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John Salley breaks down why Victor Wembanyama doesn't need a post-up game to be dominant in the NBA
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- John Salley breaks down why Victor Wembanyama doesn't need a post-up game to be dominant in the NBA
The dust has finally settled after the New York Knicks avenged their Finals loss from 27 years ago, defeating the San Antonio Spurs to bring the Larry O'Brien trophy back to the Big Apple, snapping a grueling 53-year championship drought.
While just about everything that can be said about the Knicks has already been said, nobody is questioning the fact that we'll be seeing these Spurs back on the Finals stage again soon. Not as long as they boast this hyper-talented young core led by Victor Wembanyama , Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper .
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In hoops lingo, you'd say the foundation has been laid and this loss will serve as the launching pad for their future. However, the critical consensus is that Wemby himself must further round out his offensive game to become the ultimate, unsolvable enigma for opposing defenses. But if you ask four-time NBA champion John Salley , the kid already has it all.
"Wemby can shoot the three, dribble like a god and shoot like Tim Duncan, and he's 7-foot-7. He don't need to do anything but what he's doing. What he's doing is amazing," Salley said .
"It is, it is amazing to see. And it changes the game. Pretty soon, I think the smallest guard is gonna be seven foot. LeBron is 6-foot-9, 6-foot-10, he can play point. And somebody said, 'Oh, you're just picking on the small guy.' Nah, because if they're playing as big as Jalen [Brunson] played, I get it."
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Wemby's ceiling for growth is massive
San Antonio 's road to the Finals was nothing short of a gauntlet. After knocking out the back-to-back Western Conference finalists, the Minnesota Timberwolves , they outlasted the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a grueling seven-game war. Against the Knicks, they had everything right in their hands, but surrendered at least a 10-point lead in each of their four Finals losses.
Paying the tax for their lack of experience was on full display. It was evident that in those clutch moments, the league's first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year relied a bit too heavily on his perimeter jumper, lacking that ultimate game-controlling gravity possessed by the greatest players of this era.
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Of course, he is only three seasons into his career and his ceiling for growth is absolutely massive, as crazy as that sounds for a man who just dragged the Spurs back to the Finals for the first time in 12 years, finished top three in the MVP race, won DPOY and earned All-Star, First Team All-NBA and All-Defensive First Team honors all in the same season.
Still, there was a frequent feeling during this playoff run that Victor was playing exactly where the opposing defense wanted to funnel him. He struggled to dictate his own offensive rhythm or easily establish position in the post where he could be lethal, even though his outside jumper was falling at a solid clip.
"Looking at what Wemby is doing, players are just getting bigger and taller with all of those ball-handling skills. This kid is amazing. And I know everybody's thinking, why put him on the post? Well, what you mean is put him in front of the rim and throw the ball at the rim, right? He shouldn't have to catch the ball on the post with his back and do something," Salley stressed.
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"You should do something to have him come across, get in front of the rim, then just put the ball up in front of the rim. Right. You know, he shouldn't put his back to the basket. It's not gonna increase his game. It's gonna make it easier for you to double team," he added.
Wembanyama will need to expand his offensive game
Wemby's entire life has been a meteoric upward trajectory and he has almost always relied on his unbelievable physical tools to dominate. That's only logical. But now that he's in the big boys' league, the general impression is that to go all the way and capture a ring, he will need to expand his offensive repertoire just a bit.
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Take a look at Nikola Jokic , for example. He masked his lack of elite speed and vertical pop with a treasure trove of post tricks, masterful back-to-the-basket technique, elite footwork and deadly hooks and floaters around the rim — only later expanding his arsenal out to the perimeter to become practically unguardable.
It is highly unlikely that at this stage of his career, Wemby can elevate his interior, low-post center technique anywhere near Jokic's level. But if he can make even marginal improvements in that area and pair it with his already stellar outside shooting and guard-like ball handling, the Spurs' ceiling rises to genuinely unprecedented heights.
Every single all-time great has had to go through this exact phase of initiation and there should be absolutely zero doubt that the elite mentality of the young Frenchman will lead him to do the exact same thing.
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Related: Kevin Garnett reveals Victor Wembanyama and Tim Duncan still haven't built a relationship
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jun 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
