Evaluating Victor Wembanyama’s Fit On San Antonio Spurs

The NBA Draft Lottery results have finished up and we now know that the San Antonio Spurs will get the first overall pick. How does Victor Wembanyama fit over there?

The San Antonio Spurs won arguably the biggest draft lottery in NBA history as in about a month they’ll have Victor Wembanyama on their roster, who’s widely considered one of the best prospects in NBA history. The Spurs had one of the worst records in the entire NBA last season as they only won 22 games. Let’s dive into how the projected number one pick fits on the roster.

Wembanyama will fill in at center and is a clear starter from day one. The projected starting lineup is Tre Jones at the one, Devin Vassell at the two, Keldon Johnson at the three, Jeremy Sochan at the four, and Wembanyama at the five. That lineup on paper looks absolutely scary defensively. Jones is a tenacious point of attack defender that can really disrupt an opposing team’s offense. The Duke product has very good playmaking chops which should go well with Wembanyama as he’s the ultimate lob target. Jones should feel super comfortable playing his aggressive defense knowing that an elite rim protector in Wembanyama is sitting right behind him.

Vassell had a breakout year last season as he averaged a career high just about everywhere and looks like he can be a part of this Spurs core moving forward. The two-way wing is also able to play his style of defense and that’s getting into defenders, playing the passing lanes, and being an absolute pest on and off the ball. The French phenom will take so much pressure off of the perimeter defenders now that they know there’ll always be great help.

Johnson was the only player to average 20-points or more on the Spurs last season. He’ll now be able to take a step back and be more of a second or third option with Wembanyama coming in who’ll obviously be the focal point of the offense. The noticeable skills that Johnson and Sochan have to work on are their ability to consistently make outside shots. If that forward duo can be more consistent and improve as outside shooters then that’ll make Wembanyama’s job so much easier on the offensive end.

Gregg Popovich will be the head coach of the great Wembanyama and I personally couldn’t think of a better situation for him to start his career. The future spurs superstar will be coached by arguably the best coach in the history of the NBA, a well run organization, an extremely loyal fan base, and the team already had a very solid core but was just waiting for one more piece and they got that last night. The Spurs last two first overall picks turned out pretty well as they landed David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Only time will tell to see how the next number one overall pick will pan out, but the expectations have never higher.

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