Duncan( 97-99) vs Wemby (23-25) two years in...who you got?

[MrFonzworth]

I killed him right there with that one.

[Carbine]

On the flip side though, does anybody think '98 or '99 Duncan would lead this Spurs team in this current western conference to a title?

Like I'm looking at the Spurs roster and after Wemby the leading scorers are Julian champagnie, Kelton Johnson, and Stephon Castle.



David Robinson was All NBA in the late 90s and had dominant top 5 superstar metrics in 1999. And they faced the Ewing-less 8 seed Knicks in the NBA Finals.

We have to apply some context here when talking about the team result in there respective cases.

The point is not what so and so could do with this Spurs roster, nobody in the history of the NBA could win a title with this group. Nobody.

[ShawkFactory]

^^^ He'll never be top 50 at those things though, so he won't win unless the NBA manufactures his teams just like another completely unfundamentally-sound player that couldn't develop great chemistry either (lebron)

And the reality is that you guys are hanging on the Curry example - that's all you have in a sea of correct predictions, such as predicting 10 years ago that the 3-point format would cause everyone to stop watching.. I was right about that and everything except Curry.

At least we’ve moved on from him being no different than Shawn Bradley. Baby steps.

[1987_Lakers]

At least we’ve moved on from him being no different than Shawn Bradley. Baby steps.

[dankok8]

Give me Duncan because he was simply more polished on both ends. A lot of that can be the age gap and the college experience Timmy had. Scary to say but I don't think the gap between them as players is very wide. Wemby really is great. My main worries with him is that super thin frame will lead to lots of injuries and also that he's falling into a trap of shooting too many jumpers and should just use his size more.

[90sgoat]

Yeah this isn't close, Duncan came into the league as basically an MVP candidate.

I know the hype was massive for Wemby, but it was always based a lot more on potential than actual impact. I compare Wemby more to how Kevin Garnett also came into the league with massive hype but took several years to find his groove as an impact player.

Duncan had massive impact from day 1, which Wemby hasn't shown to the same level. Some of that is the game, a big simply can't impact the game as much as they could in the 90s, though Wemby is too skinny to have had the impact of Duncan in the 90s.

I'm still very high on Wemby, I definitely was too critical of him and I think people underestimate how good a passer he is. He is not Jokic, but he'll easily hit 5-6 assists in his prime if the game keeps being the same.

I see in Wemby the same as with Luka, the intelligence and bball education to actually identify and work on the things he needs to work on. This is very good, because it means he'll improve and not be a what-if.

[Phoenix]

Yeah this isn't close, Duncan came into the league as basically an MVP candidate.

I know the hype was massive for Wemby, but it was always based a lot more on potential than actual impact. I compare Wemby more to how Kevin Garnett also came into the league with massive hype but took several years to find his groove as an impact player.

Wemby is much closer to Duncan than he is to Garnett over his first two years. Even from a stat standpoint Garnett wasn't a 20/10 guy until 4 years into his career( for clarity, I'm not comparing Garnett's stats with Wembys, just saying that Garnett took a few more years than Duncan to get to 'that' level, and just through observation Wemby is ahead of Garnett two years into their respective careers).

I suppose, upon reflection, my question should have been 'how close are Duncan and Wemby two years into their careers' instead of 'who you got' because yes, I would take Duncan 98 and 99 as well for the reasons listed that aren't 'he won a chip'. He was more polished and disciplined, even though I think Wemby has the higher offensive potential. But there's too much variance with whether he's on or off from 3 on a given nigh t(or his jumper in general) and he can't really bang down low, whereas Duncan was just giving you a steady offensive output that held up in the playoffs. We need to see how Wemby does first under the same bright lights.

[Carbine]

Didn't you just say yesterday that you envision Wemby as a 1B option on a title contender/champion?

How is his offensive potential higher than Dunnans if that's what you think Wemby will be?

Duncan was the bonafide #1 guy. The offense was designed around him in '99 and one of the biggest carry jobs in 2003. He was the clear cut, best offensive player on their teams. He was also the #1 option in 2005 and 2007 regardless of what revisionist historians want to say regarding Manu in 2005 or Parker in 2007.

[Phoenix]

Didn't you just say yesterday that you envision Wemby as a 1B option on a title contender/champion?

How is his offensive potential higher than Dunnans if that's what you think Wemby will be?

The two concepts don't contradict each other. I think Wemby can be a 1b scorer on a title team and still wind up with an higher offensive ceiling that Duncan when it's all said and done. I also said we don't know ultimately what Wemby will become offensively, so there is nothing to say he doesn't end up a 1a on a title team either.

[999Guy]

I agree with the Duncan by a mile take, tho. It really is that simple. Duncan was so smart as a youngin. Wemby isn't a basketball genius. Maybe it won't matter in the end, but it does in the beginning.

Not a huge Duncan fan, either, but this is not a hard question. One time that the 'troll responses' are right.

-Smak

What? Wemby's instincts are really good for his age. And you make Duncan sound like CP3 or Jokic. He was an athletic freak with good fundamentals in his pre-knee injury years.

Wemby can see the floor way better than Duncan already.

I'll start with this: Wemby is flat out a better defender than Duncan was at this point in his career. Question comes down to offense.

[Street Hunger]

It'll eventually be Wemby an individual player, not sure about championships though

[Phoenix]

What? Wemby's instincts are really good for his age. And you make Duncan sound like CP3 or Jokic. He was an athletic freak with good fundamentals in his pre-knee injury years.

Wemby can see the floor way better than Duncan already.

I'll start with this: Wemby is flat out a better defender than Duncan was at this point in his career. Question comes down to offense.

He has GOAT defensive potential because he can cover both the perimeter and rim and he's never out of a play due to his length. I've seen him almost 'let' guys go around him and lull them into a false sense of security and then 2 steps he's at the rim and catching them from behind.

Duncan was a great shotblocker but he never seemed so intimidating that guys were literally afraid to venture into the paint. Wemby's length and mobility has you constantly looking over your shoulder.

[Phoenix]

It'll eventually be Wemby an individual player, not sure about championships though

With today's parity and player movement, that may be tough nowadays to match 5 chips and probably shouldn't be the expectation. The Warriors may be the last team for a while that was able to keep a core group together for a decade, cycle in complimentary pieces as the core aged and win multiple titles. Someone like Jokic is clearly as good as just about anyone who is going to end up with more championships under different circumstances.

[1987_Lakers]

I would probably take Duncan, but it's way closer than some people think, especially when you consider how well Wemby is playing this season.

2026 Wemby > 2000 Duncan

[Yes or No]

Wembanyama is already better than everyone ever, including peak Duncan.

You absolutely can not appreciate just how good he is defensively and how scared teams are without watching the games. His impact is so far beyond the box score you just have to watch to see it.

He is so far clearly the best defensive player ever and with the offensive strides he's made that he is the best player that ever played. He is not the best offensive player ever but that is likely coming within a couple of seasons tops.