Two of the league’s best young big men will square off tonight as the Thunder host the Spurs, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Victor Wembanyama was a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year honors last season, with Chet Holmgren getting all but one second-place vote. Even their teammates are excited about their first meeting of the new season.
“Two big guys going at it,” Zach Collins said. “You don’t really see that too much anymore, so it is fun to watch. Kind of has a very old-school feel to it, two bigs going at it, two heavyweights, and it seems like both of those guys like that matchup and they take it personal.”
The duo faced off three times last season, putting up similar numbers as OKC won twice. Wembanyama averaged 20.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.7 blocks and 1.0 steals in their head-to-head matchups, while Holmgren countered with 16.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.0 steals. San Antonio’s victory came in February on a night when Wembanyama all but locked up the ROY vote, Orsborn notes. He posted 28 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks and two steals, then punctuated the win by screaming an expletive into a house microphone.
“It’s fun to be a part of and it’s good to see Vic have that motivation going against (Holmgren) and trying to get that upper hand,” Collins added.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Coach Willie Green wants the Pelicans to shoot at least 40 three-pointers per game, but the team isn’t coming close to that mark, per Christian Clark of NOLA. New Orleans was just 9-of-22 from beyond the arc in Tuesday’s loss at Golden State, with the absence of Trey Murphy contributing to the shortage of three-point attempts. Clark observes that the offense hasn’t really lived up to expectations since CJ McCollum was acquired to team with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. The Pelicans added another play-maker by trading for Dejounte Murray this summer, but he suffered a fracture in his left hand in the season opener.
- McCollum will undergo an MRI tonight to determine what’s causing right adductor/hip soreness, according to Andrew Lopez (Twitter link). The Pelicans expect to have an update on Thursday. Herbert Jones had medical imaging done on his right shoulder Tuesday night, Lopez adds. The results were negative and he’s considered day-to-day.
- Jay Huff‘s new four-year contract with the Grizzlies includes a prorated minimum salary for the rest of the season, a source tells cap expert Yossi Gozlan (Twitter link). Huff is set to receive $2.4MM in 2025/26 and $2.7MM with a $379,382 guarantee in 2026/27. Memphis will have a $3MM team option with a $427,323 guarantee for 2027/28. Gozlan notes that the Grizzlies are now $1.8MM below the tax line and have $8.6MM left in their non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Pop needs to figure out how to get Wemby some easy shots. They are badly out of sync so far. It would help if they had one guy that could make an open three to take some pressure of him.
Chet>Wemby
Wemby is the #1 option on his team everything has to go through him. No one else on that team is really a 2 on good teams. Chet playing great but having SGA & Jalen frees his offense. The team defense is amazing he is a head of the snake but perimeter D on the team is stellar.
Chet kicked wembys a$$ tonite badly
Yea not really – hardly ever matched up directly. Total team effort to shut down Wemby and w Vassell out Spurs have no one that can make them pay. Chet is a solid big man but he’s a role player on a great team – not in the same league as Wemby.
Chet is going to be DPOY if he can keep this consistency.
Maybe they’ll make him rookie of the year again too
The years of this battle we have ahead of us are tasty…
Lest we forget to enjoy this moment…
Shaq vs Yao was great but didn’t last long enough…
Same with Shaq v. Robinson and Shaq v. Hakeem.