Will the Spurs Be Able to Build a Contender Around Victor Wembanyama?

Victor Wembanyama doesn’t stand up so much as he unfurls. When his press conference ends, he presses his palms against the table and begins to rise—and then keeps going and going. Up and up. It’s a fluid, elongated motion that seems to take three times longer for him than for an average person.

I’ve seen Wembanyama dunk grown men to smithereens. I’ve seen him pluck shot attempts out of the air as if he were grabbing a spice jar off a tall shelf. When he’s not doing something I’ve never seen before, he’s making something routine look completely revelatory. And it’s those otherwise banal actions, like getting out of chair or closing out on a 3-point shooter, that have warped my sense of what is possible, both for Wembayama and the San Antonio Spurs.

Somehow, Wembanyama’s rookie season has exceeded the astronomical hype. He…