The San Antonio Spurs are off to a rough start to the season after dropping their latest game to the Houston Rockets. Some of that is on star Victor Wembanyama, who has been inconsistent thus far, averaging just 18.3 on 42% shooting .
All things considered, that may actually be as bad as it sounds since it suggests that the Spurs can play far better once their best player starts playing more consistently. They are also missing their second-best player, Devin Vassell, and now Jeremy Sochan.
Interestingly enough, despite his size at 7'3, Wembanayama doesn't spend a lot of time in the post. That seems like a mistake considering that he probably wouldn't be struggling if he were taking more high-percentage shots.
However, it's actually by design. Coach Gregg Popovich, who is now away from the team with health issues, recently elaborated on how the Spurs want to use Wembanyama with him playing less in the post and more facing the basket.
Chris Paul said these first few games have been like a training camp for him and Wemby. He also noted that Pop told them before the Utah game "how we would like to play...keeping Vic facing the basket instead of with his back to the basket as much as possible."
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) November 3, 2024
There are several ways to play facing the basket, including being a roll man in the pick-and-roll with Chris Paul and Tre Jones. He has also spent a lot of time playing on the perimeter, spotting up and even isolating against opposing big men.
Are the San Antonio Spurs misusing Victor Wembanyama?
Thus far this season, the results have been mixed, with Wembanyama often settling for threes rather than getting higher percentage shots in the paint. He is attempting 7.1 3-point attempts per game through the first six games of the season while hitting just 21.4 % of his threes.
That is unsustainably bad and he will either need to shoot far better or attempt fewer shots from outside. Last season, he shot just 33.6% from deep, below average, but 34.6% from three once he switched to center full-time, which is much closer to league average.
He also shot well on step-back and pull-up threes, showing that he has significant potential as a shooter, even if it's mostly theoretical right now. Even so, his shot selection needs to be better, with him taking 45% of his shots from beyond the arc.
The Spurs' roster doesn't perfectly complement Victor Wembanyama.
Nikola Jokic, for comparison, has a career 3-point rate of just 19.8% with him smartly balancing between spacing the floor and seeking out high-percentage shots. A lot of Wembanyama's problems can be solved by having him run more picks and rolls with Paul, which hasn't been a big part of the Spurs offense so far.
That likely is a result of them barely playing together in the preseason and San Antonio still figuring out who will play beside them, with a spaced floor being vital to maxmizing Wembyanyama's strengths. Unfortunately, the Spurs have a bunch of non-shooters or inconsistent shooters in their rotation, including Sochan, Zach Collins, Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle, and Blake Wesley.
That won't do Wembanyama any favors, but neither does him settle for low-percentage shots from outside. If the Spurs don't plan to use him like a traditional big man, they will need to do a better job of creating open looks for him or risk their best player continuing to struggle.