Victor Wembanyama just won the Player of the Week after a massive, productive 3 games, all of which were wins. 38 points, 16 Rebounds and 5 Blocks vs Detroit, 27 Points 10 Rebounds and 4 Blocks Vs the Clippers, 29 Points, 8 Rebounds and 4 Blocks vs the Rockets, Wemby is no longer putting the league on notice, he is simply just taking over, but does this dominant 3rd season equate to an MVP?
Currently the Spurs are 47-17, 2nd in the entire NBA, boasting a 73.4% win percentage, within the last 10 years, that is a top 30 win percentage in the entire NBA (Single Season), a feat so impressive it deserves recognition, right?
Wemby sits at around 4th on the MVP ladder, but has real potential to move all the way to 1st if the Spurs push past the Thunder for the best record in the NBA. SGA, currently the betting favourite, is holding down the thunder, making them the best team in the league for back to back seasons, but if they some how fall, will Wemby immediately become the favourite?
So my last question to you all is, can Victor Wembanyama win the MVP?
The Case for Wembanyama as MVP
Elite two-way production
Wemby is one of the best 2-Way Players of all time, and in this completive landscape, has a real chance to win the MVP and DPOTY this season, if not both. He averages 23.9 Points, 11.1 Rebounds (Top 5 in the NBA), 1 Steal, 3 Blocks, but only 2.9 Assists.
This elite 2 way superstar is rare these days, with most players that score in high volume tend to forget or even disregard defense, but Wemby lives for it. His long 8 foot wingspan allows him to send away shots like no tomorrow, and if it wasn’t for injuries, he would have led the league in blocks for the past 3 straight years.
Efficiency and scoring impact
For a decently high volume center, you would expect mediocre, even below average shooting, since Wemby likes to shoot a lot more 3 Pointers then most 7 footers, but you would be surprised. Wemby shoots 50.5% from the field, nothing crazy for a 7 foot 4 center, but he also holds a ridiculous 35% from 3 and 81.7% from the free throw, bringing his True Shooting average up to 62.1%
Wemby also takes 5.8 Free Throws a game, meaning he sources his scoring in ethical ways, completing the stretch big and interior finisher build. We are seeing so many more players become elite on both ways, interior and exterior with players like Jokic, LaVine and Holmgren, then defense and offense like Holmgren (Again), Myles Turner and still Giannis, but very few have it all bundled up into 1 package like Wemby does.
Advanced metrics and impact
Wemby’s advanced stats further prove his dominance, and how he will have the NBA in a chokehold for the next decade. A usage rate of 31.2% should not be allowed as a 22 Year Old. Wemby has the 3rd highest usage all time by a player younger then 23, sitting behind Luka and Young, but ahead of all timers like LeBron, Durant and fellow MVP candidate Cade Cunningham.
His Per-40 Numbers just for context are even more impressive. Since Wemby has been injured a few times this season, he has brought down his season average in minutes, but still maintained his scoring and defensive statlines. Wemby Per-40 would average 32.8 Points, 15.3 Rebounds and 3.9 Assists per game, with over 4 blocks per game, raising the Spurs defense and changing opponents shot selections.
Narrative and MVP storyline
Let me tell you 1 last thing: Narrative MATTERS when it comes to MVP voting, here are 3 points that could make Wemby the MVP:
- After winning less then 35 games for the last 6 seasons straight, San Antonio has finally arrived back at the promise land.
- Victor Wembanyama in only 22 Years Old, and could become the youngest MVP of All-Time.
- The Spurs quickly built around Wemby, picking up Fox and drafting Castle and Harper.
Comparing Wembanyama to Other MVP Contenders
The MVP race is not just about the player’s stats, it is about the impact created from them being on the court, and how that impact translated to winning, contending and even just improving from last season. If you average 45 but your team is bad, the voters will always pick who ever led their team the best to the best possible record, and that is what we are looking for here.
Wembanyama vs Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would win the Offensive Player of the Year this season and their is not a single voter that would signal otherwise. 31.6 Points, 6.5 Assists shooting 55% from the field and an elite 66% true shooting. He has truly elevated the Thunder to new levels this season after starting the year 24-1, but having a 26-14 record since December 13th has lifted the voters eyes to the NBA’s newest dynasties, the Spurs and the Pistons.
What Wemby can’t do offensively, he makes up for in defense. The Spurs have the 2nd best defensive rating in the NBA since December 13th, with a score of 109. You also might be wondering, what happened on December 13th? It was the day the Spurs beat the Thunder in the NBA Cup, to win the 1st major award since the Duncan-Leonard dynasty. The Spurs are actually 3-1 vs the Thunder this season and 2-0 vs the Pistons, the NBA’s 2 other best teams, which further proves my point.
Wembanyama vs Jokic
Although Jokic is technically ineligible, since he realistically can’t play every single game for the rest of the season, and regardless, the Nuggets are not that good of a team to mentioned as one of the NBA’s best. He is still a triple double machine, running the offensive engine for one of the NBA’s best teams, while being probably the NBA’s best playmaker, and at 1 point of the season, led the league in Rebounds, Assists and nearly Points (Capped at Top-3).
Still, Wemby is clearly the MVP. On CraftedNBA, Victor Wembanyama has a shockingly high 100 Defensive Box Plus Minus, not to mention the 95 Offensive Box Plus Minus. Victor is in the 100th Percentile in Block % and in the 99th Percentile in Defensive Rebounds. Turnovers and Fouls are down, the efficiency is up and the scoring is on a rise, but availability also matters, and Wemby wins that battle.
Wembanyama vs Cunningham
Cade Cunningham is leading the East’s best team right now, averaging 25 Points and leading the league with 9.8 Assists, while Detroit sit 45-18, 1st in the Eastern Conference. I love what Cade and the Pistons have done for the past 2 Years, but do I think Cade is the true MVP, no, would I like him to win it, yes. Detroit is on a 4 Game losing streak, moving closer and closer to 2nd place behind a hot Celtics team, that just had Jayson Tatum return from his tear. Boston is only 2.5 GB 1st, and this would prove 2 things, Cade isn’t the MVP and Jayson Tatum has the greatest impact of all time.
Wemby is a much better player then Cade Cunningham, and their teams are about the same, so I decided to take it down to 4 things: Defense, Rebounding, Playmaking and Efficiency. Wembanyama clears in defense and rebounding, averaging 11.1 Rebounds vs Cade’s 5.8, and defense isn’t a question, although Cade is 1/2 Guards averaging 1 Block and 1 Steal, Wemby is currently the DPOTY favourite.
Playmaking belongs to Cade Cunningham, who behind Luka and Jokic, is the best playmaker in the NBA. He controls the tempo as an oversized Point Guard and loves to control the offense as a whole. So that takes it down to 1 last category, efficiency. Surprisingly, even for a high volume point guard, he only shoots 45.6% from the field, which is the case for most guards. So this final and deciding category has to go to Victor Wembanyama.
Just to round up everything we just talked about, Victor Wembanyama is the best 2-way player in the entire NBA, and that isn’t up for debate. The way he has led the Spurs to such an elite record after more then half a decade of irrelevancy is a pure indicator of his deserving MVP, and the way he is moving late in the season.
Nijola Jokic himself said:
He is changing basketball. He’s a rim protector, he’s shooting threes. He is unique. I’m glad that I’ll probably retire before Wemby holds the entire league in a chokehold.
But I have 1 last question for you, if Wemby does finish the season strong, his team sticks to their hot-streak as of late and he the Thunder fall to 2nd, does the NBA award MVP to the leagues most valuable or the leagues best scorer?
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