Open Thread: Prediction- Victor Wembanyama will earn a quadruple-double this year

He’s already come closer than most players ever get

There have been many expectations set upon Victor Wembanyama. From rumblings of Most Improved Player to the next Defensive Player of the Year, Wemby’s impressive play has thus far lived up to his pre-draft predicted hype.

Personally, I think this is the year that Victor Wembanyama joins the Quadruple-Double Club.

There are only four members of this exclusive club- Nate Thurman, Alvin Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and David Robinson. Alvin Robertson and David Robinson got their quad-dubs as members of the San Antonio Spurs. All four happened between 1974 and 1994. In the last thirty years, no one has done it, though a few have come close.

In 1986, Clyde Drexler was one rebound shy of pulling it off.

In 1988. Michael Jordan was two steals short of joining the list.

In 2003, Tim Duncan needed two blocks to make it happen in the NBA Finals. Was he really missing two blocks?

And on April 2 of this year, Victor Wembanyama was two assists and one block from joining the club.

Last year, Wemby had 43 double-doubles, the most for rookies last season. Twenty more than Chet Holmgren and thirty more than Amen Thompson, the third highest of last season’s rookie class.

He averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in his rookie.

On March 29 against the New York Knicks, Victor scored a season high 40 points. His average of 21.4 should make scoring in double-digits a no-brainer. In fact, in only three games that he scored in single digits.

In that same March 29 game, Wemby also had 20 rebounds, a feat he accomplished twice last season. Of his 71 games last season, he pulled down double-digit boards in 44 of them.

Last season, Victor had just one game in which he earned double-digit dimes. On January 10 against the Detroit Pistons, he dished out ten assists. This was his first triple-double.

As for blocks, not only has Wemby impressed the basketball universe, but in his 71 games he acquired more blocks than 95% of all the players to ever wear a Spurs uniform.

In the history of the NBA, his acquired blocks in those 71 games surpasses over 84% of every player who has tallied blocks since they became a statistic.

For another perspective, Wembanyama ranks 608th out of 3916 NBA players over the last fifty years. Keep in mind, many of those players had multiple seasons and way more than 71 games.

That said, he only tallied 10 blocks in one game, February 12 against the Toronto Raptors. This was his second triple-double.

Alas, it is blocks and assists where planets must align for Wemby, and that’s a tough call.

For one, players do not shoot when Victor is in the vicinity, lowering his block count. Even Stephen Curry, the greatest shooter of all time, had second thoughts on multiple occasions. The best shooters in the game have had to alter their shots when Wemby is on the court.

Here’s a thought. When he got that second triple-double against the Raptors, how many passes did Wembanyama make to players who then missed the shot?

I went to the play-by-play of that February 12th game to see if non-scoring Wemby passes could be determined. Unfortunately, it lists assists on made shots or missed shots. There were some bad passes that resulted in turnovers, but without rewatching the entire game (which I am now looking for), it is not conclusive to say had other players made their shots from his passes, then Victor Wembanyama would have earned the elusive feat in his rookie season.

So while blocks and rebounds are predominantly on Victor, assists are dependent on the other guys on the court.

And this season, everyone around Victor should improve, giving him more opportunities to dish out of the double team to guys like Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, and Keldon Johnson.

Keeping in mind the learning curve the Spurs went through with Jeremy Sochan as a point guard and Zach Collins as the starting center left the Spurs with a slow start to their season.

I predict this season Victor Wembanyama tallies his first, but not his last, triple-double.

Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.