Spurs' Mitch Johnson Reveals How Victor Wembanyama Can Improve This Season

SAN ANTONIO — There isn't much Victor Wembanyama can't do on a basketball court.

Still, entering his fourth season with the San Antonio Spurs, coach Mitch Johnson sees plenty of ways in which the franchise cornerstone can continue to grow his game.

“I think he has a ton of room to improve in all aspects,” Johnson said during the Spurs' annual Media Day on Monday. “I think ... one thing for him will just be to continue to manipulate the game and dictate the game, not just by scoring but by making plays for his teammates."

For Wembanyama, that means recognizing what defenses are giving him, forcing them into difficult decisions and consistently capitalizing on the advantages those decisions create.

Johnson has already seen Wembanyama flash that ability, especially during San Antonio's NBA Finals run. Now, he wants it to become a more consistent part of his game.

“(It's about) forcing the defense to make a decision and taking advantages of opportunities in front of him,” Johnson began, “and probably continue to connect those throughout ... where he's almost puppeteering the game as we see the best players in our game do it.”

Sep 28, 2026; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) poses for photos during Media Day at Victory Capital Performance Center in San Antonio, Texas. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Wembanyama's continued physical development could help him get there. After another lengthy season that included two months of additional basketball in April, May and June, he entered training camp encouraged by how his body responded to a condensed offseason.

“What I've noticed this summer is that my baseline has increased,” Wembanyama said. “I'm in a better shape than I could have expected right now, even though the summer was short."

That experience didn't come easily. San Antonio played 21 postseason games, exposing Wembanyama and the Spurs' young core to the type of physical basketball that isn't always replicated during the regular season. De'Aaron Fox has already noticed the difference.

“I think even just throughout the entire postseason, we played four of some of the most physical teams that you'll play in the league,” Fox explained. “Coming in here and playing pickup, you can see that guys are used to that physicality.”

For Fox, those experiences can accelerate development in ways an offseason spent exclusively working on individual skills can't replicate. Learning both to withstand that level of physicality and execute against it became its own form of development for the Spurs.

"That's something that helps you more than just becoming better at your craft," Fox said.

For Wembanyama, it could be another piece of an increasingly complicated puzzle for opposing defenses. The talent has never been in question. Johnson's challenge now is for Wembanyama to dictate what he does, as well as what everyone else on the floor can do.

“We just have to keep committing to not skipping steps and getting better incrementally,” Johnson began, “and then when you have some really dynamic, talented players that we do, you just don't put ceilings on them. You continue to let them grow.”

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