Zach Lowe's spicy Wembanyama take should guarantee a playoff berth if true

If you've read any of my predictive pieces about Victor Wembanyama for this upcoming season, you already know how high on him I am. The third-year jump for great players is real, and if you don't believe he's a great player already, you probably don't believe in gravity either. Some things should just be undeniable. Zach Lowe agrees, and he's probably the first big-name media member to make this statement.

"I'm ready to put him in the top 6 tier. If I'm projecting forward what he's going to be this year, and what the Spurs can be this year, I'm going to put him in there. He's already going to be, by some order of magnitude, the most destructive defensive force in the NBA." - Zach Lowe

The basketball community's favorite analyst went on to predict that Vic would also improve his offense in every single way possible. That's extremely high praise, and it's by no means outrageous to think so. Of course, a second-year player is going to continue to improve, even though his sophomore numbers would be fine if he maintained them for a career.

Wembanyama will drive the Spurs to the postseason

I've made this point before, but if Wemby never improved, he'd still be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and four blocks per game is more than enough to earn an orange jacket. But since we anticipate him building on it, projecting him as a top-6 player in the league comes with more expectations: a playoff berth.

Lowe was on Bill Simmons' podcast during this conversation, and Simmons is the one who posed the question in the first place. The guys the Podfather placed over Wemby are Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Anthony Edwards. What do all those players have in common? They lead their teams to the postseason.

As a matter of fact, there aren't any players in that range who don't. Steph Curry, Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, the list goes on. We know they can't do it by themselves, and they don't. Each one of these guys has a solid roster around them, but they're the piece that takes the team to the next level.

Wembanyama didn't have that before this season, but he has it now. He was also only in his second season, so that adds to the grace given to a young, great player. There are no more excuses, though. He has several playmakers to assist him; they have defenders, shooters, and depth at every position. His co-star is a menace to defenses with superior clutch ability. It's time to cross that postseason threshold. No excuses.