Skip to main content

Potential No. 1 Pick Victor Wembanyama Calls Out Tanking Teams' 'Weird Strategy'

Victor Wembanyama, the consensus No. 1 pick in next summer's draft spoke on the strategy NBA teams attempt to land top prospects.

If the Orlando Magic has shown anything over the first half of the season it's that the team is not in the business of repeating what happened a year ago. 

And while the 13-23 record through 36 games is not anything to gloat about, it is still a massive improvement from a year ago up to this point. 

To put it into perspective, the Magic's record through the same amount of games last season? 7-29.

Along with the fact they did not win its 13th game until February 8th and 56th game of the year. 

But while there was not a lot of wins in the standings (22 to be exact), there was a massive victory following the season's conclusion - Rookie of the Year front-runner Paolo Banchero

However, unless you've been living under a rock the past months, you may have heard about a 7-5 prospect with guard like capabilities named Victor Wembanyama. 

The cost to winning the once-in-a-generation level talent? Losing a lot of basketball games. 

But Wembanyama, who recently filled the stat sheet at the LNB's All Star Game, feels like its strange to intentionally lose basketball games. 

“Tanking? It’s a weird strategy,” Wembanyama said. “I find it unreasonable, and I try not to think about it. I also heard that the NBA considered changing a few rules for me, but that doesn’t concern me.”

The Magic currently sits at the fifth-best odds (10.5%) to win the French prospect according to Tankathon, behind the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets and Houston Rockets who all sit at 14%, along with the San Antonio Spurs who sit just behind at 12.5%.

Orlando hopes to make it win 14 tonight against the Washington Wizards.


You can follow Riley Sheppard on Twitter @RileyDSheppard.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Magic? Click Here.

Follow The Magic Insider on Facebook.

Follow The Magic Insider on Twitter.

Want even more Orlando Magic news? Check out the SI.com team page