05-30-2026, 08:26 AM
Sam Amick: "Now the Wembanyama effect to your question is I actually think it has a domino effect on the Giannis sweepstakes this summer, where there's only so many guys in the league that can give you a puncher's chance at slowing Wembanyama down. You look at the Thunder, they got a guy in Chet Holmgren who at first glance looks like tailor-made to give him some pushback, and he's obviously had a really hard time in this series. So the impact is even beyond getting a guy like that, it's loading up on bigs. I had one of the executives talk about the Jazz, who I know are certainly not contending at this point, but how they're looking to re-sign Walker Kessler, they did the trade for Jaren Jackson Jr., already got Lauri Markkanen, and that sort of approach. The Thunder adding Hartenstein last year, it's that kind of thing where you're going to need big bodies, but it's not like the Shaq old days when you just needed as much heft as possible. You got to have guys who can play three-four positions and be versatile and keep up with this 7-4 alien."