Who is Victor Wembanyama? Everything to know before NBA Draft Lottery

Victor Wembanyama is the consensus No. 1 pick, the prize for winning the NBA Draft Lottery. What makes him so special?

Tonight’s NBA Draft Lottery will see the draft order but it will also, almost certainly decide which team Victor Wembanyama plays on next season. The 7-foot-5, 19-year-old Frenchman has been the consensus No. 1 pick on almost every draft board for the entirety of this season and there is no reason to think that will change between now and June when the actual draft is held.

If you want to know just how highly he is thought of, one anonymous NBA executive told Blazers insider Sean Highkin, “that if Victor Wembanyama had an Embiid-like multiple-season injury before the draft, not only would every team still take him No. 1, they’d be willing to max him out on his second contract without seeing him play.”

NBA Draft Lottery: What makes Victor Wembanyama so special?

NBA teams and fans have been fooled before by prospects with elite size and wingspans, only to see them come up short in terms of the requisite skill or strength to actually leverage their size against NBA athletes. That should not be a concern for Victor Wembanayama.

Wembanyama shot just 28.3 percent on 5.0 attempts per game for the Metropolitans 92, of France’s top league. But that number is doesn’t begin to do justice to his mechanics and there is every reason to think he’ll be a dangerous spot-up threat and comfortable shooting off the dribble. Which, again, is crazy — he’s 7-foot-5 and will be comfortable leading the break, creating for his teammates as a primary initiator on some possessions and handling the ball on the perimeter. But his size, touch and mobility will also make him deadly as a complementary threat. He fits in a variety of settings.

On defense, he’s already an elite shot-blocker and has demonstrated the ability to be incredibly disruptive in space, even if he doesn’t have the footspeed to keep up with every perimeter creator in small spaces. Even though he’s willow-thin, he’s already learned how to take forceful impacts and block shots or grab rebounds over and around bigger, strong players.

Our full scouting report on Wembanyama has a lot more detail but, In short, he’s an elite prospect, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before — a foundational defensive anchor and versatile primary scorer who will also be one of the tallest and longest players in the league. That’s why he’s going to go No. 1.

Check out The Step Back for more news, analysis, opinion and unique basketball coverage. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to our daily email newsletter, The Whiteboard.