Spurs Need to Make Victor Wembanyama’s Life Easier
If you’ve been following the Spurs only casually through Victor Wembanyama highlights, you may be unaware San Antonio is currently one of the worst teams in the NBA.
Entering Nov. 27, the Spurs are tied with the Pistons and Wizards for most losses, 14. While the Wemby experience has been generally pleasant—particularly the videos of opponents learning exactly how tall he is—and even though nobody expected this Spurs team to be great … it is a little upsetting how poorly San Antonio has been playing!
Wemby is putting together an impressive rookie campaign, averaging 19.2 points per game.
Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports
Again, this team wasn’t exactly built to compete for a play-in spot, let alone a playoff one. But the Spurs did draft the most hyped prospect since LeBron James, and I don’t know if I expected them to be loitering with shady characters like the Wizards at the bottom of the standings, either.
One of the big issues here has been the team’s guard rotation. San Antonio has been experimenting with forward Jeremy Sochan as the team’s lead ballhandler, and to put it bluntly, the experiment hasn’t worked. Sochan’s assist-to-turnover ratio is an uninspiring 1.9 to 1, he doesn’t seem to have a great feel as a pick-and-roll ballhandler, and, in the 319 minutes he and Wembanyama have shared the floor, San Antonio has a ghastly minus-18.4 net rating. Sochan has passing ability, just not necessarily point guard ability.
This wouldn’t be as upsetting if Wemby and Tre Jones, the team’s backup point guard, weren’t playing so well together. Jones has limitations as a shooter, and yet the duo of him and Wembanyama has an 8.1 net rating in 193 minutes.
I don’t think the answer is as simple as starting Jones and cutting Sochan’s minutes. I actually respect what the Spurs are doing, to an extent. Sochan is going to be an important part of the team’s future. Though he’s likely not the long-term answer at point guard, getting him these reps with the ball in his hands now could pay dividends in the future, even if he’s playing his more natural position by then. It’s a forward-thinking move from a stable organization that knows it’s not making noise in the postseason this year. (Jones also played in the starting group in place of Sochan in the second half of San Antonio’s loss to Denver on Sunday, and it’s not like the team took off.)
My concern is when all of this comes at the expense of Wembanyama. His development is obviously paramount. And it’s kind of incredible Wemby is already averaging 19.2 points per game considering how stilted the Spurs’ offense is in the half court, and how often Wembanyama is forced to create off broken or random plays.
Ultimately, the Spurs can continue with the Sochan-at-point minutes, but Wemby deserves to have another guard to play with. San Antonio should be doing whatever it can to make Wembanyama’s life easier, especially as frustrating losses mount up. The Spurs have plenty of draft capital and are clearly going to be in the lottery again next summer, so moving off a future pick should not be a huge deal.
San Antonio can call up the Wizards and see whether Washington really needs Tyus Jones or Delon Wright around for its tanking purposes. The Spurs could also dip their toe into the free-agent pool and see whether any vets who aren’t getting interest from contenders want to make a few extra bucks this year. Would Austin Rivers have any possible interest? What about a reunion with George Hill?
These names may not be sexy, but they would provide a level of competence the Spurs lack. Even if it were for only a few minutes a game, even if it were only for the team to practice better, San Antonio needs to make sure it is creating the best possible incubator for Wemby. The experiments can and should continue, and the losses will mount no matter what, so if basketball life is going to be difficult for the Spurs, the least they could do is try to make the situation easier on Wembanyama.
