People keep talking about ways to get Stephen Curry to San Antonio, and I understand why. Golden State isn’t in a place to compete, and their franchise cornerstone is still one of the best players in the NBA. Pairing his shooting ability and gravity with Victor Wembanyama’s everything would be box office.
Forget whether or not it’ll actually happen for a moment, though. As fans of the sport, we love to play the hypothetical game, whether that be comparing players across eras or creating our own make-believe team-ups. So, let’s dive down that rabbit hole and talk about what that tag team would actually look like.
The NBA has never seen spacing like what a Wemby/Curry duo would bring
Every superstar in league history has had gravity. For those unfamiliar, gravity is basically how much you warp the floor while on it. Defenses will shade their coverages more toward the player, opening up space for others to take advantage of easier opportunities.
We’d never seen anyone create the type of gravity Curry did with the ball in or out of his hands because of his deep range. He weaponized the three-point shot in an unprecedented way, and Victor Wembanyama is doing something similar but in his own way.
There’s never been a lob threat like Wemby. His combination of athleticism, height, length, and great hands forces teams to work extra hard early to keep him out of the paint. Spurs fans see the impact of it every game night. Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, and the rest get open shot after open shot because of it.
Now, imagine these two on the same team. Opposing defenses would have the most intense nightmare fuel imaginable.
Curry would make Wemby even harder to guard and vice versa
Golden State has built their offense around the Steph/Draymond Green pick-and-roll. Because of Green’s lack of offensive scoring threat, defenses usually try to blitz, hedge, or double-team Curry as he comes around the pick.
Running that action with Wembanyama takes all of those options off the table because they all involve leaving the roll man to do whatever he wants.
Vic would be receiving the ball with a 4-3 advantage and mostly with a small man rotating over. That’s a bad situation to be in. But there are no good answers. If defenses switch, you still have a smaller guy on Wemby and a big on the Chef; if you play drop coverage, Steph walks into an open three.
It puts defenses in an impossible situation. Any game plan to stop them is easily countered by the immense talent and high basketball IQ of the two players initiating the action. That’s before we even get into the skilled supporting cast.
It’s easy to see why everyone is so excited about the thought of Wemby and Curry joining forces. They’d form possibly the most deadly offensive twosome of all time. I don’t think it happens, but it’s certainly awesome to think about.
