With the 2023 Drfat No. 1 selection living up to its high expectations and having one of the best rookie seasons ever, Victor Wembanyama is poised to turn the San Antonio Spurs’s fortunes around. Reacting to Wembanyama on the Spurs ahead of an Australia-France exhibition, former guard Patty Mills said the Spurs centre will hang more banners in the rafters for the team.

“It feels like this is in a good place for the future and growth of the San Antonio Spurs. You can only imagine the amount of detailed work going into him on the floor for him to develop his game in the ways that he can. He’s gonna be another exciting person to watch, how his game develops, and hopefully, there will be more banners hanging up in the rafters because of him.

 

Mills won a title with the Spurs in 2014, reflecting on the long break between titles and that the team is due to win one with Wemby.

“Looking up, that 2014 one, knowing that’s almost 10 years since that went up, we’re due for another one from him.”

Mills would later outperform Wembanyama in their exhibition game, Australia defeating France 83-82. Using 24 points on 10-16 shooting, Mills led all scorers in the contest. With 18 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists in the close loss, Wembanyama performed really well. While Mills hopes to lead Australia to another medal finish after returning home the Bronze in the 2020 Olympics, Wembanyama’s France is regarded as among the favourites to vie for a Gold medal in the Olympics.

Paul George Thinks Wembanyama’s Development Is Scary For The NBA

Paul George sees a concerning indication for clubs all across the NBA in Wembanyama’s finale to last season, where he looked like an All-NBA calibre player as a rookie.

“The way he finished the year, I think it’s scary for the league because I think the way he finished the year was the momentum he needed going into the summer. It’s just the personnel is not ready for all that he brings and his talents.”

Funnily enough, the Spurs do have a Chris Paul now after signing the guard out of free agency. The veteran point guard is expected to help develop Wembanyama with the center finally playing with a high-IQ pass-first player after not having that alongside him last season.

Completing second in Defensive Player of the Year behind French colleague Rudy Gobert, Wembanyama is the first rookie nominated to the All-Defense First Team. They want to recover from a loss to Australia’s Golden Generation and challenge when the Olympics get underway.