LaMarcus Aldridge Wants Spurs' Victor Wembanyama to 'Get One Move'

LaMarcus Aldridge weighed in on the San Antonio Spurs and their development of Victor Wembanyama.

Before he scored 30 points in a road win against the Portland Trail Blazers, Victor Wembanyama was doing everything right on the basketball court aside from winning. 

The San Antonio Spurs, while young and fun, simply do not have a competitive roster quite yet. They are building a contender around Wembanyama, but this season is focused on development.

One way the Spurs can quickly develop Wembanyama into a star is to give him a go-to move that he can use in any situation at any point in a game. Former Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge advocated for Wembanyama to follow in his footsteps and master the 16-foot fade away.

Dec 28, 2023; Portland, Oregon, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) blocks a shot during the first half against Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) at Moda Center / © Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

“He’s so skilled, I would just break his sh*t down and be like, get a move that if it’s fourth quarter, you’re going to go to it. Like my sh*t was always my fade, beginning of the game, and end of the game,” Aldridge said on the All The Smoke podcast. 

He claims that Wembanyama should let the game come to him and rely on his skillset to get easy baskets. 

“Get one move where it’s like I don’t care who’s guarding you, you know what I’m saying? Then build off that sh*t. But I feel like he’s so skilled, he’s got like 18 different moves in his head and he’s playing too fast right now. Slow yourself down and get two moves to go to.”

A key part of Aldridge’s argument is letting the ball come to Wemby instead of having Wembanyama go to the ball. A key part of that would be playing a traditional point guard or facilitator alongside the rookie, and not experimenting with the role of floor general.

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Aldridge was a seven-time All-Star and averaged 19.5 points in six seasons with the Silver and Black, mostly working in the post against smaller defenders. He stands at 6-11 and his high release made him almost unguardable. Wembanyama has nearly a half foot on Aldridge, so his jump shot would be even more impossible to stop.

As for the Spurs’ plan? Gregg Popovich seems to think Wembanyama needs to realize his potential before developing a signature move. “It’s pretty early in his career to start talking about what he needs to do, we’ll just learn who he is,” said Popovich. With that, talent evaluation and development seem to be the Spurs' priority this season.