NBA Exec Jokes About Victor Wembanyama: 'Everybody Is So Ready to Tank'

The race to the bottom of this season's NBA standings could be just as competitive as the battle for the top seeds with coveted prospect Victor Wembanyama awaiting the 2023 draft lottery winner.

An unnamed NBA executive told Pascal Giberné of Slam Magazine on Monday there's no shortage of excitement within front-office circles as Wembanyama prepares to play his first game in the United States on Tuesday as his French squad, Metropolitans 92, takes on the G League Ignite.

"The whole NBA will be in the arena," the executive said. "They want to see the unicorn."

Another exec joked: "Everybody is so ready to tank."

Wembanyama is the embodiment of the evolving nature of basketball.

The 18-year-old Frenchman combines his 7'4'' frame with terrific athleticism, an ability to run the floor with fluidity and ball-handling skills approaching the level of a guard.

A decade ago, a player of his size would have been relegated to the low post and urged to gain 75 pounds so he could contend with NBA centers. Now, as the league continues its trend toward positionless basketball, executives are in awe with a 7-footer who owns a generational skill set.

Wembanyama is so enticing that Sterling "Scoot" Henderson, a member of G League Ignite, has been lost in the shadows despite potentially being a franchise-altering prospect in his own right.

"He's really a great player. If I was never born, I think he would deserve the first spot," Wembanyama jokingly told reporters Monday.

The French sensation is still a work in progress—he averaged a modest 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 26 percent from deep in 16 LNB Pro A games last season—but his game-changing upside is evident.

All told, the availability of Wembanyama and Henderson gives NBA teams with no hope of championship contention every incentive to lose a ton of games this season.

It wouldn't be a surprise if the amount of tanking that takes place ends up causing the league to consider alternatives or adjustments to the draft's lottery model for the future.