SI: NBA Execs Wonder If Spurs 'Would Regret' Drafting Wembanyama over Scoot Henderson

Victor Wembanyama has yet to play a minute of meaningful basketball in the NBA, but the second-guessing of the San Antonio Spurs appears to already be starting.

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported the early impressions of Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson are "sky high" coming out of the NBA Summer League.

"In talking to execs about Henderson/Brandon Miller—two players whose careers will be forever intertwined—a couple of team officials wondered whether San Antonio would regret passing on Henderson down the line," Mannix wrote.

Wembanyama averaged a double-double (18 points and 10 rebounds) along with four blocks across his two summer league games. He did little to raise any initial concerns ahead of his rookie campaign.

No prospect is ever guaranteed to deliver on the hype, especially when the player in question is being called the brightest incoming talent in decades.

Much like how a number of college or high school stars were compared to Michael Jordan, LeBron James being touted as a potentially generational star and actually exceeding that forecast has warped expectations surrounding promising players who followed him.

There's certainly a future in which Henderson surpasses Wembanyama, not unlike how Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has outperformed the New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson to this point in their careers.

But even if Wembanyama is a total flop, it would be revisionist history to question whether the Spurs would want a mulligan on the 2023 NBA draft.

"The NBA has never seen a 7'5" player with Wembanyama's skill set for self-creation, shot-making and passing," Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman wrote in his scouting report. "He'll have the chance to dominate stretches of games just with his tools and mobility for finishing and defense, but outrageous fluidity as a driver, shooter and post player could also turn Wembanyama into one of the game's top half-court scorers as well."

Rather than San Antonio, the Charlotte Hornets are the one team that might come to rue its decision-making on draft night. Choosing between Henderson and Alabama forward Brandon Miller presented a much bigger dilemma, and the outcome is one about which you can reasonably argue.

There's no such hand-wringing with Wembanyama. From the perspective of a general manager, you bet on the 7'3.5" 19-year-old who moves like a guard 10 times out of 10.