A lot of D12’s value came from his rebounding (both defensive and offensive), not just his rim protection. And frankly, I think Wembanyama should be aiming higher than D12. He very clearly has the tools to be the best defender the NBA has ever seen. It would be a waste for him not to maximize his gifts because he wants to play suboptimally, even if playing that way is more visually impressive and occasionally necessary in the playoffs.

I agree he doesn’t have to play like Stockton or Lowry to be the best defender in the league… but IMO he does have to rebound unless he’s playing next to an elite defensive rebounding center like JJJ was (which he isn’t this year). I also think he needs to get better at maintaining control of the ball after a block in order to maximize the value of his blocks; blocks out on the perimeter are already usually less valuable than blocks at the rim because perimeter shots are much less likely to go in in the first place. He also really needs to control his own turnovers so teams don’t get as many transition opportunities against him.

Maybe this seems nitpicky to you, but if you he really wants to be the best defender in the league, these are things he needs to improve on, because they have a significant impact on the overall value of his otherworldly eFG defense. There are going to be a lot of games this year where he is playing lockdown defense, the Spurs seem to be shooting well, but somehow the game is still close, and it’ll be because they’re not controlling the rebounding and turnover game.