After tanking throughout the 2022-2023 season, the San Antonio Spurs have been awarded the #1 pick in the 2023 Draft. While the upcoming draft class is oozing with talented youngsters, Victor Wembanyama is viewed as the undisputed first pick. Having already displayed his incredible skillset during his stint with the Metropolitans 92, analysts have already started predicting the French phenom’s ceiling as a Spur. According to Shannon Sharpe, the Texas-based organization has possibly landed its “franchise player”.
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Standing at 7-foot-4, “Wemby” took the basketball world by storm with his performances during the duel with Scoot Henderson in their two-game head-to-head battle at the start of the 2022-2023 preseason.
Since then, dominating the LNB Pro A, the 19-year-old’s draft stock has only risen.
“Can handle, shoot, get to the rim”: Shannon Sharpe on Victor Wembanyama
Like many media houses, even “UNDISPUTED” were having an in-depth conversation about the Spurs winning the #1 pick of the upcoming draft. During their discussion, Shannon Sharpe went on to talk about Victor’s ceiling playing under Gregg Popovich.
The former NFL star spoke to his co-host Skip Bayless and explained how Wemby was a three-level scorer and would be a “franchise player” if he’d turned out to be a player whose caliber falls in between Tim Duncan and David Robinson.
“All I have seen is the highlights of the kid, he’s extremely thin, but he can handle the ball, he can shoot the 3, he can get to the rim.
I don’t know what he’s going to be. If he’s in between Tim Duncan and David Robinson, well you got your franchise piece. If he’s gonna be better than Tim Duncan, that’s 5 championships, MVP, Finals MVPs, All Defense, that’s a lot going on.”
.@ShannonSharpe reacts to Spurs winning NBA Draft Lottery and right to draft Wembanyama:
“If he’s as good as they say he his, the Spurs got a franchise piece.” pic.twitter.com/jiugMIgfKg
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 17, 2023
Huge shoes for Wemby to fill, quite literally!
This is the 3rd #1 pick in San Antonio Spurs history. Their selections in the first two instances were pretty good – David Robinson in 1989 & Tim Duncan in 1997. Both were dominant big men. Among the two franchise legends, they were able to rack up 5 championships.
The Admiral and the Big Fundamental were instantly impactful when they set foot on the NBA hardwood, improving their records by 35 wins and 36 wins, respectively, from their previous campaign.
While being a Hall-Of-Famer is what is eventually expected out of the most hyped prospect since LeBron James, Victor must prove his worth by getting the Spurs closer to a playoff berth in the upcoming campaign. He has big shoes to fill, quite literally!
