“A poor man’s taller version of the great Kevin Durant” – NBA analyst admires the skills of Victor Wembanyama but raises concerns over his physical build, comparing him to recently injured rookie 

Generational French draft prospect Victor Wembanyama impressed big-time during his French club Metropolitan 92’s recent exhibition games versus the NBA G League Ignite. The games marked Wembanyama’s first taste of NBA action. They also gave him a chance to prove himself against fellow top draft prospect Scoot Henderson.

Wembanyama finished with 37 points, seven threes and five blocks in their first matchup. He then followed that up with 36 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in their second matchup. This has many excited about Wembanyama’s NBA potential. However, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith still isn’t 100% sold that he will become a superstar.

During a recent ESPN segment, Stephen A. Smith spoke about Victor Wembanyama’s elite skill set.

"When I think about this kid right here, he seems to me to be a poor man’s taller version of the great Kevin Durant. He’s got ball-handling skills. He’s got a J. He’s got a perimeter game. He can get to the hole. He has those skills. But he’s rail thin,” Smith said.

However, Smith later expressed some of the concerns he has regarding Wembanyama’s physical build.

“And then that makes me think of Greg Oden. It makes me think of Sam Bowie. It makes me think of Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in this past June’s draft that ain’t even playing this year because he’s out injured. We’ve seen big dudes who were relatively skinny … there is some trepidation,” Smith said.

Smith then added that, despite the injury concerns, he would still draft Wembanyama first overall in next year’s draft.

“Of course, you gotta take this dude No. 1 at 7-foot-4 with those skills … but it worries me,” Smith said.

There’s been a lot of discrepancies regarding Wembanyama’s true height with various outlets listing him as anywhere from 7-foot-2 to 7-foot-4. However, Wembanyama actually clarified after the Metropolitan’s first exhibition game that his real height is 7-foot-3.

Obviously, a player at Wembanyama's height being able to operate on the perimeter is extremely rare. Oftentimes, the tallest players in the league lack mobility and are very limited skills-wise. So even with the injury concerns, it will be tough for any team drafting first overall to pass up on Victor Wembanyama’s immense upside.

Adam Silver warns NBA teams not to tank for Victor Wembanyama

NBA commissioner Adam Silver at a press conference

As the hype for Victor Wembanyama continues to grow, NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently addressed the situation during a preseason game in Abu Dhabi. In particular, Silver warned NBA teams that they should not be looking to tank for Wembanyama next season, according to David Aldridge.

“I know that many of our NBA teams are salivating at the notion that potentially, through our Lottery, that they could get him– so they should all still compete very hard next season,” Silver said.

The NBA previously made changes to the NBA Draft Lottery format to prevent tanking. These changes became effective in 2019. Under the new lottery format, the highest odds a team can obtain to land the No. 1 pick is now just 14.0%.

Before that, the highest possible odds were 25.0%. So that means there is an 86.0% chance that the worst team in the league this season will not land Wembanyama next year.

Nonetheless, we can probably still expect some teams to engage in a tank battle for Victor Wembanyama at some point later in the season.