With an NBA center and world-class forwards in the lineup, the Chinese men’s basketball team is only one step away from getting back on track.

This summer, Wang Junjie, the new face of the national team, showed the momentum of a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers in the Asian Cup. In 6 games, he averaged 13 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.3 steals in 23.5 minutes per game, shooting 56.1% from the field and 47.8% from three-point range. As a young player with no previous professional league experience, Wang Junjie is indeed a surprise for the Chinese men's basketball team this summer.

In the most recent NCAA preseason game, the University of San Francisco lost to Utah State by 5 points. Wang Junjie played for 32 minutes, making 6 of 13 shots, 11 of 12 free throws, and scored 23 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal. His score set an NCAA career high. On the other hand, Zhao Weilun, another player who joined the University of San Francisco this summer, played the entire game for 3 minutes and did not score any points.

Wang Junjie joined the University of San Francisco in 2023. The new season will be his third season in the NCAA. Last season, Wang Junjie served as the team's main rotation and averaged 6.3 points and 3 rebounds in 20.1 minutes of playing time per game. The 20-year-old Wang Junjie, although the prospect of entering the NBA is not optimistic, if he can gain a foothold in the NCAA, he will still be of great help to the national team.

Wang Junjie, who is 2.06 meters tall, does have the potential to be a "world-class forward." In today's world basketball, the European and American teams that are somewhat competitive basically have tall forwards who can hold the ball and shoot. For example, Germany has the Wagner brothers, and Spain has the Hernangomez brothers. If we follow the traditional basketball positioning, Wang Junjie, who is 2.06 meters tall, may have had to play the 4th position before. However, with the popularity of small lineups, swing forwards like Wang Junjie can not only play 3 or 4, but can even guest star at the 5th position in small ball lineups.

Being able to show his scoring ability in the preseason, Wang Junjie may indeed reach a higher level in the new NCAA season. If he can make his scoring average exceed double digits, it is not impossible to have a chance to impact the NBA, but even if he fails to enter the NBA stage in the end, a "world-class forward" like Wang Junjie is still capable of competing in European or Australian leagues.

At present, the Chinese men's basketball team already has "NBA center" Yang Hansen, and Wang Junjie's experience in the NCAA in recent years can actually be regarded as a quasi-NBA player. What is more regrettable is that in terms of defenders, the Chinese men's basketball team has not been able to find a commander who can maintain his integrity in international competitions in recent years. Now the national team can only rely on Zhao Rui, who is already at the end of his prime, to play the role of a combo guard. For the Chinese men's basketball team, when they can find a world-class defender, they will not be far away from returning to the top.