Victor Wembanyama being mentioned in the same breath as the league’s very best already says plenty. Whether he’s tied at the top with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic or not, the bigger story is that he’s there at all - and he’s only 22.
That’s the part that gets lost when the conversation turns straight to his flaws. Hoops Tonight host Jason Timpf laid out the case against Wembanyama, pointing to the offense and the way he couldn’t take over games when the stakes were highest. As Timpf put it: "And if you make the case for Wemby, he looked completely inept on offense at several points during the postseason, and his inability to take control of games on offense just led to his team putting together a legendary NBA Finals choke job."
Those are fair criticisms, but they don’t tell the whole story. Jokic didn’t exactly cruise through his run before getting knocked out early, and Gilgeous-Alexander’s efficiency dipped as Wembanyama outplayed him in the Western Conference Finals.
Wembanyama also couldn’t put his stamp on the games against New York. All of that is true.
But so is the fact that the Spurs star is still just getting started.
That age gap matters. Gilgeous-Alexander just finished an age-27 season and followed it with a second straight MVP. He powered the Thunder to 67 wins and an 8-0 start in the postseason before everything unraveled against a Spurs group making its first playoff run together, in a San Antonio franchise that hadn’t reached a conference final in more than a decade.
Jokic, meanwhile, is 30 and producing basketball numbers that border on absurd. He’s already a three-time MVP, but his team still can’t get past the second round. At this point, neither he nor Gilgeous-Alexander has the kind of runway Wembanyama does to keep sharpening the rough edges.
And that’s really the heart of it. Wembanyama is only three years into his career, and the version of him Timpf criticized came in his first Finals appearance.
Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t get there until year seven. Jokic didn’t reach that stage until year five.
Nobody is saying Wembanyama should be handed the No. 1 spot outright right now. The point is simpler than that: the weaknesses he showed are the kind that can still be cleaned up with experience. He’s 22, still learning how to drive a Finals team, still building toward the player he’s going to become.
That’s why the tie with Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander feels less like a celebration of their position and more like a message to everyone else. Wembanyama’s not finished. Give it two years, and this conversation may not look anything like it does now.
In Other News...
Spurs Backcourt Plans Could Suddenly Raise Keldon Johnsons Stakes
San Antonio's backcourt picture has a few moving parts, and De'Aaron Fox sits right at the center of it for now. The Spurs have made it clear they view Fox as a valued contributor and part of their future, but the rest of the guard rotation could look different depending on how the roster evolves, especially with Dylan Harper in the mix.
Keldon Johnson is one of the players who could feel those ripple effects most. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year has been a steady spark off the bench, and his value only grows if San Antonio needs more proven production in that role while sorting out the rest of its lineup. Johnson is also entering a contract year, so whatever happens next with the Spurs' backcourt could have a real effect on both his usage and his next deal. [Read more 🡒]
Victor Wembanyama Is Forcing A New NBA Debate Spurs Fans Will Love
Victor Wembanyamas rise has already changed the conversation around the Spurs, but it also appears to be changing the wider NBA one. The 7-foot-4 phenom has become the kind of two-way force that bends games to his will, and as San Antonio has moved back into the picture as a real contender, his presence has made the franchise feel relevant in a way it has not in years.
What makes the latest wave of praise interesting is where it is coming from. Stephen A. Smith, who once said an international player could never be the face of the league, has now gone in the opposite direction as Wembanyamas reputation has exploded. For Spurs fans, that kind of turn is more than media chatter, it is another sign that the league is beginning to treat their cornerstone like the superstar driving the next great NBA debate. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Already Have A Wembanyama Problem They Can't Ignore
Victor Wembanyamas third season confirmed what the Spurs already knew: they have a franchise center who can drag a team all the way to the NBA Finals. He put up 26.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game in the Finals, but San Antonio still came up short against a Knicks team that found ways to make life difficult for him on the biggest stage.
That is where the long-term concern starts to creep in for the Spurs. Wembanyama is already the centerpiece, but Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle give the franchise two more promising young guards to develop, and DeAaron Foxs extension adds another layer to the roster picture as the team looks ahead. The talent is there, but fitting all of it together around one star is going to take some careful decisions. [Read more 🡒]