Spurs Offseason: How Can Victor Wembanyama Improve His Game Next Year?

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama enters his second season with plenty of warranted expectations, but beyond all of the positives of his game, where can the 20-year-old most improve?

Mar 5, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) controls the ball as Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) defends during the first quarter at Toyota Center. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Victor Wembanyama has already picked up a career’s worth of accolades in one season. 

Not only did he take home Rookie of the Year honors, he made the All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams, as well. His immediate impact rewarded the San Antonio Spurs, yes, but his trophy case, too.

Better yet, Wembanyama has a stellar shot of acquiring even more hardware next season. He’s currently the betting favorite to win the NBA’s 2024-25 Most Improved Player Award, above fellow top picks like Evan Mobley and Paolo Banchero. 

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In order to add more awards to his collection, however, Wembanyama would have to make a considerable leap in at least one major category. Each of the last three MIP winners (Tyrese Maxey, Lauri Markkanen and Ja Morant) increased their points-per-game average by at least five from the previous season. 

The only “issue” is that there aren’t many areas of the game – on the surface, at least – where Wembanyama can make a major leap. He averaged a 20-point double-double throughout the entire 2023-24 season and led the league in blocks per game. 

There was one aspect where Wembanyama struggled a bit last season, though: 3-point shooting.

His season-long average from beyond the arc was 32.5 percent; the league average for the 2023-24 season was 36.6, the third-highest clip in the 21st century (the league average in 2020-21 and 2008-09 were both 36.7 percent).

Apr 9, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots as Memphis Grizzlies center Trey Jemison (55) defends during the second half at FedExForum. / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Despite Wembanyama's lower percentage compared to the league acreage, his number slightly increased from 32 to 33.3 after the All-Star break. In February, Wembanyama shot an elite 41.3 percent clip from 3, which included a five-game stretch from Feb. 3-12 where he shot at least 50 percent from long-range on at least four attempts per contest. 

Two spots where Wembanyama could capitalize more are on both corners. Last season, he shot 5-for-11 from the right corner and 7-for-11 from the left corner.

It’s an uncommon shot for a player in Wembanyama’s role — that is, a star big man who’s the focal point of a team’s offense. For example, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid are in similar situations; Jokic shot just eight corner triples last season, with Embiid attempting seven. 

The blueprint for increasing Wembanyama’s volume from the corner can actually be seen in one of his young, tall rivals in the Western Conference, Chet Homgren. Last season, Holmgren fired 38 corner triples, with 30 of them being from the left side. 

Holmgren’s greater volume of corner 3s, however, was greatly helped by the fact that he hasn’t been the engine of the Thunder offense, as that lies with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — an elite on-ball creator who allowed Holmgren to spot up in the corner and wait for the defense to collapse.

The Spurs might have the tools to accomplish something similar this season. If someone can step up as a high-level on-ball scorer, Wembanyama will likely have more opportunities to play off-ball. Early candidates for that role include Stephon Castle, Chris Paul and Keldon Johnson. 

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Johnson is probably the leader at the moment, which more so has to do with the play styles of the other two rather than Johnson himself. 

Paul’s scoring averages have taken a major dip from his heyday with the Los Angeles Clippers. With the Golden State Warriors last season, he averaged less than 10 points per game for the first time in his career, but did still average almost seven assists per game. 

October 20, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Chris Paul (3) shakes hands with San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) after a game at Chase Center. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Castle also wasn’t the main source of offense in his lone season at UConn. Last season under Dan Hurley, the Huskies dominated their opposition with team-first basketball, as no player attempted more than 20 percent of the team’s field goals. 

That could very well change with the rookie set to learn under Paul to eventually take over as the Spurs’ primary ball-handler. But even then, Wembanyama will likely still warrant ample touches, especially considering that Paul had proven to be a stellar pick-and-pop partner. 

And when his moments come — especially from behind the arc — Wembanyama will want to be as reliable as possible.