I was also surprised at first, but maybe the teams also see what we do - a huge injury risk. Does anybody really expect him to have a great career? I'll be surprised if he does better than Porzinguis to be honest. Huge talent and a true unicorn, but with this build, good luck in the NBA young man.
He is a high risk but oh man, the reward. KD did it, Giannis did it. This guy is taller, faster and with much better handles. If he gets under a great conditioning/strenght trainer, watch out.
i think it was less about wemby and more about the odds to get #1 and the dropoff after that. the bottom four established themselves pretty early, and they have flat odds. and i agree with you and others that wemby's frame terrifies me. i've read that his handlers and trainers are supposedly all over this and whatnot, but...he'd be the very first of his kind. obviously, you have to take him if you get the first pick, but there's a chance it's a short career with few accolades despite the obvious and immense talent. he's not as sure a bet as lebron and tim duncan, who to me were the only absolute no-brainer #1 overall picks in my lifetime* *as in, it was clear they'd be hall of famers and there were zero red flags of any kind. honestly, i'll get roasted, but AD and dwight were the next tier for me in terms of, in the moment, there's only one choice, and it's a great one.
[Raises hand] I'm fully on board Team Wemby, think he'll be great with the chance to be an All Time Great. I look at him and don't see Porzingis or Holmgren or Yao, I just see a taller KD. Is he an injury risk? Of course, but probably less than Embiid, Zion, etc imo, and I would take the gamble on him if I was a GM.
why? he moves a lot like holmgren/porzingis and is their size. i had the same concerns about kd when he came out, but i still view him as the exception that proves the rule moreso than a model that will be replicated. i agree that you have no choice but take him #1, though, given the upside.
You're right, there are clear similarities, I guess I phrased that wrong. What I meant is that, when I look at Porzingis or Holmgren, I see very good players, maybe borderline All Star players, but I don't see greatness like I saw with KD. To me, Wemby is closer to the KD level than the Holmgren level, and the stuff you see Wemby doing or capable of doing means possible dominance. Like, if he were miraculously 100% healthy throughout his career, possible top 10 all time greatness. I don't see that from Porzingis or Holmgren even if miraculously 100% healthy for the next 15 years. So that top level upside means I snap take him #1 without hesitation, even though there's injury risk, which I think you and most agree with.
ok, got it. yeah, he can do some pretty crazy stuff at that size. and from what i've read, he has the right mentality, too. it's just those super tall skinny guys...
Embiid with 52 pts on 20-25 FG and 12-13 FT in a win over Boston. Jokic w 14 pts and his coach calling him & his team out as soft, in a loss against the worst team in the West. Embiid deserves his 1st MVP more than Jokic does 3 in a row imo.
yeah, i'm not an embiid fan, but he'd get my vote this year, even with the missed time. and he was right when he sort of suggested that the advanced stats claiming jokic is like, the greatest defender in history are obviously flawed. they work most of the time, but you can't ignore your eyes completely, and you can't quantify out things like fit and scheme. it's a little petty (and thus on brand) for embiid to attend so much to this, but he was right, imo. same with his complaints about toronto's interest in shutting down individual opponents instead of winning games. you're right, but why do you care enough to comment publicly about it? edit: btw, i'd also still give giannis serious consideration. he's fallen into "bored by his greatness" kobe territory, imo.
Yeah the only player who stayed healthy over 7'3 with a certain level of play was Rik Smits . Wemby likely will struggle to play 500 games in his entire NBA career
smits was retired at 33. but he did play a lot of games during that 10-11 year span. point stands. btw, side note in all this is that i think people ignore what a porzingis highlight reel looks like. it looks a lot like a wemby highlight reel, tbh. maybe not quite the dribbling flair, maybe half a step slower, but not much.
You're right that a lot of the highlight reel looks similar, the 3's, dunks, blocks, shooting over other players, etc. But you also reference the dribbling and speed - Wemby's handles and moves are already better than Porzingis's. And Porzingis is already a very good player, he's having a very good year with some great games - you add handles and a half-step to that - that's huge in the NBA. And that's Porzingis now. Wemby now at 19 compared to Porzingis at 19 pre-draft is a big difference, and Wemby can improve a lot more from here.
I agree, I'd put Giannis slightly above Jokic as well. Because context and narrative play into it, I'd give Embiid his 1st and then Giannis his 3rd before giving Jokic his 3rd. But in a vacuum, where you don't know anything about these players, other than their play this regular season, and you jumble up and randomize the order of the games played - it really could be any of the 3.
Your logic is sound and good points made but no f****** way can I "like" your post since we have NO way to guard this guy once AD goes to the bench, assuming he's even having reasonable impact. So your post gets a big: Of course Slick has planted yet another flag on yet another hill that Wenyen is just fine in that role NO matter the size/weight of the opponent.
Dept of Schadenfreude: Famously, there's an old tape around somewhere of Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda being asked by a reporter, "What did you think of (Dave) Kingman's performance?" Kingman had hit 3 monster home runs and the Dodgers lost, and Lasorda explodes with rage at the Q, just spewing "WHAT THE EFF DO YOU THINK I THINK ABOUT KINGMAN'S PERFORMANCE?" Etc: he sounds like he's ready to have a stroke he's so pissed at the Q, and he just goes OFF for about 5 minutes, as recall. I'd like to be a reporter who asks Mark Cuban about the Mavs' performance after paying Kyrie.
