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Perhaps Anthony Davis walked so Victor Wembanyama could run. You can read that and find it disrespectful of Davis, a champion and future first-ballot Hall of Famer, but it speaks more to what could be in store with Wemby.
Davis has been a no-brainer top-10 player since his third season in the league. Few players have ever possessed his physical gifts – the massive wingspan and athleticism combined with a sharp basketball IQ and bucket-getting ability.
Somewhat lost in the calamity of the Luka Dončić trade is that Davis is a damn good basketball player. Despite dealing with leg and adductor injuries that derailed his season, Davis still averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds on 52 percent shooting.
At 32, Davis is no longer a sure-fire, top-10 guy, but he can still uncork long sips of dominance that make you think he is.
The first pick in the 2012 draft, Davis fully lived up to his potential. He spent years sharpening his skills, exploring the outermost corners of his talent, dominating opponents and finding ways to impact winning at the highest level. Now, with the Mavericks, he’ll try to do it again.
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Yeah, Wemby is already that good
Eleven years after Davis became the top overall pick, the San Antonio Spurs had the pleasure of taking Wembanyama No. 1 in the 2023 draft.
Wembanyama burst onto the scene. Blocked shots, step-back 3s, impossible statlines, and all from someone not legally allowed to imbibe in Gregg Popovich’s collection of cabernets.
Wembanyama is the rare talent that changes the destiny of his team — and the NBA. At 21, he’s the league’s most-feared defender and tantalizing talent.
If not for a deep vein thrombosis diagnosis in his shoulder that cut his second season short, Wembanyama would have been the favorite for Defensive Player of the Year and an established top-10 player.
Like a young Davis, Wembanyama is still in the data-gathering portion of his career. His audacious jumpers from the logo and turnarounds from the mid-post are for science. His playmaking is a work in progress, but still ahead of where it should be. He treats the NBA like his personal snowglobe, shaking it a different way every so often just to see what happens.
And maybe that’s the scariest part about Wemby. Despite not knowing what he’s doing all the time, he’s still dominating. Had he played more than 46 games, he would have ranked in the top 20 in points, top 10 in rebounds and tops in blocks.
A decade ago, I never thought I’d say this, but Wembanyama is already doing things that Davis never could.
Like an Easter egg hunt, the clock is ticking for the rest of the league to accomplish as much as it can before Wembanyama and the Spurs are ready to come in and sweep up all of what’s left.