Victor Wembanyama is changing the NBA, and it’s happening a lot faster than anyone expected. But teams can’t fight fire with fire. The Thunder thought they had a perfect counter in Chet Holmgren, and he got dominated to a level that has people questioning his future in Oklahoma City.Â
We thought that a guy like Mitchell Robinson could do some damage against Wemby, but he was almost unplayable in Game 3. At the same time, we’ve seen Karl-Anthony Towns have some success; we’ve seen OG Anunoby have some success; we saw Isaiah Hartenstein have some success. But in other games, we’ve seen all of those players have a lot of trouble.
There’s no doubt that Wemby is a generational superstar at age 22, and he is going to have the Spurs in the mix to win the championship every year that he stays healthy for a very long time. Yet, this can’t force teams to overreact. Certainly not teams in the Eastern Conference like the Celtics.
Is there a chance that Boston reaches the Finals and comes up against Wemby? Absolutely. But realistically, that’s not a very likely outcome. All the time we see teams build themselves up to chase one specific team, and then they get punked by somebody else.Â
The Knicks built themselves to beat the Celtics, only to get bounced in back-to-back years by the Pacers. The Timberwolves built to beat the Nuggets, and now they’re looking up at the Thunder and Spurs. We assume these teams are going to be around forever, and that’s rarely the case.
Celtics shouldn't adjust team-building with specific opponents in mind
And even if it is, the Celtics will cross that bridge when they come to it. Neemias Queta can bang inside with Wemby; he can take it strong; he can live on the glass. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown should be able to bang with Wemby, especially if they can push him away from the basket. The guards can bump him and pester him every time he puts the ball on the floor.
The Celtics will pick up other guys who can at least use their 6 fouls. Are these mismatches? Almost definitely. But Wemby is a mismatch against anyone, and that’s only going to get worse. Instead of chasing ways to combat the French phenom, teams should be trying to build their own brilliant brand of basketball. That’s what the Celtics have been doing, and need to keep going.
In the last five NBA Finals, only the Nuggets won with an All-Star center in Nikola Jokic. The reality is there aren't that many great centers around the league, and most teams rely on a combination of guys offering different skills. There's no reason the Celtics can't replicate that model with Queta, a reliable backup or two (maybe Garza), and a combination of versatile frontcourt looks.
If they run into the Spurs for all the marbles, so be it. They’ll do their best to be ready for Wembanayma, but more importantly, they’ll need to bring something to the table that forces the Spurs to be ready for them.
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