Victor Wembanyama is already being talked about like the league’s future standard-bearer, and Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey just pushed that conversation to the next level.
In Bailey’s ranking of the NBA’s 30 best players in 2030, the Spurs star landed at No. 1. That puts Wembanyama ahead of the biggest names in the game right now and frames him as the player most likely to sit atop the league four years from now.
The case starts with how fast he has come along. Bailey pointed to Wembanyama being only three seasons into his career and already helping lead San Antonio to the NBA Finals while establishing himself as one of the NBA’s most difficult defenders.
A big part of that defensive value comes from the obvious stuff: his length and his timing. Bailey wrote that those traits make life miserable for anyone trying to score at the rim, and that Wembanyama’s shot blocking allows teammates to play higher up the floor and defend more aggressively.
But Bailey’s projection wasn’t built on defense alone. He also highlighted the offensive growth that has started to round out Wembanyama’s game, including his handle, outside shooting, and passing. That combination, Bailey suggested, gives him a chance to become one of the league’s most complete players.
That’s why Bailey placed Wembanyama in the same long-term conversation as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Nikola Jokić, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
And the bottom line from Bailey was clear: Wembanyama’s current trajectory points toward him becoming the NBA’s top player by 2030, and it would take a major setback to keep him from getting there.
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