In his second season in the NBA, Wembanyama improved his offensive efficiency while being one of the best defenders in the league. Naturally, the Spurs improved and flirted with being a 0.500 team until Wemby was shut down for the season on Feb 20 due to a deep vein thrombosis. With Wemby on court, the team was already pretty good: +2.97 Net/Rtg | 115.77 Off.Rtg | 112.80 Def.Rtg.
The Spurs made a midseason trade to land De’Aaron Fox, who did not have a lot of chances to play alongside Wembanyama. They only played 120 minutes together due to Wemby’s injury. Fox has also been banged up on this preseason, as he missed training camp and preseason, so he is yet to develop any chemistry with Wembanyama really.
Fortunately for the Spurs, they seem to have made some really good recent draft selections. Stephon Castle was the rookie of the year last season while this season’s top draft pick Dylan Harper has already shown in the preseason that he is ready to make an interesting impact in the team from Day 1. If Harper really confirms himself as a big time player, then Fox might end up becoming expendable for the team as he isn’t wired to play off the ball at all. San Antonio also drafted Carter Bryant who has a big upside on the defensive end, but unlike Harper he will require time to develop as a capable NBA player.
As much talent as Spurs have in the perimeter, this is a very young group that will be prone to commit errors. Therefore, they will need Devin Vassell to confirm himself as a solid shooter as he will have great spacing provided by both Wemby and Fox. Vassell had worse shooting numbers last season in comparison with the previous year and that can’t happen again this season.
The Spurs also made a sneaky good move in the offseason by getting Luke Kornet from the Celtics. Kornet is a solid player who will give the team some decent minutes when Wembanyama rests, while they might even end up playing some time together as some teams in the West use 2-big lineups, something that could end up hurting the Spurs with just Wemby on court.
There is some indefinition when it comes to the Power Forward position. Harrison Barnes seems to be the starting PF for now but his timeline really doesn’t fit with this roster. Jeremy Sochan should have been their main option for this position but his offensive shortcomings could be a problem for him and the team.
Will San Antonio be able to become a playoff team already this season in such a tough conference? With so many young players, I would expect them to require some more time for that, especially with Fox still not being completely adapted to the squad. However, history says that all time generational talents such as Wembanyama are normally able to lead their teams to the postseason on their third season in the NBA…