Inside How Victor Wembanyama Is Forcing NBA To Think Bigger

Before he even entered the league, basketball fans wondered whether Victor Wembanyama might one day redefine the NBA as we know it.

The French superstar is fresh off the first Finals appearance of his young career, and at just age 22, Wembanyama’s emergence is already signaling a major shift in how teams assemble their rosters.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, double-big lineups were quite common. Think Robert Parish and Kevin McHale, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson or Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

As the game became more perimeter-centric, the stretch forward became more prominent, a trend that lasted from the 2000s well into the 2010s and even carried over into the 2020s.

But then Wembanyama arrived.

When the San Antonio Spurs selected him with the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, those who had followed his rise knew the league was about to change.

All it took was one run to the NBA Finals to force the league into re-embracing the era of the double-big, evidenced by the mass amounts of cash organizations have been throwing at frontcourt members this summer.

Walker Kessler inked a four-year, $130 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, which became one of the richest deals ever signed by a center lacking an All-Star appearance. LA also sent two unprotected first-rounders and two first-round pick swaps to the Utah Jazz for the right to sign the 24-year-old.

Jock Landale received a one-year, $14 million deal from the Atlanta Hawks, who also drafted St. John’s standout big man Zuby Ejiofor despite Onyeka Okongwu‘s presence on the roster.

Mo Wagner, another career backup, got $19 million over two years from the Brooklyn Nets despite playing just 11.9 minutes per game with the Orlando Magic last year.

After appearing in just 74 games in the last two years combined, the Golden State Warriors still gave Kristaps Porzingis a new two-year, $40 million deal.

Despite already boasting a 7-foot-5 anchor in Zach Edey, the Memphis Grizzlies threw $30 million at Quintin Post for three years, giving them another 7-foot option in the frontcourt — which may become a necessity to survive in the Western Conference.

Fortunately for Wembanyama and the Spurs, San Antonio‘s peers aren’t the only ones embracing the resurfacing philosophy.

On the opening night of the 2026 NBA Draft, the franchise came away with Jayden Quaintaince and Tarris Reed Jr., two physical specimens who should each complement Wembanyama perfectly in the Spurs’ own double-big lineup.

Just as Stephen Curry did following his first run to the Finals in 2015, Wembanyama’s ascension has fundamentally changed how professional basketball will be played in the United States.

You won’t see guys like Draymond Green (6-foot-6) or P.J. Tucker (6-foot-5) being thrown out at the five-spot like in years past. Those days are gone.

NBA franchises will continue trying to counter Wembanyama by getting bigger, longer, and stronger in the frontcourt.

The irony, of course, is that San Antonio may already be ahead of the curve.

While the rest of the league searches for enough size to withstand Wembanyama, the Spurs are building around him with the same philosophy.

Reed and Quaintance give San Antonio two young, physical frontcourt pieces capable of absorbing matchups, protecting the glass, and allowing Wembanyama to float between roles defensively in a sort of free-safety-type role.

That is what makes this shift so fascinating. Wembanyama has not only forced teams to rethink how they defend him; he has also given the Spurs a blueprint for maximizing him.

The NBA spent the last decade trying to get smaller, faster and more spaced out. Now, because of one 7-foot-4 anomaly in San Antonio, the league may have no choice but to think big again.

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