San Antonio Spurs: Adding The Right Pieces To Victor Wembanyama
With the regular season still over two months away, speculation about Victor Wembanyama's immediate impact is all over the place.
But there's a conversation to be had, which is more important. Such as how the Spurs plan to use him, and how he fits — theoretically — with current key members of the team.
We, kind of, already know that San Antonio wants Wembanyama to be himself, meaning he'll receive leeway in how he plays and won't necessarily be as restricted as usual Spurs rookies.
However, that doesn't mean he'll have carte blanche. The Spurs will undoubtedly identify areas where the 7-foot-4 forward's game can be optimized, and my initial guess is in the way of shot selection.
In Dallas, we've seen the Mavericks give Luka Dončić the green light to do, well, everything. It's worked out incredibly well for the most part, but the Slovenian superstar does occasionally take shots where even his biggest supporters look the other way.
I'm guessing the Spurs want the Dončić experience with Wembanyama but with the exclusion of shots that makes little sense. (And no, I'm not insinuating that the Spurs tell Wembanyama to lose the one-step jumper, as that might become a genuine weapon of his sooner than later, the more he works on it.)
Of course, to optimize and streamline the best possible shot profile for Wembanyama, the right personnel needs to be alongside him. Fortunately, the Spurs have made quality selections in the draft in recent years, and have a steady contributing core of Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Malaki Branham and Jeremy Sochan lined up.
Note that I didn't mention Tre Jones. While the point guard did have a decent season last year, averaging 12.9 points and 6.6 assists, he lacks two key components to help give Wembanyama more open looks.
For one, Jones is not yet a strong long-range shooter. He's hit 27.1% from the outside for his career and took just 2.3 attempts last year. Defenses, quite simply, don't have to fear his floor spacing, allowing them to set up camp in the lane, thus crowding Wembanyama.
Secondly, Jones is just 6-foot-1. In today's league, where switching defenses and versatile wings can rotate over to guard smaller players, Jones will see his size become even more of a disadvantage if his primary scoring skill is finishing near the rim. (Let's also give credit where credit is due. For someone that small, Jones has been OUTRAGEOUSLY effective finishing near the basket, having hit 67.3% of shots within three feet last year.)
Now, I'm not ready to say Jones will outright hurt Wembanyama, but I'd be surprised if he is the long-term solution at point guard for a team that's looking to give their new franchise player as many quality looks, and as much spacing, as possible.
So what type of profile should the Spurs be looking for, if they were to scour the point guard market?
The player that makes the most sense, Lonzo Ball, is both injured and a one-of-one player. There simply isn't another player in basketball with the size, IQ, court vision, defensive impact and long-range shooting.
So what, or who, comes the closest to that?
Ironically, it might be another rookie who has yet to make his professional debut, and I'm guessing Orlando is keen on retaining Anthony Black.
However, Black should be on San Antonio's radar, and they should follow his progress closely. If he underperforms in Orlando, or there are simply too many ball-handling chefs in the kitchen, it'd make all the sense in the world for the Spurs to eventually make a play for him, even if he's a work in progress.
Right now, Black is probably as equally ineffective a shooter as Jones, but given that he's significantly younger, there's upside in that department. The size, which can't be taught, is already there though, and his passing chops projects as being very capable of duplicating what Jones can do in that area.
However the Spurs approach the season, they should be open to looking around the league for a point guard that projects to unlock Wembanyama further.
Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
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