SAN ANTONIO – There’s a small collection of NBA players that Alex Caruso puts in a “film doesn’t do them justice” category.
Those players that the Bulls guard knows stand near or above that 7-foot threshold, but “you can’t really understand their length until you play against them,’’ Caruso explained on Friday.
“If you’ve played against guys like Rudy (Gobert), KD (Kevin Durant), guys that have that length, 7-footers, it just feels different,” he continued. “Put him in that category.”
The “Him?”
San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama.
It wasn’t always pretty for the 7-4, 19-year-old in his first meeting with the Bulls, with Wembanyama looking like a baby deer taking its first steps at times. But then there were those other moments like a steal in which he put the ball between his legs before sprinting up the floor, and then a second-quarter slam in which he cut through the lane like a wing.
There’s definitely something special there, but it’s also a work in progress.
“Of course, you’re always excited with new players in the league,” Caruso said. “Obviously there’s been plenty of coverage and hype around him.”
Obviously.
Several Bulls players actually met Wembanyama briefly last January when they played the Pistons in Paris, but Billy Donovan was not included in that welcoming party. Instead, the coach has gathered his information about the rookie from the scouts and general managers around the league that have had boots on the ground to watch him the past few seasons.
“I talked to people around the NBA, like Troy Weaver was with me in Oklahoma City and he’s now the GM of Detroit,” Donovan said. “We ran into each other and had a conversation about him and how good he thought he was. I think the consensus, at least the people I’ve spoken to – like I was around the draft and even talked to our scouts, and there was not one person that said, ‘Eh, I’m not really sure …‘ They were all like, ‘Generational player, going to be incredible, unique skillset.’ That was what I heard.”
And what Donovan’s seen? A player that has one Durant skillset that can’t be taught.
“The one thing that’s really difficult, and I’m not comparing him to Kevin Durant at all, but what I’m saying is Kevin Durant plays over people all the time,” Donovan said. “A lot of times even if you guard him well, he just plays over the top of you. (Wembanyama) plays over the top of you. People may look at the size and the strength, that’s going to come as he gets older, continues to grow and develop, but the bottom line is he can play over anybody. It doesn’t make a difference, and that is a huge advantage.”
Sitting it out
Injured guard Zach LaVine did not make the trip to San Antonio, and with good reason. There was no benefit for him to take the long plane ride for one game, when he could stay in Chicago and continue getting treatment on the sore right foot.
The Bulls announced on Wednesday that LaVine would be sidelined another three weeks to a month, making sure he’s completely pain-free before he returns.
Fun time is over
Back-to-back games with Charlotte and San Antonio gave the Bulls a chance to take on the bottom of the standings for a few games, but the next 10 days are about to get serious.
They will travel to Milwaukee on Monday, host the NBA Champion Nuggets the following night, and then head out on a road trip in which they play Miami twice and go to Philadelphia. They will then come home and take on LeBron James and the Lakers.