Victor Wembanyama easily won the NBA Rookie of the Year award last season.
His closest competitor for that title, Chet Holmgren, spent last season helping his team achieve the best record in the Western Conference and win a playoff series.
This Wednesday night, Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs will face Holmgren’s Oklahoma City Thunder for the first time this season.
“Two big guys going at it,” Spurs backup center Zach Collins told the San Antonio Express-News. “You don’t really see that too much anymore, so it is fun to watch. It kind of has a very old-school feel to it, two bigs going at it, two heavyweights, and it seems like both of those guys like that matchup and they take it personal.”
Last season, the Thunder won three out of four games against the Spurs.
Wembanyama played in three of those games, averaging 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. This included a standout performance in late February where he scored 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and made seven assists, which helped him win the award unanimously.
Holmgren averaged 14.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists against the Spurs last season in those four games.
So far this season, Wembanyama has shown some effects from a busy offseason that included playing for France in the Olympics.
In San Antonio’s 1-2 start, he is averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.7 blocks but is shooting only 22.2 percent from three-point range. This is down from his 32.5 percent average from last season.
“I’m in shape,” Wembanyama said. “But now it’s just getting used to playing again, my teammates, the different ways teams guard us, different strategies. Everybody’s going to get better as the season goes on.”
Holmgren has been impressive, averaging 23.7 points, 13 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 4.0 blocks, helping the Thunder start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2016.
Even though they have a busy schedule with three games in four days early in the season, Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said he won’t restrict the minutes for either Holmgren or the other young players anytime soon.
“With all the guys’ minutes, I try to be aware of the schedule, I try to be aware of the game context,” Daigneault said. “These guys are young players and one of the benefits of having young players is they can go. They don’t need to be bubble-wrapped.”
Oklahoma City has won all three of its games by at least 15 points, although their offense has been inconsistent.
However, the Thunder currently has the best defensive rating in the league, allowing only 90.8 points per 100 possessions.
“Our compete level has been really high,” Daigneault said. “I understand the numbers have been really good in a very small sample, but none of that carries over.
“You are the level that you play at every night, so we have to play to that level again (Wednesday).”
The Thunder will again have limited options in the frontcourt besides Holmgren, as Isaiah Hartenstein (hand), Jaylin Williams (hamstring), and Kenrich Williams (knee) are all out.
The Spurs will be without Tre Jones for the third straight game after he sprained his right ankle in the opener.
