Dallas Mavs' Grant Williams Reveals Defensive Gameplan vs. San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama

Ahead of next week’s season opener against the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks’ Grant Williams spoke with DallasBasketball.com about how he plans to guard No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama.

After a long, exciting offseason, real NBA basketball is on the horizon, as the 2023-24 regular season tips off next week.

The revamped Dallas Mavericks will get things started on the road, as they’ll take on their in-state rival San Antonio Spurs — and highly-touted No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Victor Wembanyama — on Wednesday night.

During preseason play, Wembanyama has displayed the freakish talent he possesses with his 7-foot-3 frame and eight-foot wingspan. Defensively, Wembanyama covers an insane amount of ground in a short period of time, and offensively, he’s capable of taking the ball up the court like a guard or playing with his back to the basket.

Ahead of this much-anticipated ‘next chapter’ in the storied rivalry, Mavs 3-and-D forward Grant Williams joined our Mavs Step Back Podcast on Thursday and spoke about how he plans to guard Wembanyama.

"I feel like you just have to be physical," Williams told DallasBasketball.com. "You have to make sure he can't get to the spots that he wants to get to. You have to make it difficult for him. Like any star player, you're gonna have to outwork them. They're gonna get the shots, they're gonna get the opportunities, so even if they have 20 points, you can't be mad at it, but you have to look up and see if they're 10-for-11 or 10-for-18. You know, that's a huge difference in this league."

Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Grant Williams setting up a play against Real Madrid in a preseason exhibition match / Grant Afseth, DallasBasketball.com

At 6-6, Williams might be considered as being an undersized power forward by some, but he’s able to make up for that with his strength and basketball IQ. Although he’ll surely be spending some time guarding Wembanyama with a high level of physicality, Williams made it clear that the Mavs will need a concerted team effort to limit his effectiveness.

"Also just understanding that it's not going to be one person that [contains Wembanyama]," Williams said. "We shouldn't be expecting [Dereck] Lively to be isolated and guarding him just by himself. We shouldn't expect Maxi [Kleber], myself or anybody to. The best teams are the ones who help one another."

Wembanyama’s game is tantalizing, and he will draw most of the spotlight this season, but Williams notes that the Spurs have other players the Mavs have to be conscious of as well.

"We can't just credit Victor for the Spurs' success either," Williams said. "They're healthy now, and Devin Vassell has been playing very, very well I've seen. Keldon Johnson is going to be a huge add to them. Jeremy Sochan, as his confidence continues to grow and he knocks down shots, he'll hopefully continue to add to that starting power forward position. And then they have a good guard in Tre Jones, and the guys off the bench with vets like Doug McDermott, Zach Collins."

Although the Mavs had a 3-1 record against the Spurs last season, one win was by one point with Luka Doncic having to drop 50 points, and another required overtime. Now, the Spurs have Wembanyama, and the Mavs have Williams, promising rookie big man Dereck Lively II and several other key additions. In a rivalry that always seems to be close no matter who is on each roster, physicality will be key, but Williams also says the Mavs must pick up their pace as well.

"They're a talented team, but we have to be mindful that we have to play with pace, we have to play with physicality, and we can't allow [Wembanyama] to get to the spots that he wants to,” Williams said. “He's going to be bringing the ball up, and he's also going to be back to the basket, so [it's] understanding that if he does bring the ball up, don't allow him to just bring it up comfortably.

“At 7-foot-3, how many guys are picking you up full-court?"

The Mavs and Spurs will tip off at 8:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Frost Bank Center. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. San Antonio vs. Dallas, Doncic and Kyrie Irving vs. Wembanyama … not much more you can ask for in a star-studded, in-state season opener.

---