Victor Wembanyama has been posting eye-popping numbers across the board but the Spurs coaching staff knows he’s just scratching the surface of his true potential, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes.
The Spurs wants the star rookie to grow at a comfortable pace.
“We want to continue the process. We consistently remind him to be disciplined, and to do the little things. We want him to be strong when he’s catching the ball. We go over different nuances on the scouting report, things like that,” Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson said. “One of the hardest things for us is knowing that he’s capable of doing so much. So, we don’t want to open up the floodgates and put too much on him. We want him to figure things out as he goes. We want to provide the structure where he can continue to grow.”
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- Pelicans guard CJ McCollum didn’t play against Chicago this weekend due to a sore left ankle but he went through a full practice on Monday, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets. McCollum and Zion Williamson (left foot contusion) are listed as questionable to play against the Knicks on Tuesday, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets.
- The Mavericks have an open roster spot but that may change in the near future. Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News hears that the front office is definitely looking to add a player if it finds the right fit.
- Mavericks swingman Dante Exum hasn’t played since Jan. 26 due to a knee injury but he’s close to returning. Exum practiced on Monday, though he’s listed as doubtful to suit up against Cleveland on Tuesday, Townsend tweets.
- Malcolm Hill‘s two-way contract with the Pelicans is a two-year deal, Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets. Hill, a third-year swingman, signed his two-way deal on Thursday.
Victor looks amazing, everything he was hyped up to be so far. Just unfortunately for him the team isn’t at all constructed to be the least bit competitive right now. That won’t last tho.
They are likely to have a top 3 pick and another around 7th/8th. Nikola Topic looks to be the obviously target. Big tall, euro point guard, that passes and scores well. Risacher looks good too, French forward, shoots extremely well but projects to be more of a great role player. I’m also a big Rob Dillingham guy, a nice score first point guard but I think has good room to grow as a passer.
I actually think Risacher and Dillingham would be my selections in a perfect world for the Spurs.
Dillingham and Vassell in the backcourt, Risacher fills a forward spot with Wemby at centre.
I’d then try make this trade,
Keldon Johnson, Zach Collins, pick 33 and 2 future seconds for Harrison Barnes, Kevin Hueter and JaVale McGee.
And in FA grab a back up SF like JaeSean Tate maybe
Giving you a team of
Dillingham Vassell Risacher Barnes Wemby
Jones Hueter Tate Sochan McGee
Barnes as the vet helps direct the starters. Think he slots in well in Pop’s system. Same with McGee who’s more of a locker room guy tho. Dillingham I think is the most underrated player who like a lot of recent Kentucky guards will do well in the league. I like the depth these moves make. You have 10 guys who all complement each other very well.
*kings were rumoured to be shopping all three of those guys hence the idea not being too outlandish. Apparently they want Keegan at the 4, so Keldon may fit as the 3, Collins gives them a good back up 4/5 with spacing and then you gets decent picks*
Seems too soon to turn Johnson into older players. This seems like a lose-lose
Yeah idk he’s an all round nice player but he’s not exactly great in any particular skill which makes it hard to keep sticking with him. I’d rather cash in while there still good value.
Barnes seems like a really good fit, can shoot, can defend, play either forward spot. Can be tasked with being a 20 points per game scorer or just a simple role player. Think he’d really fit in well under coach Pop and help build that young locker room.
He’s perfect in a 3 forward rotation with Sochan and one other (Rosacher) because he can play either spot, be the more aggressive score or sit back and provide spacing while being good defensively. It’s also not like he wants 30 minutes every night and demands touches.
Why would the Kings consider that trade? Considering that they run a motion offense that needs good shooters to work. Also, Rob isnt underrated he is a projected top 6/5 pick
I think Rob’s really underrated. I’ve seen some mocks have him 6th and others around 12th.
I think he’s being over criticised for his lack of passing ability. He averages 3.8 assists as a combo guard coming off the bench playing 23 minutes. On any other college team he’s a starter putting up 23+ points with about 7 assists and would probably be in the discussion for number 1 pick.
However I like that he’s on Kentucky, look at the young guards to come out of there recently. Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickly, Tyler Herro, SGA, Fox, Murray, Booker and so on.
Dillinghams 15-4-3 shooting 49-45-74 in 23 minutes off the bench
Maxey was 14-4-3 but played 34 minutes as a starter and couldn’t shoot the 3
IQ was 16-4-2 in 30 minutes shooting 41-42-92
Herro 14-4.5-2.5 in 33 mins
Notice how a lot of these guys weren’t top 10 picks in the draft, all were kinda combo guards and put up similar ish numbers.
Rob is next in line. He’s like Tyrese Maxey but more aggressive as a shooter, or IQ with better passing.
The Spurs have cap space coming too. Time will tell to see if Pop can build a team.
Spurs are gonna be a fun team to watch for a few years before they get competitive… Just for those moments of wtf did Victor just do that?
Need Victor to network and recruit some star players from around the league to come join him. Spurs office needs to start adding a few proven veterans. Historically top FA’s don’t want to sign with SA, but Victor has a chance to change that. I get having a young core but the whole team can’t be young. You need players like Elie, Finley, Willis, Turk, Ferry to help turn the tide and bridge the gaps in a young core’s game. This team is never going to fully turn around while waiting on its youth to develop into super stars. This year was good advertisement to the rest of the league that Wemby is going to be the next face of the league. PATFO and Wemby need to capitalize on that and go on the recruiting trail this summer.