The NBA has a Victor Wembanyama problem...

What happens when you own the single most effective five-man lineup and every single one of the top five four-man lineups in net rating? I'll tell you, because that's exactly what the San Antonio Spurs are doing, and it gets even crazier than that. Victor Wembanyama played just 25 minutes in Phoenix. He went 15 for 19 from the field, 40 points, 11 rebounds, 9 blocks. The Spurs won by 26, but you've already seen that game, and it is not even the craziest number that the Spurs have right now. They're 9-2. They have the best point differential in the entire NBA, a plus 11.7 per game. Then you look at the line of leaderboard and it stops looking like a league table shared around and it starts just looking like the Spurs roster. So just how far ahead of everybody else are they and what is it made of? We're about to tell you because it does all start with Wimby. He's averaging 30.1 points per game in just 29.8 minutes, 331 total points, 131 total rebounds in just 11 games. This includes the opener against OKC where he went one for 13 from the field, scored only 12. In the 10 games since, he has He has averaged 31.9 points per night. He has scored 30 or more in five of the 11 games and the highest 52 against Dallas on November 5th. That night, he also had 24 boards and eight blocks. His field goal percentage is 59.1% over his last five games after only being 48.5% before that. He's getting his looks easier than ever and it is terrifying. And just to continue on this train for a while, let's look at the per 36 because that is bananas to look at. 36.3 points and 5.4 blocks per 36. As a rookie, his per 36 scoring was 26 points. Last year, 30.9. This year, all the way up to 36.3. And for the big man he gets compared to, the best per 36 scoring season with 500 or more minutes was 28.5 for Shaquille O'Neal. If you want to take a bit of a detour, David Robinson, 26.5, Hakeem, 25.3. Wemby is in ridiculous company here, and he's even a level above. And if you think so, too, try it out on Kalshi, where you can trade $25 to make a pretty penny. This video is brought to you by Kalshi, where you're trading against real users, not the house, like traditional sportsbooks. You're buying yes or no contracts on real-life events, like the weather, like politics, like sports. And at this point... Victor Wembanyama has to be the favorite for MVP. That's something I'd trade on. And if you're interested in trying out Kalshi, use the link in the pinned comment or description down below. Use code DIGESTNBA when you trade your first $25 to get $55 put in your account instantly. Thank you to Kalshi for sponsoring this video. Not to mention, so far, he's blocking four and a half shots a game, and no one has averaged four blocks a game in a season since Dikembe Mutombo back in 1995-96, and the three-point shot is not even a weakness, necessarily. He went four for six against Sacramento. He was asked about it. He said, it's my greatest strength. And while he's only hitting 32, 33% of them so far this year, the fact that he can step back there and he makes you respect him is what makes him extra dangerous. Devin Booker, after this game against Phoenix said, quote, it's something like we've never seen before. Dylan Harper likened Wemby to Superman for his ability to bounce right back after seemingly injuring himself. It's wild. And with him on the floor, the Spurs have outscored opponents by 196 points in 328 minutes. And in the 205 minutes he sat, the Spurs are 67 points worse. So it's no surprise that he is the engine of this, but let's take a look at who is riding next. I want to start with Dylan Harper's third quarters. He has scored 198 points through 11 games this year, and 65 of those points have come in the third. A third of his scoring in just one quarter. It's his best quarter by 17 whole points. His last four games, four points in the third, then six, then nine, and 14 against Phoenix. 14 of his seven points in that game came in the third quarter alone. He was tearing it up. Against Portland, 9 of his 13, and the Spurs won that quarter 45-27. Over 11 games, the Spurs have won the third quarter by 48 points, 334-286. These third quarters are not the problem that they used to be last season. But even still, the second quarter currently has a plus 52, 357-305, and even the first quarter is a plus 30. The Spurs are winning in every single quarter, but hey, the third quarter is where Dylan Harper likes to shine. Here's an insane stat for you. Dylan Harper is first in the NBA in net rating at a plus 21.8 among all players who have played at least five games who play 30 plus minutes a night. He's ahead of Luka, who sits at a plus 19, and also Wemby only plays 29.9 minutes a night. Otherwise, he'd be up there. Also, sneaky shout out to Devin Vassell, who's eighth on that list at plus 15. Harper is averaging nearly 21 points per 36 minutes, and the Spurs are 159 points better with him on the floor in 345 minutes, but he's also not the only guard who owns that third quarter. Stephon Castle has also scored 61 of his 157 points in the third quarter, put him and Harper together, and those two guards have scored 126 of the Spurs' 334 points in the third. That's ridiculous. And if you want to add Wemby to the mix, him and his 86 third quarter points, the three of them have scored 212. It's crazy. After Portland, Mitch Johnson said of Castle, quote, he took over the game. They're just in terms of the physicality and the competitiveness he played with Castle is averaging 14.3 points and 5.2 assists a game this year. Even though those numbers are a bit down from last year, the Spurs are still 77 points better with him on the floor, and he is in the second best four-man lineup in the NBA and the fourth best. We'll dive into those in just a minute. We've talked about Harper. We've talked about Castle. How about the guard that's bringing everything together, the glue guy, De'Aaron Fox? He's only averaging 13.9 points, 5.9 assists a game, but he has 65 assists and 13 steals to go along with all of that in just 324 minutes so far. And while the box score isn't necessarily impressive to the naked eye for him, the lineup pages and the leaderboards, that says something completely different. De'Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama are the best two-man pair in the NBA per DataBaller with a net rating of plus 14 in 241 minutes together. Get ready for a Spurs Fest through all these pages because we're not done yet. Fox and Harper are the third best two-man lineup at 11.8. Wemby and Harper, fourth, plus 10.7. Fox is in all five of the top four-man lineups as well. The Spurs are outscoring opponents by 149 points with Fox on the floor, and they've been outscored by 20 when he sits. I know we're throwing a lot of plus minus out here for you, but the individual impact of all of these guys cannot be understated, and De'Aaron Fox should absolutely be counted in that. Against Phoenix, 15 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists. The Spurs were up plus 20 with him on the floor, but when you put everyone here together, that's when it somehow does get even crazier. Okay, I told you to prepare yourself for a whole lot of lineups. Here we go. Fox, Wembanyama, Harper. That is the best three-man group in the NBA. Net rating of plus 13.2 in 167 minutes. That trio split 167 minutes together, and the best Spurs trio of Luka, Reeves and Kessler is at only a plus 10.1, which is a full 3.1 net rating points behind them. Not to mention, the Spurs hold four of the top six lineups on that list. The Lakers do hold the other two. But what does it look like if we move on to best four? Four-man lineups so far this year. Well, the best one for the Spurs, and of course the best one in the entire NBA, because the Spurs are at the top of everything, Fox, Vassell, Wembenyama, and Harper, adding a bit of shooting here, but you still see Dylan Harper and De'Aaron Fox. They are at a plus 9.9, which is a league best, in 134 minutes. The second best lineup is the same group, yes, with Devin Vassell, but you swap Castle in for Harper. That group is still a plus 8.5, and surprise, surprise, The Spurs own every single one of the top five four-man lineups in the NBA by net rating. Every single one of them. Common denominators, Fox and Wembenyama are featured in each and every one of those top five lineups. The other spots filled by some different players, Vassell, Harper, Castle, Champagnie, and actually Keldon Johnson. Pretty interesting. And as we mentioned before, the top five man lineup, the top starting lineup, the top lineup in general in the whole NBA is the Spurs. Normal starting five, of course, Vassell didn't play last game, but Fox, Vassell, Wemby, Castle and Harper, plus 6.9 in 106 minutes. They are the best and most used. Five-man lineup on the planet right now. Now, mind you, these numbers will move throughout the season. I don't necessarily anticipate the Spurs to completely dominate the top five list for all of these lineups by season's end. But even now, like to be used so much together and to still be dominating the net rating by so much, it is incredibly impressive. Like Memphis has the second best five-man lineup, but they're only at a plus 5.9 versus us at a plus 6.9. Then it's the Lakers at a plus 4.3. It's crazy. The Lakers actually have a better record than the Spurs. They sit at 10-2 right now, and they score the most points in the NBA, 122.1, yet still you see San Antonio dominating these lists. That's because of their margin and their defense largely helped by Wemby. The Spurs are plus 11.7 points a game, while the Lakers are only a plus 7.7. The Spurs are beating teams by four points per game more than the Lakers. But also, I wonder if that Lakers offense is sustainable. Luka's doing unreal, otherworldly stuff right now, and it's him and Reeves that are propping it up. The Lakers are winning it with offense because Luka and Reeves score 124 points per 100 possessions together compared to only 119.8. But on the defensive side, as you'd probably expect, Fox and Wemby allow only 105.7 points per 100. That is elite. And Luka and Reeves, they're allowing 111.6. Even if you expand it to three-man lineups, the defensive story stays the same. Fox, Wemby, and Harper is our best. 106.1 defensive rating. Luka Reeves and Kessler, who is a good defender, still 111.9, like more than five points behind us. During this nine-game win streak, the Spurs are winning by an average of 16.1 points, which is ridiculous. The closest of those games was one point against Dallas. The biggest, a 27-point win against Sacramento. They're also 5-0 on the road. Winning games on the road by an average of 17 points. The 1995-96 Bulls, who won 72 games, they finished at plus 12.2. The 71-72 Lakers, plus 12.3. It's only 11 games in, and this number will come down. But right now, this is the company that we are discussing. And the only quarter that the Spurs are losing in is the fourth quarter. A lot of time because we don't need our starters to play. Like right now, we see it's sort of treated as garbage time minutes. We had a lot of bench guys in against Phoenix. These leads, they tend to shrink in the fourth. But if you have the starters out there, the Spurs margin of victory would just be even crazier. Chicago is next on Thursday. Golden State comes to San Antonio on Saturday. And we get to see the Lakers fairly soon in the distant future. I'll be keeping my eye out on that one. Probably a battle for the top of the Western Conference. But my call, this is not just the best player in the NBA in Victor Wembanyama. This is the best team in the NBA. There is no one that can stop the Spurs when they're going at this level. Wemby's numbers are insane. The three guards are actually fitting together. The Spurs have the top two-man, three-man, four-man, and five-man lineups in the league. It's ridiculous what we're seeing right now. And while other teams are holding in the standings near where the Spurs are, I think we're going to start to see the Spurs separate themselves, especially as Vassell comes back from his minor injury, as Tobias Harris, who some of us maybe have forgot about, starts to step up in this lineup. Let's keep an eye on everything. But hey, keep an eye out for Chicago. Keep an eye out for the Lakers in San Antonio on November 28th. And keep an eye out for us in the next video.