San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama and veteran guard Chris Paul will make their preseason debuts on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic at Frost Bank Center.
The duo missed Monday’s exhibition opener to rest. Devin Vassell (foot), Charles Bassey (knee), David Duke Jr. (hip), and Zach Collins (shoulder) were also absent for San Antonio’s 112-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich cited “dings, rest, a little bit of everything” when explaining his decision for sitting Wembanyama and Paul on Monday after “a tough week” of training camp practices.
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Bassey, Collins, and Vassell are also increasing their workloads after undergoing offseason surgeries. The trio, in addition to Nathan Mensah (right adductor), will be unavailable for Wednesday’s game.
Wembanyama, 20, is entering his second season after a historic rookie season. The 7-foot-4 phenom was named NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and a league-leading 3.6 blocks.
San Antonio Spurs with Victor Wembanyama, Chris Paul are 1.5-point favorites against Orlando Magic
Additionally, Wembanyama became the sixth unanimous Rookie of the Year in the last 40 years, joining Ralph Sampson (1984), David Robinson (1990), Blake Griffin (2011), Damian Lillard (2013), and Karl-Anthony Towns (2016). He also joined the Spurs’ other two No. 1 picks — Robinson and Tim Duncan (1998) — as winners of the award.
During his rookie year, Wemby also became the first NBA player to record at least 1,500 points, 250 blocks, and 100 3-pointers in a single campaign. He amassed 1,522 points, 755 rebounds, 274 assists, 88 steals, an NBA-best 254 blocks, and 128 3s on 394 attempts.
Early last season, Wembanyama became the first rookie with 150 blocks, 150 assists, and 50 steals to begin a season since Duncan in 1997-98.
Meanwhile, Chris Paul is coming off a season in which he averaged career lows of 9.2 points, 1.2 steals, and 26.4 minutes per game with the Golden State Warriors. The 12-time All-Star signed a one-year, $11 million deal with San Antonio in July.
Paul, 39, is entering his 20th NBA season. He looks forward to playing alongside Wembanyama.
“I’m just excited like everybody else to get a chance to play alongside [Wembanyama] along with a lot of the other guys on the team,” Paul said. “With him, it’s going to be [about] just trying to help him settle in more.”
