{"id":246345,"date":"2025-10-28T20:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T20:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/246345\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T20:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T20:18:08","slug":"victor-wembanyamas-terrifying-start-and-early-season-shockers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/246345\/","title":{"rendered":"Victor Wembanyama\u2019s Terrifying Start and Early Season Shockers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to Open Floor<\/a>, from Los Angeles, where the two local teams are off to solid starts. The LeBron-less, Luka-less Lakers stole a game in Sacramento behind 51 points from Austin Reaves (think he is getting paid next summer?), while the Clippers shook off that opening night pasting in Utah to win two straight over the Suns and Trail Blazers as they head into a real litmus test: Tuesday\u2019s Peacock-streamed showdown with the Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s issue, I take a closer look at another pivotal moment for NBA commissioner Adam Silver. The commish has navigated turbulent times well in his decade-plus on the job. He steered the NBA out of the Donald Sterling mess and led the way in sports\u2019 return to play during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

dark. SIGN UP NOW. SI NBA Newsletter. Get SI’s FREE NBA Newsletter<\/p>\n

This latest scandal is a particularly sticky wicket. For the second time in 18 months the integrity of games has potentially been compromised. While the NBA dealt with the Jontay Porter situation in 2024 swiftly and decisively\u2014Porter has been banned for life\u2014the allegations against Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups are more serious<\/a>, and with the feds involved will play out very publicly<\/a> in the months ahead (both Billups and Rozier have denied any wrongdoing). How Silver deals with the sinister element of sports gambling could define his time as commissioner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Podcast Alert: Rachel Nichols joined me Tuesday for a deep dive on Victor Wembanyama\u2019s early season surge, the Knicks\u2019 adjustment to life under Mike Brown, Boston\u2019s post\u2013Jayson Tatum<\/a> stumble and more. Listen here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now a few freebies \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

You have seen it.<\/a> Late in the second quarter of Sunday\u2019s win over Brooklyn, Wembanyama swatted an attempt by Noah Clowney, recovered in time to block another shot from Terance Mann, dribbled the ball just inside the Spurs\u2019 logo before pulling up for a 25-footer. On X, I cracked that Wembanyama is built from the DNA of Bill Russell and Stephen Curry. I didn\u2019t get much pushback.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What a start to the season for Wembanyama. Through four games Wemby is averaging 31.0 points, 13.8 rebounds and 4.8 blocks. He scored 40 (on 71.6% shooting) on opening night, blocked nine shots against Zion Williamson & Co. two days later and finished the week with 55 points in back-to-back games against the Nets and Raptors. More important: Each game ended in a win.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To say the Spurs are excited about Wembanyama\u2019s start is an understatement. Defensively, Wembanyama is the most terrifying force since Russell. He leads the league in blocks, is in the top 10 in contests and has altered countless more. Indeed, Spurs officials note that even the shots Wemby isn\u2019t officially contesting are effectively altered. Witness the ceiling-scraping floaters Cam Thomas tossed up on Sunday or the 180-degree turns Raptors wings did in the paint. Just the thought of Wembanyama makes teams think differently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Offensively, Wembanyama continues to play with strength and composure. He\u2019s dipping his shoulder on drives, dropping his 7′ 4″, 235-pound frame straight into opponents\u2019 chests. He\u2019s also not rushing when teams go small on him. When the Pelicans started Saddiq Bey on Wemby, he patiently exploited the mismatch. For two years coaches have seen some success putting smaller, physical defenders on Wembanyama. As one told me over the weekend, \u201cYou can\u2019t do that anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Donte DiVincenzo seizing the starting spot from Mike Conley was a mild shock; Conley has been a starter in Minnesota for the last 2 1\/2 seasons. But it was stunning to see Bones Hyland getting minutes that were expected to be earmarked for Dillingham. Dillingham wasn\u2019t dazzling in the preseason\u201411.8 points on 45.3% shooting\u2014but surely there was more to be gained playing him over Hyland \u2026 right?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Obviously not. Asking around some Timberwolves folks at Crypto.com Arena on Friday\u2014where Dillingham played one minute in the fourth quarter before being forced to leave after taking an errant Deandre Ayton elbow to the face\u2014a word that came up was trust. As in Minnesota can\u2019t trust Dillingham to be the kind of defensively sound, low turnover backup. At least not yet, anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Timberwolves<\/p>\n

Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham dribbles the ball against the 76ers. \/ Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Wolves, if you recall, invested a lot in Dillingham, trading a 2030 pick swap and an unprotected first in \u201931 for the rights to draft him in \u201924. They need a return on that investment. Anthony Edwards\u2019s unfortunate injury could create an opportunity for Dillingham; indeed, he played 12 minutes off the bench against Denver on Monday. He needs to take advantage of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2014never one to shy away from offering opinions on big men, especially those in purple and gold\u2014offered some light criticism while JJ Redick told reporters that he has had discussions with Ayton about increasing his level of physicality.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ayton\u2019s response was impressive. He racked up 15 points and eight rebounds on Friday against Minnesota. He added 22 and 15 on Sunday against the Kings. He got another 16 points and eight rebounds on Monday against Portland. Ayton told reporters his teammates have taken a Hulk-like approach with him, getting Ayton angry before games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Lakers<\/p>\n

Lakers center Deandre Ayton looks to pass the ball during the first quarter against the Kings. \/ Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, this is a thing y\u2019all want to do. Y\u2019all want to get me on edge,\u2019 \u201d said Ayton. \u201cY\u2019all want me fired up. I like it. Dudes really care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayton seems bought into his role as a defender\/rebounder\/lob threat who will occasionally collect passes in the post and showed developing chemistry with Luka Don\u010di\u0107 before Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s injury. The Lakers were thrilled to get Ayton at a bargain-basement price in the offseason. This is what they were hoping for.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Magic coughed up 136 points to the Joel Embiid\u2013less 76ers on Monday, the second time in four games they have been gashed for 125 or more. Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe shredded Orlando\u2019s perimeter defense<\/a>, which is still working Jalen Suggs back into the rotation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Offensive issues in Orlando are no surprise, even with Desmond Bane in the mix. But this was a team that finished second in the NBA in defensive efficiency the last two seasons. A team that needs to be that efficient to contend. Said Paolo Banchero, \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to figure it out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was my take, anyway, after watching Ajay Mitchell drop 26 points on Indiana on Saturday. We know the talent well is deep in OKC. But, yeesh, Mitchell? This is an ex-second-round pick who played 36 games last season and a whopping 84 minutes in the playoffs. Through four games, Mitchell is averaging 18.7 points. If this keeps up, he\u2019s a shoo-in for Most Improved Player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Thunder<\/p>\n

Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell dribbles the ball while Pacers guard Ben Sheppard defends. \/ Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

You know how this ends, right? The Thunder smartly signed Mitchell to a three-year, $9 million deal last summer, per Spotrac, with a freaking team option at the back end of it. If Mitchell continues to develop, OKC will undoubtedly rip up that third year to sign Mitchell to a more lucrative long-term extension. That will be huge in the years ahead, when the Thunder have to make difficult decisions on Lu Dort and Alex Caruso.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the way, if this year\u2019s second-rounder, Brooks Barnhizer, who is kinda bizarrely getting minutes, turns into a player, no team should be allowed to trade the Thunder any picks anymore, ever.<\/p>\n

More NBA on Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n

Listen to\u00a0SI\u2019s NBA podcast,\u00a0Open Floor, below or on\u00a0Apple<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Spotify<\/a>. Watch the show on\u00a0SI\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to Open Floor, from Los Angeles, where the two local teams are off to solid starts.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-246345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}