Gilbert Arenas: Chris Paul’s 11 million transfer will unleash Victor Wembanyama’s true potential

Rookie of the Year on the team and yet the Spurs finished second to last in the conference standings last season. While the problem is that the San Antonio Spurs lack depth on the roster, some may wonder how adding Chris Paul to the roster will help the team. CP3 in particular reportedly signed a one-year, $11 million deal with the Spurs. Now Gilbert Arenas believes this move will not only help the Spurs but Victor Wembanyama as well.

Arenas claimed that there were several such instances last season where Wemby raised his hands and asked for the ball, but didn’t have much success. Gil believes that problem will be solved for the reigning Rookie of the Year now that he has a true point guard on the team in Paul. Kenyon Martin also seemed to agree with his co-host’s reasoning. “He (Wemby) will get the ball a lot, Chris Paul will lead the league in assists. Definitely in the top 2,” he added. The 12-time All-Star has already secured the league’s assists leader spot 5 times.

However, the Gil’s Arena crew does not believe that Paul’s signing will completely turn the tables for them. “We’re not saying they’re going to do crazy things.” And the understandable reason for that is that the upcoming season will be only Victor’s second year in the league. Arenas believes Paul plays a controlled game, so he will add that aspect of him to the Spurs. But the ex-NBA star still expects the Spurs “be in the 11-10 round” at best. This concern stems from Spurs’ awful performance last season.

However, the Gil’s Arena crew is convinced that signing Paul will help the Spurs in another way as well, namely by serving as a sort of additional coach. “He’s probably going to teach some of the young guys. He’s going to teach some of these young guys how to play, brother… They’ve got about three players above average, about 20… He’s going to teach some of these guys how to hold it back.” In particular, Paul is said to have helped young Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during his time in OKC. And it is expected that he can do the same for Wembanyama.

How does Chris Paul help the Spurs as a team?

The 2023-24 season began with high hopes for the Spurs, as they had the 2023 No. 1 draft pick, Wembanyama, on the team. And the franchise already had one of the NBA’s most successful coaches – Gregg Popovich. However, the combination of the 5-time NBA Champion coach and the Rookie of the Year could not even secure the team a playoff spot.

In fact, the team did not even participate in the play-in tournament, finishing second to last in the conference standings. And this is where the Spurs’ lack of depth became even more apparent. However, there was also speculation and accusations that players did not want to pass the ball to Wemby, possibly due to his rookie status. However, Wemby denied these claims in an interview. “Of course I’ve heard about it, but it’s never been even remotely real. There’s no one on this team that doesn’t want to pass the ball to me, and there’s no one I don’t want to pass the ball to.” he said.

In both cases, the lack of a true point guard who could make plays for Wemby was clearly evident. And this is where the “Point God” will be crucial for the Spurs. A name CP3 has earned for his dominance as a point guard. So far, he has won 5x NBA assists leader and 6x NBA steals leader in the league. As for the stats, his assists stand at 9.4 per game, which clearly shows how good he can be at making plays for Wemby. However, the reality of the situation will be put to the test next season itself.

Stay tuned for more updates like this. And to hear what Shaq’s ex-agent Leonard Armato has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic rejection and more, check out this video.