The losing is done, and teams are now waiting for Wembanyama

Gregg Popovich placed his left thumb on the inside of his rightwrist, paused for a couple of moments and then confirmed that, yes,he has a pulse.

It was also an indication when asked that yes, he is thinkingabout Victor Wembanyama.

There are very specific rules that teams must follow right nowwhen it comes to mentioning the name of the 7-foot-3 French phenomwith big-man height and elite guard skills who will be the No. 1pick in the NBA draft. Essentially, since the 19-year-old is notofficially in the draft yet, they can’t mention him.

So they don’t. And they don’t have to, either. Everyone knowswhat the teams who’ll be in the NBA lottery next month are hopingto have happen when those 14 ping-pong balls go into a hopper anddetermine the future for Wembanyama and the team that’s luckyenough to draft him.

“If I have a pulse and I’m in basketball, I’m probably going tothink about the ping-pong balls or the lottery, I guess. I can dothat, right? It’s not against the rules,” said Popovich, the SanAntonio coach and all-time NBA wins leader. “I can’t talk about anyplayers or anything, I guess. But I’m alive. I have ears, and I seeTV. There’s a lottery, yes. I’ve thought about it. Duh.”

“Duh” would also be the appropriate answer when the lotterywinner gets asked what they’ll do with the No. 1 pick. There is nodebate. Wembanyama is the pick. A team that was really bad thisseason is probably going to get really good really fast.

They were woeful for Wemby. Now they’re waiting for Wemby.

“He’s a freak,” soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee Dirk Nowitzkisaid. “I mean, unbelievable. You always think you’ve seen it allduring your life and your career and history of the league, andthen somebody else comes along. Kevin Durant comes along, a7-foot-2 two-guard. Now we have a 7-foot-4 two-guard. … This kid isunbelievable.”

Playing for the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92, Wembanyamaleads the French league with averages of 21.3 points. 9.9 reboundsand 3.1 blocks. He makes going viral an everyday thing; his latestbreak-the-Internet moment was when he took a 3-pointer, missed itshort, followed the shot and slammed it home in one motion,completely unbothered by the players who were in his way.

“Yeah, I’ve seen him,” Houston forward Jabari Smith Jr. said.“Yeah, he’s a problem.”

The teams with the three worst records this season — Detroit,Houston and San Antonio — have the best odds of winning thelottery, 14% apiece. Detroit got here by having its worst season inmore than 40 years. Houston has now had back-to-back seasons of 60losses. San Antonio had its third-worst season ever.

They were never in the playoff race, though never drew anypublic scorn from the NBA office for trying to tank with hopes ofimproving draft odds, either — unlike Dallas, which faces a leagueinvestigation now for giving up on its play-in tournament chanceswith two games remaining. The team that wins the lottery will sayit was all worth it. The others will feel at least some pang ofdisappointment, whether they say it or not.

“Talent-wise, I think he’s something that we’ve never seenbefore,” said Tony Parker, the former Spurs guard who’ll be goinginto the Hall of Fame later this year — and owned the team thatWembanyama played for in France last season.

It’s not just Wembanyama who will be coveted at this draft,though he is far and away the top prospect. This shapes up as aloaded draft at the top with G League Ignite standout ScootHenderson and Alabama’s Brandon Miller expected to be the secondand third picks in some order. It’s conceivable that in any otheryear, they would be vying to be picked first.

“Looks good to me,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said of the topof the draft class. “I don’t know what’s legal or not legal to say.The very top of (the draft) is very impactful.”

Most experts would agree that Henderson and Miller are more thanconsolation picks. Teams that lands one of them should also getbetter, and that’s why no team is betting it all on thelottery.

“I’m not really worried about where the ball drops,” Detroitgeneral manager Troy Weaver said. “Would I celebrate witheverybody? Absolutely, but I don’t walk around like that.”

Wembanyama — who keeps a relatively low public profile, rarelydoing even postgame interviews despite worldwide interest in hisevery move — knows he captured the league’s attention long ago.LeBron James respectfully called him an alien last fall, Durantraves about Wembanyama’s game and French center Rudy Gobert said heknew at least three years ago that the teenager would be anenormous star.

Even Giannis Antetokounmpo marvels at Wembanyama, predicting hecould be “one of the best to play this game.”

“We’ve got to get ready for this kid,” Antetokounmpo said.

“It’s cool to see Giannis saying this stuff,” Wembanyama saidwhen he sat down with the NBA’s social media team a few weeks agoand was shown the clip of Antetokounmpo’s comments. “He’s probablylike my favorite player.”

Paolo Banchero was the No. 1 pick last year. He entered theleague with massive expectations and delivered; he’s thefrontrunner to win rookie of the year after a strong opening seasonwith the Orlando Magic. And he knows what Wembanyama will gothrough – on some level, anyway.

“His hype is a lot bigger than my hype,” said Banchero, who ledDuke to the Final Four in his only year in college. “He’s going tohave it probably worse than I did, but I’d tell him to just enjoyit. I’m sure he’s dreamed of this for a while and a lot comes withit, but it’s also a lot that you gain from it, a lot of good thingsas well. I’d tell him embrace it all and shoot, have fun. It’sgoing to be a dream come true for him.”

A dream come true for the lucky team, too. And answers startcoming soon. The draft lottery is May 16, the same day thatWembanyama’s French season is scheduled to end. The draft is June22. Summer league starts in early July; anticipation of Wembanyamaplaying in Las Vegas again after two ballyhooed games there thispast fall is already building. He intends to play in the BasketballWorld Cup for France starting in August. And then his rookie seasonstarts in October.

For one team, all the losing this season will be quicklyforgotten, based on how four ping-pong balls land.

“This can be his league,” Nowitzki said, “for a long, longtime.”

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AP Sports Writers Kristie Rieken in Houston, Schuyler Dixon inDallas, Noah Trister in Washington, Larry Lage in Detroit andMichael Marot in Indianapolis, along with Associated Press WriterRaul Dominguez in San Antonio, contributed to this story.