Victor Wembanyama‘s first NBA game takes place on Oct. 25, one day after opening day, according to NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter link). The Spurs play the Mavericks on the second day of the regular season, pitting Wembanyama against Dallas star Luka Doncic.
The Spurs’ offseason revolved around developing their young corps, featuring players like Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan, along with taking in big contracts in exchange for draft capital. Meanwhile, the Mavericks made several moves in free agency and in the draft to help them rebound from a lackluster 2022/23.
Stein also tweets that the full ’23/24 schedule release is expected next week. Shams Charania reported the NBA’s opening day lineup and the slate of Christmas Day games earlier today.
Here are more notes from around the basketball world:
- With the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2023 induction taking place this weekend, The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov explored candidacies of several players for the Hall. Vorkunov evaluates DeMar DeRozan, Paul George and Kyrie Irving‘s respective cases. Even though he lists all as “near locks,” DeRozan and Irving could be on the cusp. In total, Vorkunov lists 41 players, breaking them into tiers for their likelihood of reaching the Hall. Vorkunov predicts some are obvious locks to be named, like LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, while others like Rajon Rondo and Blake Griffin, might not make it. Vorkunov also discusses players who are on track to be named to the Hall, like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Bam Adebayo, and breaks down why Derrick Rose will be the only MVP to not make the Hall of Fame. I recommend reading the article in full, some picks may surprise you.
- Spotrac contributor Keith Smith made his first pass at 2024 cap space projections (Twitter link). Smith lists seven teams that are projected to have over $20MM in cap to work with. The Spurs lead the way with projected 2024 cap space, sitting at $55.3MM, according to Smith, while the Magic are close behind with $51.3MM to spend. The Jazz, Hornets, Pistons, Sixers and Wizards round out the top seven. Pascal Siakam, LeBron James (player option), James Harden and DeMar DeRozan are among the players who could be available next free agency.
- The FIBA U18 European Championship took place from July 22-30. The event is a great tool to evaluate future NBA prospects, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, who says that more than four first-round picks per year participated in the event between 2011-21. Givony lists his top 10 prospects from the event (subscription required). UCLA-bound Aday Mara, Mohamed Diawara and Mario Saint-Supery are among the players who crack Givony’s top 10. Givony lists 17-year-old Hugo Gonzalez as his pick for best player at the tournament, as he impressed with his blend of size, frame, shot creation and feel.
- Players like Kemba Walker, Willy Hernangomez and Raul Neto are among those who made the move to play in Europe next season. In recent years, we’ve seen players like Nikola Mirotic depart the NBA in the middle of their primes in order to pursue opportunities in Europe. Jabari Parker, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, recently signed overseas and is one of the highest-selected draft picks to do so. Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews (subscriber link) explores why players are making such moves overseas and why European basketball might be an appealing alternative to the NBA or other overseas leagues for players.
Having Wemby, hopefully leads to better shot selection from Johnson. If he’s going to be a focal point of their offense, he needs to shoot from 3 like he did the previous year and not be as volume scoring. Hopefully Wemby matures fast. Usually don’t see that uptick in a Big’s game until year 3 or 4.
Bust
Nice to see Kevin smith get a shout out on here , guy puts In fantastic unparalleled work daily behind the scenes only to have “ around the horn “ butcher it by the next days lunch .
Top shelf stuff for those looking to expand their basketball knowledge
U mean Keith Smith? Talk about a Butcher lol
I don’t know if I would have George or DeRozan as HOFers. Even though I’m not a fan of Kyrie, I would say he is way more deserving of entry than PG/DD.
Irving Hof. Everyone else is a no
Irving yeah. Hate him for running out on my Cavs (because he couldn’t handle being second fiddle despite averaging more shots per game than his prior three seasons? Weak), but he deserves it. Paul George, I guess. He’s had some great runs and carried the Clippers to the conference finals against the Suns in ’21. And his comeback from that horrific leg injury was great. Plus 6 time All NBA and 4 time All Defense and MIP in addition to his 8 ASG selections (same number as Kyrie). But DeRozan? Unless he really has a great twilight to his career, no way.
DeRozen is already in. 21k career pts on .468 shooting. 21/4/4 for his career. Plus he’s playing his best basketball right now still.
George I want to see more. Only 16k points I’d like to see him have 1-2 more healthy season and at least one more decent playoff run before I enshrine him. But he’s HOF talent for sure. Just not sure if at the end he’ll have accomplished enough with all the missed time.
Irving of course. Legendary talent. Some former players and HOF’ers were calling him the most talented and skilled PG of all time. It was a topic on NBA radio last year. I don’t agree, but the fact he’s even in the conversation means he should be in the hall. 8 all star games, game winning shot in finals, champion. He’s 100% a HOF’er already and he’s only 30 right?