SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images
It’s hard to speak of San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama without sounding a bit hyperbolic. It’s just that when a 7’4″ ball-handling, three-point shooting, lob-finishing, defensively versatile, shot-blocking alien comes around the Association, no one really knows how to react.
Even the Spurs didn’t. They opened the season with no true point guard on the floor (Jeremy Sochan tried and failed to function as a jumbo-sized floor general) and with a second big man alongside Wembanyama in the frontcourt (Zach Collins). When that trio shared the floor, San Antonio was steamrolled by 18 points per 100 possessions.
The Spurs eventually wised up and deployed Wembanyama as a lone big operating with an actual lead guard. Not surprisingly, things fell quickly into place once that happened. When San Antonio had the Frenchman and Tre Jones on the floor with Sochan and Collins off it, that net rating climbed to plus-3.2 points per 100 possessions (a 69th percentile mark around the league).
The Spurs are woefully light on talent, and Wembanyama can still kind of make it work because he’s such a potent force at both ends. But he needs more help than this roster can supply, so how much does that matter to San Antonio’s decision-makers? Is there any urgency to go find that support now, or is there still some runway left to build this up?
After his first NBA go-round, Wembanyama told reporters, “I trust the project,” which feels like an endorsement of this slow-and-steady strategy. But he also said, “I wish we were into the playoffs,” and, “I wish I didn’t lose 60 games,” and maybe San Antonio wants to help him fix those disappointments.
The Spurs have a treasure chest of trade assets, and there are no shortage of on-the-market perimeter shot-creators to pair with the 20-year-old. Smashing the fast-forward button is a distinct possibility if San Antonio wants to take that route.
