Five out of six NBA general managers would love to have Victor Wembanyama if they were to start a franchise from scratch. Apparently, Jason Williams does not share that sentiment. If J-Will has his way, he would stay clear of Wemby and would build his team around a dynamic guard.
"I'm going Cade Cunningham over Wemby," Williams declared on "Hoopin'NHollerin'". "Then, I'm going Ant Edwards and then Wemby."
For context, the panel was discussing who they would start a team with, choosing the past six No. 1 overall picks. The 2006 NBA champion with the Miami Heat immediately crossed 2024 first-overall pick Zaccharie Risacher off the list.
Then, that's where the fun begins.
Williams deserves credit for not going with the tide. Anybody would have selected the San Antonio Spurs big man in that group. The only toss-up scenario is if it included every player in the league right now, in which some may have chosen Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokic (as the NBA GM survey suggested).
Still, it's mildly surprising that White Chocolate went that route, especially for the reason he offered.
"What's Wemby doing on the Grizzlies? No knock to the Grizz, but what's he doing on that roster? He's still hoopin' he ain't doing what he's doing on the Spurs," Williams argued.
When the rest of the crew pushed back on the idea, Williams doubled down.
"I agree (that Wemby is a plug-and-play player), but it's not as good in the Grizzlies roster as opposed to the Spurs roster," he added.
For starters, Williams was a point guard in the league for 12 years, so it's no surprise that he has a bias for ball-handling guards. If anything, he sees himself in them.
Well, bias or not, the problem with Williams' argument is that it drastically underestimates Wemby's unique skill set. He had to minimize the fadeaways and the logo 3s. Still, nobody in league history is as dreaded as Wembanyama on the defensive end. His presence alone changes a lot of paint shots, and even deep jumpers within his range are not safe, either.
Unlike a typical big man, Vic can stretch the floor and create offense from any spot. That's unheard of about anyone, much less from a Defensive Player of the Year candidate as soon as he stepped on the floor as a rookie.
Additionally, asserting that Wemby is only "as good as the roster around him" is practically irrelevant. It is not the Spurs' fault that they were able to draft Stephon Castle , Dylan Harper , and Devin Vassell , and then had the assets to trade for De'Aaron Fox.
If, for some reason, the French superstar landed on the Grizzlies or anywhere else, he would still do what superstars do: elevate the team around him through his impact.
To be clear, none of this is meant to downplay either Cade or Ant. Both are tremendous "face of the franchise" guards, the type of players that any franchise would be comfortable handing the keys to for a decade.
However, the Cunningham or Edwards prototype exists in just about every era, especially today. Wemby, in contrast, appears once in a lifetime. A 7'5" guy doing the things that he does is unprecedented, changing the geometry on the floor on both ends as no one does.
If you're starting from scratch and decide to pass up on that, it's hard not to call it anything but a missed opportunity of epic proportions.
Related: Victor Wembanyama dismisses any rivalry with Chet Holmgren: "No comparison between us"
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jan 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
