Chet is 21. Wemby is 19.
Chet had a year of development in the NBA. Chet is a perfect example of how drastically a year of NBA development can change your body.
Wemby is a rookie that just switched from international basketball to American rules.
Chet is on a really good team, with a great facilitator in Giddey, (i know,) a bonafide superstar guard in Shai, and a point forward in Williams. He is surrounded by elite defenders like Dort and Wallace. OKC is deep, talented, well coached, and almost made the playoffs last season.
Wemby is on a bottom feeder that has struggled for years and really goes about 7ish guys deep. His starting lineup lacks a point guard. There is only one point guard getting minutes in the rotation. Both of the teams leading scorers need to develop as facilitators. Wemby struggles to get the ball where he needs it and is often missed in moments when he should be getting the ball. The team does has some good defenders but still has significant room to grow on that end.
Yet we have pundits genuinely trying to argue that Chet is a more impressive rookie than Wemby. I get why, Chet is really good, and fun to watch, and a good story to pair next to Wemby. Wemby is also struggling in some key areas, like shooting. But realistically the contextual differences are too vast to act like there is a fair comparison to make. Like do people really think the Thunder would be worse right now with Wemby over Chet. Or that Chet would make the Spurs better than Wemby has.
Now, to be clear, I’m not arguing against a Chet ROTY vote. Chet is contributing to a winning team and that is valuable. Instead, what I’m saying is that Wemby is still, imo, far more impressive. I think a lineup of Shai, Wallace, Dort, Williams, Wemby would be absurd defensively. And I think Wemby would be far more impactful offensively within a good team’s offensive system.
“It’s apples to oranges…”
🎵BITCH WHY CANT FRUIT BE COMPARED🎵
Wemby was playing professional basketball in France during that year.
Industry Plant Wemby’s PR team working overtime
Holmgren appears to be a better player as of right now. I will agree that the context of their ages is very important. 21 to 19 is a big deal in this context. Wemby could (should) be significantly better than he is now at 21.
Wembanyama absolutely sucks and will be out of the league in 5 years
9 players in NBA history have put up 50/40/90 splits for a season and Chet is on pace to do it his very first year of play. Chalking that up to not being the number one option and being on a talented team is lazy to me because there has been 1000s of players that meet those qualifications who don’t come close to doing what Chet is doing. I don’t see how Wemby has been far more impressive.
On pace for shooting percentages for a season after 15 games is truly absurd lol.
It’s his entire career and he’s a rookie. He has the highest PPG whilst shotting 50/40/90 of any rookie to have played 15 games… ever. Haters are wild lol
I mean sure but it’s not like he wasn’t basically a 60/40 player in college… Free Throws are the only thing that took a leap and even without that shooting 55% from the field and 40% from three in the NBA while being an elite rim protector is what’s absurd. Regardless if he hits the 50/40/90 mark he has always been a super efficient player and nothing has changed in the NBA
Ok but your entire comment is about Chet being a 50/40/90 player matching only 9 other players. It reserves none of the nuance of your follow up.
Chet’s gonna win ROY like ben simmons and then go on to be a huge disappointment like ben simmons
Yes the thunder would 100% be worse with Wemby instead of Chet right now
And they’d still make that trade in a heartbeat.
Disagree
Good for you dude, don’t think okc org or their fanbase would swap out wemby for Chet this season.
Chet was injuried all last year. Hardly a year to develop. Wemby also played in pros overseas.
This rivalry will be toxic as hell in a few years so get ready for that
Chet is better than wemby at virtually everything
Chet absolutely has been more impressive than Wembanyama, and it’s not even remotely close. Him being in a better situation doesn’t change that.
Holmgren’s first 16 games are arguably the most impressive first 16 games of anybody’s career, up there really with just MJ and Kareem. He’s also younger than MJ or Kareem were as rookies.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to immediately be a hugely positive contributor to a top team on day 1 of your professional career like Chet has? It’s incredibly difficult and rare. And as games have gone on Chet has shown more and more that he can be so much more than a role player offensively, and his role will probably get bigger and bigger as the year goes on.
Tbh if Wembanyama didn’t exist and wasn’t taking up so much attention Holmgren would be getting hyped as somebody with GOAT potential for how he’s played so far. Literally nobody has ever shown the ability to be all of an elite rim runner, elite spot up and pull up shooter, elite rim protector and a great perimeter defender. The closest would be KD’s best form at Golden State, but he still never got to Chet’s level as a rim protector. What he’s doing would be incredibly impressive even if he wasn’t a rookie and even if he wasn’t a 7 footer.
You have to remember: Chet wasn’t getting full, game-speed reps until about May this year. So this talk about a full-year in the NBA isn’t true.