Is the NBA Ready for Victor Wembanyama?

Victor Wembanyama is the best NBA prospect since LeBron James. He stands at a towering 7-foot-4 and doesn’t even need to leave his feet to alter shots because he can stretch his 8-foot wingspan to swat away jumpers or poke the ball away from would-be attackers. With his size and lockdown mindset, at only 18 years old, he can deter players from even attacking the paint. Wemby’s length also gives him an unblockable jump shot; he drilled seven 3-pointers when he scored 37 points against the G League Ignite on Tuesday, and most of them came off movement, like transition sprints, pick-and-pops, and stepbacks. In his second Las Vegas exhibition Thursday, he played an even more complete brand of basketball, dropping 36 points with the majority of his damage coming inside the arc on drives, post fadeaways, lobs, and poster dunks.

We’ve never seen a player like Wemby before. He is like Kevin Durant crossed with Rudy Gobert, making him a Gen-Z Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Ralph Sampson raised on YouTube videos. As hyperbolic as it all sounds, executives around the league already agree that Wembanyama has Hall of Fame potential with the upside to be one of the greatest players ever.

Wembanyama is the first to admit it’s way too soon to anoint him as anything, but the Vegas showcase was organized in large part to display his talents on a worldwide stage. Wemby flew from France with Metropolitans 92 for two exhibition games against the Ignite, who are led by the potential second pick in the 2023 draft (spoiler alert: we know who is going no. 1), Scoot Henderson, an electric point guard with shades of Allen Iverson and Russell Westbrook. Henderson himself shined in Vegas, though a banged knee sidelined him five minutes into the second game on Thursday. Wembanyama seized the spotlight overall. Scouts and executives from around the league dipped out on the preseason schedule to see the games. I sat two rows back from the court and it didn’t take long for Wembanyama to make it clear he is the best prospect in the 2023 class, and the best prospect I have scouted in my 11 years covering the draft.

“He’s not a franchise-altering talent. He’s a league-altering talent,” one NBA executive told me this week. Wemby’s influence over the league is already being felt a full year before he enters it. Losing teams are about to tank hard this season. Playoff or play-in bubble teams will drop games late in the year to sneak into the lottery. Teams will race to the bottom with more vigor than ever. All for the chance to select one of the greatest prospects the league has ever seen.

“The meaning behind the word tanking is kinda weird,” Wembanyama said on Wednesday. “I would never want to lose. It’s a personal thing. But I really try to stay outside of it. Either way, it’s gonna affect where I end up. All I can do for me is focus on the work on itself.”

While Wembanyama’s physical talents are enough to take your breath away, the unseen hours the teenager has invested into his game are also apparent. Over the past year, his jump…