San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama is towering over the league early this season. Daniel Dunn / Imagn Images

The "face of the league" discussion is an exercise in futility.

For all the prognosticating about who might be the next torchbearer in the NBA, it's just not the kind of thing you can pull out of the old crystal ball. Even when LeBron James was deemed "The Chosen One" back in 2002, he had to spend the next two decades living up to all that hype to secure that unofficial crown. And go ahead and raise your hand if you pegged that skinny kid from Davidson, Wardell Stephen Curry, as his eventual co-star on that front. But from Russell to Wilt, Kareem, Bird, Magic, Michael, LeBron, Steph and every legend in between, there's one particular prerequisite to even qualify for candidacy in this debate: winning MVP.

Which brings us to Victor Wembanyama.

We're only four games into his third season, and it couldn't be more obvious that the San Antonio Spurs' 21-year-old phenom is capable of being a top-five finisher -- if not actually winning the award -- right now. If he managed to pull that off, he would be the youngest in league history (edging Derrick Rose and his 2011 MVP by a couple of months). And with all due respect to the incumbent, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or the chosen favorite among general managers, Denver's Nikola Jokić, Wembanyama has already been so great that it's fair game to analyze his candidacy.

Let's start with the basics: Wembanyama is averaging 31 points, 13.8 rebounds, 4.8 blocks, and 1.5 steals for a Spurs team that, even without the injured De'Aaron Fox, is 4-0 after wins over Dallas, New Orleans, Brooklyn and Toronto. That's not exactly a murderer's row of opponents, but you play the schedule you're given. As a related aside, the list of unbeatens is now down to four teams (reigning champion Oklahoma City, and -- more surprisingly -- Philadelphia, Chicago and San Antonio).

Yet when it comes to learning about this upgraded version of Wembanyama's game, you really have to lock in and see all the ways he's improved from last season. The Dream Shake, taught to him in the offseason by Hakeem himself, is real. So is the handle, which was on full display in the Spurs' 121-103 win over the Raptors on Monday night (one in which he was a game-high plus-35 despite taking just eight shots).

He's significantly stronger than before, clearly more confident and smarter with his shot selection. Rather than chucking from distance like he did so often last season, his 3-point attempts are down significantly (2.8 attempts per so far, vs. 8.8 in 2024-25 at a 35.2 percent clip). He's shooting 60.3 percent overall.

On the defensive end, the combination of absurd size, athleticism and intellect is leading to the type of impact that's never been seen. And considering the ineffectiveness of most defensive stats, we're going to need our resident guru of such matters, John Hollinger, to come up with a catch-all formula to quantify the innumerable plays he affects on that end that don't show up in the box score. And while the Spurs were just 25th in defensive rating last season (when they went 34-48), they're third in this early going.

All in all, that's not too shabby for a team that still doesn't have the veteran point guard, Fox, who was given a four-year, $229 million extension over the summer.

It's quite remarkable that Fox (hamstring injury) and Wembanyama have only played in five games together since the early February trade with Sacramento that paired them. While Fox's timeline for a return remains a moving target, he participated in a five-on-five scrimmage recently and expressed optimism that he's close to returning.

Whenever that time arrives, there is still much to learn about this group that's on the rise. How does Fox fit in with Wembanyama and the Spurs' bevy of talented young guards who are currently second, third and fourth, respectively, on the team in scoring (Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper)? Can they win at an elite enough level to make Wembanyama a legitimate MVP frontrunner? Does that even matter if he keeps it up at this individual pace?

If this is Wemby's new norm, then his first MVP seems inevitable in these next few years. If that's his fate, we can let the "face of the league" debate begin from there.

Speaking of big-picture questions, this early-season explosion of scoring from the Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves makes you wonder how next summer's free agency experience will go for the fifth-year guard.

When the 27-year-old turned down the Lakers' four-year, $89.2 million extension in late June, it came as no surprise. That amount was the most the Lakers were allowed to offer at the time but nowhere near the amount he was projected to command on the open market (he has a player option worth $14.8 million for next season that he's expected to decline).

As our Lakers beat writer, Dan Woike, reported in late September, rival executives could see Reaves fetching as much as $40 million annually. And that was before he started this season with All-Star-level numbers.

Through four games, Reaves is averaging 35.8 points, 8.5 assists and 6.8 rebounds. More specifically, his 51-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist masterpiece in a win over the Kings on Sunday night that came without LeBron James (sciatica) and Luka Dončić (finger, leg injuries) was the kind of performance that served as evidence for the rest of the league of what he could do as a No. 1 option. But therein lies the Lakers' dilemma.

While they'll be able to outbid the competition next July, when his max offer from the Lakers would be five years and a combined $240 million, they need to see how he fits alongside Dončić for a full season first. The money certainly shouldn't be a problem, what with new owner Mark Walter -- he of the LA Dodgers' free-spending lore -- having bought a majority stake of the team at a $10 billion valuation in June.

The Reaves dynamic has potential shades of what transpired with Dončić in Dallas, when Jalen Brunson opted to leave the Mavericks for the New York Knicks and the chance to have his own team in 2022. Add in the fact that James could decide to retire at any given moment, and the prospect of Dončić being left without an elite core around him is real.

Then again, Reaves' desire to truly contend, as well as his affinity for the Lakers experience, is well known around the team. If they find a way to be elite, then perhaps that becomes an incentive to stay. What's more, it should count for something that Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka have consistently resisted pressure to trade Reaves for a star player because of their belief in him.

These are good problems to have for Reaves, and early signs of a complicated offseason for the Lakers.

* The 76ers, who looked doomed coming into the season because of the continued health issues for Joel Embiid and Paul George, are 3-0 on the backs of their electric new backcourt (wins over Boston, Charlotte and Orlando). You knew about Tyrese Maxey already, but his new running mate, third pick V.J. Edgecombe, has looked like an absolute star to this point. Not to mention a Rookie of the Year frontrunner (don't worry, Mavs fans, Cooper Flagg has plenty of time to catch up).

Per ESPN's research, the duo's combined scoring in the first three games (182 points) is the most by any team's starting backcourt since the stats were first compiled in the 1970-71 season. Edgecombe is averaging 25 points, six assists and 5.6 rebounds. He had 26 points, seven assists and four rebounds against the Magic, when his offense was so infuriating to Orlando guard Desmond Bane in the early third quarter that he committed three fouls and earned a technical foul in the span of seven seconds.

* It's (very) early, but the Hawks (1-2) aren't living up to offseason hype just yet. Yet here come the Chicago Bulls -- yes, the Bulls -- who were on the opposite end of that summertime discussion and who downed the Hawks 128-123 on Monday night to improve to 3-0. It's their best start since 2021-22, when Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan were running the show in the Windy City. Ironically enough, they have a rematch with that familiar duo, now with the Sacramento Kings, at home on Wednesday.

* Don't look now, but Jonathan Kuminga continues to change the narrative around him with the Golden State Warriors. After finishing with 25 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a win over Memphis on Monday, he's averaging an efficient 18 points (58.1 percent overall, 42.9 from 2), eight rebounds and four assists for Golden State (3-1) while playing a career-high pace of 31 minutes per game.

Considering all the angst that came with his restricted free-agency situation, with Kuminga ultimately deciding to take the two-year, $48.5 million deal that comes with a team option in the second season, both Kuminga and the Warriors couldn't have asked for a much better start. The effort to hit the glass, in particular, has long been an area of focus for Warriors coach Steve Kerr (his career high is 4.8 per game) and a notable area of improvement. Kuminga is part of the Warriors' most effective lineups to this point, with the group of Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski and Kuminga turning in a net rating of plus-29.4 in a combined 39 minutes, per NBA.com.

* Speaking of the "face of the league" discussion, our Nick Friedell discussed that very topic with Ja Morant on Monday. Given all that has gone on with the Memphis star off the court in recent years, and the fact that he's seen his once-celebrated Grizzlies core diminished along the way, his answer to that question was about as good as anyone could ask for.

"Just be the best Ja I can be," said Morant, who is averaging an inefficient 22.3 points (41.1 percent overall; 11.1 percent from 3), 6.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds for the 2-2 Grizzlies.

Needless to say -- but I'll say it, anyway -- Morant isn't in the running like he used to be. And at this rate, anyone not nicknamed "Wemby" can say the same.

Wemby for MVP, the Lakers' Austin Reaves dilemma and more early NBA observations