Top NBA Stories Week Ten
Are The Spurs Wasting Wemby This Season?
The San Antonio Spurs selected center Victor Wembanyama, out of France, with the first pick in the 2023 NBA draft. He was the most hyped prospect since LeBron James in 2003. It's easy to see why. He’s a 7’4 freak of nature who moves like a guard and shoots like one but can also post you up like a big man and score from anywhere on the court. Him being drafted by the Spurs had everyone excited about his development because the last two big men drafted by the Spurs with this much hype were David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997. Both men lived up to the hype and then some, having HOF careers and becoming two of the best power forwards/centers to ever play this game. The crazy thing is that Wembanyama has the potential to be better than both of them. This leads me to the question, are the Spurs stunting Wembanyama’s growth? Even though he is only 19, he is undoubtedly the best player on the Spurs. San Antonio is the youngest team in the NBA this season with an average age of 23.52, so it’s not like he should be giving up the ball to any great veteran players. It seems right now that they don’t know how to use him properly, which is understandable since we’re only about a fourth through the season. It's normal to have growing pains in your first season. It just feels like every time I’ve watched Spurs games this season, I've caught myself yelling at the TV to get him the ball because he has a mismatch in almost every possession. He’s too quick for centers and too big for power forwards. The fact not one player can block his shot when he elevates to his highest point to shoot it makes him that much more dangerous. Though he has taken the most shots on his team this season, he only has 30 more attempts than the next player. He should have well over 100 more shot attempts than second place on the team if the offense was running through him. While he is having a good season averaging 18.8 PPG and 10 RPG, his PPG can increase into the 20s by the end of the season if they start running more plays for him and let him take over the team. He was the number-one pick for a reason, and he has the potential to end his career in the top 10 all-time players.
Can Ja Morant Sneak Grizzlies Into Play-In?
Now that we have gotten a little sample size of Morant being back, we can see how much they’ve missed having him lead this Memphis Grizzlies team. Since his return, they are 4-1 and their lone loss was against the defending champs, the Denver Nuggets, which he didn’t even play in due to a sickness. In the four games he's played, he is averaging 28 points and 8 assists. People seem to forget this is the same team that was the second seed just last season and their only big loss in the offseason was Dillon Brooks. They still have the main core in Jaren Jackson Jr, Desmond Bane, and Ja Morant. They also traded for Marcus Smart who is a very similar player to Brooks. Both are known for their defense, but Smart actually has accolades to back it up like a Defensive Player of the Year award. The Grizzlies have a steep hole to climb out of being 10-20 and in 13th place in the west, but they are only five games out of 10th place which would at least get them into the play-in tournament. We’ve seen a play-in team make the finals just last season when the eight-seed Miami Heat lost in five games to the Nuggets, so we can never count out the lower-seeded teams. With all that being said, if this Grizzlies team sneaks into the play-in none of those teams playing them will be excited to against them and I’d put my money against a lot of these higher-seeded teams.
Is Jaime Jaquez Jr. Steal Of The Draft?
There are a lot of rookies who have been performing well this season, but none might be more surprising than Jaquez. What makes his play surprising is his draft position. Players selected in the top ten are expected to be good right away and when they perform well, it’s not surprising. Jaquez was selected 18th overall by the Miami Heat and has been playing arguably as the third-best rookie this season behind only Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren. He isn’t your typical rookie who plays one season in college and goes pro. He played four seasons at UCLA and is 22 years old compared to most players who are 19-20 when drafted. More college experience doesn’t always lead to early success in the NBA, but in this case, it has. For rookies, he is in the top five for PPG, steals, efficiency, FG%, and three-point FG% while being top eight in RPG and APG as well. When you watch him play, it feels like he has been in the pros for 5-6 years the way he sees the court like a vet. It is a luxury to have such a young player that you can count on late in games when you otherwise wouldn’t because the moment would be too big for them. The player he most resembles is his teammate, Jimmy Butler. He's not going to take 30 shots, but he’ll get you an efficient 15-20 points while playing great defense and controlling the flow of the game. With Jaquez's playstyle and the way the Heat develop young players, he’s going to be a great player for this team for a long time. If Wembanyama and Holmgren weren’t rookies this season, Jaquez would easily win Rookie of the Year. Nonetheless, he is undoubtedly the steal of the draft this far into the season.