Victor Wembanyama is set to change the fortunes of the San Antonio Spurs, as the 2023 Drfat No. 1 pick has lived up to his lofty expectations and had one of the best rookie seasons ever. Former Spurs guard Patty Mills reacted to Wembanyama on the Spurs ahead of an exhibition between Australia and France, saying the Spurs center will hang more banners in the rafters for the franchise.
“It feels like this is in a good place for the future and growth of the San Antonio Spurs. You can only imagine the amount of detailed work going into him on the floor for him to develop his game in the ways that he can. He’s gonna be another exciting person to watch, how his game develops, and hopefully, there will be more banners hanging up in the rafters because of him.
Mills won a title with the Spurs in 2014, reflecting on the long break between titles and that the team is due to win one with Wemby.
“Looking up, that 2014 one, knowing that’s almost 10 years since that went up, we’re due for another one from him.”
Patty Mills on Victor Wembanyama:
“Hopefully there will be more banners hanging up in the rafters because of him”
Can’t wait to see these two face off today!pic.twitter.com/NTzFr2lFaa
— WembyMuse (@Wemby_Muse) July 21, 2024
Mills would go on to outplay Wembanyama in their exhibition matchup where Australia won 83-82 over France. Mills led all scorers in the game with 24 points on 10-16 shooting. Wembanyama had a great showing himself, putting up 18 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists in the narrow loss.
Wembanyama’s France is considered to be among the favorites to compete for a Gold medal at the Olympics, while Mills will hope to lead Australia to another medal finish after bringing home the Bronze in the 2020 Olympics.
Paul George Thinks Wembanyama’s Development Is Scary For The NBA
Paul George believes Wembanyama’s end to last season, where he looked like an All-NBA caliber player as a rookie, is a worrying sign for teams around the NBA.
“The way he finished the year, I think it’s scary for the league because I think the way he finished the year was the momentum he needed going into the summer. It’s just the personnel is not ready for all that he brings and his talents.”
“Say, you had like a (Chris Paul) or a (Rajon) Rondo, those guys that just know basketball and know that this motherf***** is 7’5″ like, ‘Wemby go right there, I’mma throw this s*** as high as I can. Go catch and dunk it.’ Somebody that sit down and just explain the game to him like this. If they front you, just spin, that ball going to be there. He don’t have that type of personnel around him to do that.”
Funnily enough, the Spurs do have a Chris Paul now after signing the guard out of free agency. The veteran point guard is expected to help develop Wembanyama with the center finally playing with a high-IQ pass-first player after not having that alongside him last season.
Wembanyama is the first rookie to be named to the All-Defense First Team, finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year behind French teammate Rudy Gobert. They’ll hope to bounce back from a loss to Australia’s Golden Generation and compete when the Olympics start.
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