Victor Wembanyama in the 2023 NBA Draft: Who he is, how he plays, profile, comparison, statistics and highlights

Victor Wembanyama It is not only the best project of the Draft NBA 2023, but also looks like one of the most special players to have emerged in recent decades. At least in terms of physical, athletic and technical tools.

But what exactly does it do Wemby such a unique player? All the details, analysis and statistics to explain it, below.

More | The 2023 NBA Draft Guide

Victor Wembanyama’s profile

Wembanyama virtues and strengths

A unique project. In terms of natural tools, Wembanyama is perhaps the most unique project ever seen in NBA history. He is a 7-foot-2 player with athleticism, agility and perimeter skills. The most interesting thing is that even when he has everything to continue polishing and growing, this version is already totally dominant in a competitive league like the French one, where he averages 20-10 with 3 blocks per game.

Huge potential as a shooter. He has a huge future as a shooter, since although he is barely at 30% in the season, he does so with more than 5 attempts per game and with great versatility. He is not only a triplero of catch and shoot, but can shoot on the move or even from the dribble. It is precisely the difficulty of those pitches that does not have a better percentage. However, he registers a 40% success rate in triples on firm foot and 45% in pick and pop actions. His shooting mechanics is excellent and is around 85% in free.

A 2.26 creator. 44% of his possessions come in individually created actions, something totally unusual for a player of his stature. He can score from behind, but also generate his own shot from the front, shooting on the move or penetrating. He’s not a specialist, but he’s also above average as a passer. He has a drive worthy of a forward or shooting guard.

dominant defender. What ends up catapulting Wembanyama to totally unique places is his defensive profile. And it is that he is a player with an amazing capacity to protect the rim (3.2 blocks per game) and with excellent numbers as a rebounder, but who also has the agility and speed to get out of the paint, something that he rarely shows an interior of more than 2.15m. Wembanyama is already an unstoppable defensive force in France, not only because of the basic stats, but also the advanced ones: he leaves opponents with 30% success in the low post and 28% in any individual defensive action.

Wembanyama’s Flaws and Weaknesses

Physique to improve. You have to look hard to find clear flaws in Wembanyama, although the first that jumps out is his physique. He’s clearly missing the pounds compared to the average NBA interior, but he seems to have a build that won’t be too difficult to enhance with time and the best resources at his disposal.

Shot selection. The Frenchman’s other flaw is that by having so much talent, he often complicates more situations than he could simplify. As previously noted, he takes a lot of forced or off-balance perimeter shots, which, although he can score, don’t give him the best percentages either (as is shown by his 30% 3-point range, despite being above 40% on steady footing). ).

The back game. The third point to make is that he is still not someone who takes advantage of his height in the back game, which is linked to his lack of kilos and not being such a physical player or one who forces contact. He shoots 39% in low post stock, when the median for his position among Draft projects is 48%.

Wembanyama in one play

Ball handling worthy of a perimeter, resolution in one against one and triple in movement, to one foot and going forward, in an absolutely unique throwing mechanics and that the French usually uses. Unique, where you analyze it.

Wembanyama’s statistics in 2022-2023

General Statistics

Your statistical evaluation for the 2023 Draft

Then the Wembanyama evaluation in four fundamental areascompared to the other Draft projects of his positionbased on statistical performance from last season. A 100 means that he had the best numbers in the Draft in that regard, a 50 that is average, a 0 that was the worst and so on.

NBA comparison for Wembanyama

What makes Wembanyama such a special project is precisely its uniqueness, so there is no direct comparison to be made. However, one can speak of a Kevin Durant 2.26 meters or a fully powered version of players like Kristaps Porzingis or Lauri Markkanen.