie Wembanyama Already Is A Screaming Success

Precocious Frenchman Victor Wembanyama was considered a generational talent when he entered the NBA as a 19-year old this season, and the San Antonio Spurs treated him as such.

The Spurs signed Wembanyama a four year, $55.7 million contract after winning the draft lottery to get the first overall pick, the largest rookie contract in league history. The deal included a 20 percent bump over the projected minimum slot of about $10 million per terms of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Teams can offer anywhere from 20 percent below slot to 20 percent above.)

Wembanyama already is a bargain.

A reed-thin 7-foot-4 with an eight-foot wing span and a shooter’s touch from the perimeter, Wembanyama has scored in double figures in all five of the Spurs’ games despite averaging only 28 minutes per.

Wembanyama — aka “Wemby” — showed that generational reach in his most recent game, a 132-121 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday in which he had a season-high 38 points with 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in the second of the Spurs’ consecutive victories over the Suns in Phoenix. He made three 3-pointers in career high 34 minutes and took over down the stretch, scoring 10 points in a 12-0 Spurs run after the Suns had recovered from a 27-point deficit to tie the game at 116.

“Somebody has to do it,” Wembanyama said. “Tomorrow it will be one of my teammates. Two days ago, it was Keldon (forward Johnson). This is how we work. We work as a group and as a team.”

But make no mistake. As San Antonio was Tim Duncan’s team after the Spurs beat long odds to win the 1997 draft lottery and nab Duncan with the first overall pick, this will Wembanyama’s team through the length of his record contract and certainly much longer.

Duncan won five NBA championships and was a two-time league MVP during his 19 seasons playing for the Spurs and Hall of Fame coach-in-waiting Gregg Popovich, and Wembanyama — a half-foot taller then Duncan — appears to be proving himself just as capable although the sample size is minute.

Wembanyama’s pre-draft buzz included comparisons to 6-9 LeBron James and 6-11 Kevin Durant, who had 28 points and six rebounds Thursday while beginning his first full season with the Suns. Durant and Wembanyama share a sleek body type, but Durant was quick to discount similarities.

“I don’t see anybody else in his game,” Durant said. “We’re both skinny, and he said he watched me growing up, but he’s his own player. I’m sure he watched so many great players in the league and tried to emulate just about everybody. His enthusiasm for the game, you can tell that through the TV and playing against him.

“He’s going to create his own lane. It’s much different that anybody who has ever played. You can try to compare, but he’s going to carve out his own lane.”

Early numbers from the two compare favorably. Wemby is averaging 20.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game in his first five. Durant averaged 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 34.7 minutes in his first five with Seattle after being the second player taken in the 2007 draft, behind Greg Oden and just ahead of Al Horford and Michael Conley.

Wembanyama’s record contract is a function of the NBA salary cap, which raises annually as league revenues increase and teams have more cash to spend. Paolo Banchero signed a four-year, $50.16 million deal as the first player taken in the 2022 draft, and Cade Cunningham signed for four years at $45.6 million as No. 1 in 2021. Brandon Miller, taken immediately Wembanyama last June, is to make $49.38 million over four years.

His ancillary income, driven in part by marketing expectations, already has begun flowing. Wembanyama is one of 13 players from the 2023 draft class to have signed with industry leader Nike
NKE
, and revenue from his endorsement deals could approach $100 million, according to agent Bouna Ndiaye as reported by ESPN. James received a seven-year, $90 deal from Nike at age 18 that later led to a lifetime contract reportedly worth $1 billion.

Popovich is bringing Wembanyama along slowly this season, as the early playing time suggests, but the fact that the Spurs put the ball in his hands down the stretch for the first time this season Thursday indicates they know exactly what they have.

“He’s a multi-faceted player,” Popovich said. “He’ll pass it to the open guy, but he’s got confidence in himself, and he made some plays that were unbelievable. That combination is pretty good if you have that skill and still willing to pass.”