The San Antonio Spurs are a small ball city, but they have a great franchise history, with a number of Hall of Famer players and a number of great top-notch picks. From General Robinson, to Rockford Duncan, to the highly anticipated super-newcomer Benyama, they are all talented center players. That's also the Spurs' designated No. 1 pick, Wembanyama vs. Duncan, who is stronger?
Wembanyama is a complete talent, and before he even entered the NBA, he attracted the attention of the world basketball world. He is a French player with a height of 2.24 meters and an exaggerated reach of 2.44 meters. Under such hardware, Wembanyama has a lot of speed and athleticism, more like a big Durant. You can dribble, you can shoot threes from distance, and you don't feel like a center player at all. Before entering the NBA, he played in Ligue 1.
At that time, as a rookie player in Ligue 1, he averaged 21.6 rebounds, 10.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game, and all three statistics were the first in the league. So he was voted Rookie of the Year and was also the regular season MVP of Ligue 1, as well as the best defensive player. In other words, the 18-year-old Wembanyama is already a dimensionality reduction blow in Ligue 1. So when he announced his participation in the NBA draft, there was no suspense about the champion, whether it was talent or skill, it was a phenomenal existence.
Last year, the Spurs chose to play badly, and in the end, they were lucky to get the top pick and pick Wembanyama. So far this season, Wembanyama has played 29 games, averaging 29 minutes per game, taking 15.8 shots, and he can average 18.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 3.1 blocks per game, shooting 44.4% from the field. This performance is very good, the score, rebounding and rim protection are very strong, and the average of 3.1 blocks per game is expected to win the league's block king, and he is definitely a super newcomer.
In contrast, Duncan's performance back then was also quite good, and the Spurs also got Duncan through a bad swing at that time. In his rookie season, Duncan played in 82 regular season games, averaging 39 minutes per game, shooting 15.7 times, averaging 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 blocks per game, shooting 54.9% from the field. In terms of data comparison, Wemban's blocks are more, but Duncan is undoubtedly stronger overall, especially the shooting rate is 10% higher, and the efficiency is not a grade.
The bigger gap is their winning rate with the team. Wembanyama leads the team, the Spurs are currently 5-28, the existence of the bottom of the West, and obviously it will take a few years of growth for the Spurs to become a strong team. However, Duncan led the team, and the Spurs were 56-26 in their rookie season, ranking among the top in the West. The playoffs in his rookie season reached the second round, and sophomore Duncan led the Spurs to a championship. is also a rookie performance, Duncan was the best team + best second defense at the time, and he was the top three in the league, and Wembanyama was obviously far behind.