A number of small-market teams are looking to tank this season for a chance at center Victor Wembenyama. If it is as good as advertised, wouldn’t the NBA prefer that the French be part of an established rising team like the Detroit Pistons?
Unlike last year, there’s no doubt who will be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft. Victor Wembenyama, a 7-foot-2 Frenchman, is hailed as a once-in-a-generation talent.
Here is an excerpt from Bleacher Report’s reconnaissance report on Wembenyama:
The world has never seen a player of his size executing finishing drives, dribbling shots or pinfalls from the post with such fluidity.
OK, so Wembenyama could instantly make a team legit, like LeBron James with Cleveland, Tim Duncan at San Antonio and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Milwaukee.
With the ability to turn things around quickly (and save GM and coaching jobs) and bring them national attention (how many Pelicans games have we stalled in Zion Williamson’s rookie year?) , some teams are in major tank mode this season.
With training camps due to open in a month, some NBA teams, let’s just say, aren’t doing their best to win a lot of games.
San Antonio, Utah, Houston and Indiana traded star players, Orlando and Oklahoma City were poor last year and didn’t exactly add veterans to improve for the 2022-23 campaign.
(Also, bad luck is involved as the Magic lost Gary Harris and the Thunder, with Chet Holmgren both out for the season with injuries.)
There’s a group of 5-6 teams obviously trying to be one of three teams with a 14% chance at the end of the season of getting the No. 1 draft pick.
How about Wembenyama at Detroit Pistons?
All of these teams except Houston are in small markets. Their only chance to land a superstar is the draft.
The NBA has a cast of aging stars. No offense, but in 3-4 years the careers of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Jimmy Butler will be pretty much over or down.
The league will need new stars to promote itself. With all the hype that Victor Wembenyama will bring, having him go to a small town could be counterproductive.
By next year’s draft, with all of their young talent, the Detroit Pistons would seem like a perfect landing spot for Wembenyama. They already have marketable players like Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, and Wembenyama would fit their schedule. National TV stations, which now treat the Pistons like poison, would splash them on their shows all the time.
It is also a franchise with a national and international audience. It’s not New York or Los Angeles but Detroit Pistons is a brand that fans recognize.
Little conspiracy theory here:
Could that be why the NBA gave Detroit such a tough schedule. That way, if they have a bad record to start with, they won’t be looking to make a run for the playoffs?
The NBA office may not be as blatant as they were, apparently, with the Knicks getting Patrick Ewing, in 1985, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they didn’t prefer Wembenyama to end up in a bigger town with household names, and be on an instant contender.
The Detroit Pistons fit perfectly for Victor Wembenyama.
A number of small-market teams are looking to tank this season for a chance at center Victor Wembenyama. If it is as good as advertised, wouldn’t the NBA prefer that the French be part of an established rising team like the Detroit Pistons?
Unlike last year, there’s no doubt who will be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft. Victor Wembenyama, a 7-foot-2 Frenchman, is hailed as a once-in-a-generation talent.
Here is an excerpt from Bleacher Report’s reconnaissance report on Wembenyama:
The world has never seen a player of his size executing finishing drives, dribbling shots or pinfalls from the post with such fluidity.
OK, so Wembenyama could instantly make a team legit, like LeBron James with Cleveland, Tim Duncan at San Antonio and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Milwaukee.
With the ability to turn things around quickly (and save GM and coaching jobs) and bring them national attention (how many Pelicans games have we stalled in Zion Williamson’s rookie year?) , some teams are in major tank mode this season.
With training camps due to open in a month, some NBA teams, let’s just say, aren’t doing their best to win a lot of games.
San Antonio, Utah, Houston and Indiana traded star players, Orlando and Oklahoma City were poor last year and didn’t exactly add veterans to improve for the 2022-23 campaign.
(Also, bad luck is involved as the Magic lost Gary Harris and the Thunder, with Chet Holmgren both out for the season with injuries.)
There’s a group of 5-6 teams obviously trying to be one of three teams with a 14% chance at the end of the season of getting the No. 1 draft pick.
How about Wembenyama at Detroit Pistons?
All of these teams except Houston are in small markets. Their only chance to land a superstar is the draft.
The NBA has a cast of aging stars. No offense, but in 3-4 years the careers of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Jimmy Butler will be pretty much over or down.
The league will need new stars to promote itself. With all the hype that Victor Wembenyama will bring, having him go to a small town could be counterproductive.
By next year’s draft, with all of their young talent, the Detroit Pistons would seem like a perfect landing spot for Wembenyama. They already have marketable players like Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, and Wembenyama would fit their schedule. National TV stations, which now treat the Pistons like poison, would splash them on their shows all the time.
It is also a franchise with a national and international audience. It’s not New York or Los Angeles but Detroit Pistons is a brand that fans recognize.
Little conspiracy theory here:
Could that be why the NBA gave Detroit such a tough schedule. That way, if they have a bad record to start with, they won’t be looking to make a run for the playoffs?
The NBA office may not be as blatant as they were, apparently, with the Knicks getting Patrick Ewing, in 1985, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they didn’t prefer Wembenyama to end up in a bigger town with household names, and be on an instant contender.
The Detroit Pistons fit perfectly for Victor Wembenyama.
