SAN ANTONIO — Pick any spot on the court, and San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama can likely play that position effectively.
Point guard? He can dribble the ball and facilitate.
Shooting guard? He can knock down three-point shots.
Center? He can dominate the paint on both sides of the court.
Portland's Deandre Ayton is questionable with illness for Friday night's game, San Antonio's first matchup since Sunday. Still, if he does suit up, he will have the unenviable task of defending Wemby as the Spurs visit the Blazers.
He's got some takeaways to learn from, having already faced him in their first meeting on Nov. 7. The Spurs won that game 118-105.
"To be honest, Wemby doesn't have any (weak) spots out there," Ayton said. "He catches it where he wants it. You push him as much as you want. The dude can catch it anywhere and makes things work."
In his first meeting this season against Portland, Wembanyama finished with 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting, four steals, three blocks and eight rebounds.
What makes guarding Wemby tricky is his ability to do everything. Since entering the league, he's shown he's no mere traditional big man who camps in the paint.
When the ball is in his hands, he is a deft facilitator. His assist percentage ranks in the 91st percentile among other bigs at 20.2%. He creates 8.7 points per game on his assists, with the 3.6 assists he currently averages.
When he catches a pass away from the paint and at the three-line, he makes 83% of assisted three-point shots. This ranks him seventh among bigs, ahead of the Denver's Nikola Jokic, the reigning NBA MVP.
"You don't even treat him like a big. You treat him like a guard. A big guard," said Ayton. "Wherever he catches that, you don't have to square him up and really load up because he has no spots."
Opposing teams have tried to get physical with the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year this season to keep him away from the paint, but he is starting to recognize his tremendous advantage: height, agility and length.
He's starting to be the aggressor and attack the lane, especially when smaller defenders guard him.
Wemby draws 4.5% of non-shooting fouls per team play. This places him in the 99th percentile among NBA bigs, just behind Joel Embiid at 4.6% and ahead of Kristaps Porzingis and Alpreen Sengun.
Wembanyama also remains a threat at the rim, hitting 82% of his shots. Defensively, he is a terror for the opposition, with 3.4 blocks per game, 1.2 steals and 5.1 fouls drawn.
Ultimately, Wemby is a matchup nightmare, no matter his position on the floor. Something his Friday night opponent realizes.
"He just catches it where he wants, or wherever he feels like, and you get to work," Ayton said. "It's not really pushing him off the spot. He's going to catch the ball."