Victor Wembanyama ran away with NBA Rookie of the Year honors last season.
His closest challenger for that honor, Chet Holmgren, spent last season helping his team to the best record in the Western Conference and a playoff series win.
Two of the league’s best young big men square off for the first time this season when Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs take on Holmgren’s Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.
“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. 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 of four games against the Spurs.
Wembanyama played in three of the four games, averaging 20 points, 13 rebounds and 4.3 assists. That included a 28-point, 13-rebound, seven-assist showing in late February, a key performance that helped Wembanyama win the award unanimously.
Holmgren averaged 14.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists against the Spurs last season across 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’s averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.7 blocks but is shooting just 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. That’s 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 averaged 23.7 points, 13 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 4.0 blocks so far to help the Thunder start 3-0 for the first time since 2016.
Even with a second stretch of three games in four days early in the season, Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said he won’t be limiting minutes for either Holmgren or the Thunder’s other young core anytime soon.
“With all the guy’s 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 its three games by 15 or more points, though its offense continues to be inconsistent.
The Thunder have the best defensive rating in the league so far, though, allowing just 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 figure to be limited again in the frontcourt outside of Holmgren with Isaiah Hartenstein (hand), Jaylin Williams (hamstring) and Kenrich Williams (knee) all out.
The Spurs will be without Tre Jones for a third consecutive game after he suffered a right ankle sprain in the opener.
