Comparing Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama: Two Rising Stars in the NBA

There is no need to constantly compare Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. There is no need to constantly compare Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. There is no need to constantly compare Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. There is no need to constantly compare Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. There is no need to constantly compare Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama…

But, yeah, I’m going to compare Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. If only because the first is the only reason why the Rookie of the Year award can no longer be guaranteed for the second (the new rule of the minimum of 65 games does not apply here, which does act as a limit for the MVP, the Defender of the Year and the All NBA quintets). And, in any case, because there is a thread that I fear will always unite them. They are not identical players, but they are similar enough when they are at the same time so different from everyone else. Holmgren is not a type of player modeled on Wembanyama, but he is something at least not too different, which is no small thing when we look for how to evaluate and explain the impossible French forward-power forward-center.

Holmgren promised to be the definitive unicorn, but he hasn’t had time to be before Wembanyama, the extraterrestrial unicorn. He is 21 years old compared to Wemby’s 19, and came to the NBA with the number 2 in the 2022 draft compared to the Frenchman’s number 1 in 2023. That pick 2 was an intermediate solution (between Paolo Banchero and Jabari Smith Jr): he was the player with the most ceiling, the most exciting project… but also the most risky due to his particular physical profile. For the doomsayers it was a confirmation that the sky was going to fall on the heads of these new unthinkable unicorns when he injured his foot and in August, defending LeBron James in a party. The moral was that how was he going to endure the beating of the 82 regular season games in the NBA if he was 2.13 and weighed less than 90 kilos. But he came, a year later, one of 2.24 and (then) also less than 90 kilos…

So the two ended up debuting in the NBA in the same season; Both have shown for now that they are not made of porcelain, that you can remove the seal, take them out of the box and play with them; And the two are showing that they can be (should be) two of the most important players in the next NBA.

Wembanyama is still green, and that’s probably what scares the most. He plays for a Spurs without a base (and with strange experiments from Gregg Popovich) and without a battery of sharpshooters around him. He doesn’t always receive where he should (although his range is infinite) and it seems like he throws a lot of jump shots (although he makes them) without worrying too much about operating near the rim, where it’s hard to imagine how he could be stopped. His ability to dribble and generate play causes wonderful plays but also still extravagant losses (and logical: he is green). He averages 3.5 turnovers per 1.8 assists. He is unique, capable of anything and truly transformative, with the ability to change basketball. He is the favorite to be Rookie of the Year and is the player of his generation that any franchise would choose to build their future. All of this is clear and does not seem, for now, debatable. He averages 18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. And he has already wreaked serious havoc from what still seems a very low percentage of his (unlimited) potential.

Holmgren is older, in many ways he is more polished, he knows USA basketball by heart (he grew up in Minnesota and played at Gonzaga) and, this is important for the award, he is having a gigantic impact on a team that, unlike The Spurs are fighting to be in the playoffs. 16.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists (for two losses) with 57.5% in total shots, 55.6% in triples and 90% in free throws. At the start of the season he has already shown what is going to be a recurring and surely decisive arsenal: plays of exquisite finesse with the ball (fundamentals, resources), elite defensive intimidation, outside shooting, passing… everything. If we combine his excellent level, somewhat more regular although with less bombastic explosions than those of Wembanyama, and his ability to be important in a team that wants to be important, it is likely that Chet Holmgren will be, right now, the favorite (still in November) for the Rookie of the Year award.

And the Thunder, in fact, are taking the next competitive step after almost reaching the play-in spots last year. His quintet is already one of the best, and certainly one of the most accomplished, in the entire NBA. So much so that it is difficult to imagine how they will, if everything goes as it seems, retain everyone when the extensions arrive: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (one step – or half – from a perennial MVP candidate), Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. None is over 25 years old. The Serbian Vasilije Micic is, in fact, an old exception (30 years old) in a team in which he barely scratches the rotation, among other things because another rookie, guard Cason Wallace (20 years old), has also had a promising start.

Holmgren has made a stunning entry into a team that was already competitive for much of last season. In which he fits into many things like a glove… but not others. He breaks a certain arrangement in small ball and is required to have an enormous rebounding responsibility surrounded by players with a less interior profile. In fact, the new center will surely miss a four with a profile that does not exist (yet?) in these Thunder: tough, fighting, defense and dirty work. Someone who can clean up some of the messes in the areas (he was surpassed by Nikola Jokic… but who wouldn’t) and also allow him to leave the main assignment in the interior defense and wreak havoc as an intimidator in the aids. But, in any case, his start to the season is being fabulous. Excellent news after the foot injury, the blank year… and the appearance of Wembanyama who, although he shouldn’t have, had taken his landing in the NBA out of focus. It is still like that, with nuances and even if it is not fair.

I actually apply my penance and continue where I started: there is no need to constantly compare Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. There is no need to constantly compare Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama. You don’t have to…

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2023-11-10 13:08:30
#unicorn #war