West Notes: Spurs, Victor Wembanyama, Kings, Russell Westbrook, Grizzlies

Spurs

The league just got a little smarter on Victor Wembanyama. And the Spurs are scrambling to keep up.

The Lakers became the second straight opponent to knock him off his spots in Wednesday’s 118-116 road loss, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. Phoenix did it first, holding Wemby to nine points and six turnovers. The Lakers followed with 19 points on 5 of 14 shooting, forced five more turnovers, and got him to foul out with 1:40 left.

Julian Champagnie could have tied it with 0.2 on the clock. He bricked the first. Intentionally missed the second. Keldon Johnson’s tip rolled off.

“Mostly it was the doubling,” Wembanyama said. “The game feels fast right now. We need to adapt.”

Coach Mitch Johnson said the solution is simple. “We need to get him the ball in better spots,” he said. “He needs to demand it and yell at everybody in the gym.”

Every starter hit at least 14 points. The bench won its minutes. It still wasn’t enough.

Kings

Russell Westbrook keeps turning back the clock at 36. He delivered another massive triple-double to beat the Warriors and showed every veteran trick in the book, per Anthony Slater of ESPN.

Sacramento was down Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and Keegan Murray. Golden State was missing Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. It was basically a resourcefulness test.

Westbrook ended up with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He tipped one rebound to Dennis Schroder for a big corner three. He grabbed two more late to run the clock down. Then he forced a turnover with 8.9 left to seal it.

“Humbly speaking, I’m the best rebounding guard ever,” Westbrook said. His 16 boards moved him past Jason Kidd for most rebounds by a guard in NBA history at 8,734.

He was signed late in camp. He barely played the first week. Now he’s in the starting lineup and Sacramento is starting to feel his voice.

“We needed it bad,” Malik Monk said. “He brings more oomph and energy.”

Grizzlies

Ja Morant is technically tradeable. That is not the debate. The question is who would actually meet the price.

Bobby Marks of ESPN looked at it and wrote that Houston makes the most sense on paper. Fred VanVleet is done for the year. Houston sits only $1.2 million below the first apron.

But any real deal would take serious maneuvering, including VanVleet himself plus role guys like Dorian Finney-Smith or Steven Adams. Also, Clint Capela is in that mix. That is not simple math.

Morant lost out on All-NBA last year, lost around $40 million and is in Year One of his $197 million extension. He still has two full years left after this one. That makes him a “whale asset.”

Marks compared a potential return to the Nets-Mavericks Kyrie Irving package. Spencer Dinwiddie, Finney-Smith, a 2029 unprotected first and two seconds. Kyrie was 31 and on an expiring. Morant is 26 and locked in.

Morant has not asked out. He is trying to make Iisalo’s system work. But the line between “not requesting a trade” and “being untradeable” is not the same line.

And Memphis is playing right on top of that line already.