I have seen the future, and it is Victor Wembanyama. French, 18 years old, seven-foot-three (in bare feet), and somehow fluid and skilled enough to cross you over, rise into the clouds for a three, or swoop past to what looks, suddenly, like a child’s hoop. The NBA is excellent at locating and developing unique variations of our species, but seeing Wembanyama is like being the fish who watched as the first of your colleagues strolled onto the shore.
He will be the No. 1 pick, and the NBA will see some tanking this season, boy. Some tires will be slashed, some engines filled with sand, some steering wheels will be tossed out the window.