Spurs' Victor Wembanyama Will Move Past Summer League Struggles

Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama had both highs and lows in Summer League, but that shouldn't hold any weight come October.

Victor Wembanyama struggled in his first appearance in Summer League, but he showed in his second appearance why he will be just fine for the San Antonio Spurs.

Wembanyama scored just nine points on 2-of-13 shooting, knocking down one of his six 3-pointer attempts. However, he still found ways to be impactful. He used his frame to make defensive plays, tallying five blocks, also pulling down eight rebounds. 

Having recently come from playing professional basketball in France, Wembanyama was very honest about his experience playing in Summer League for the first time.

"Honestly, I didn't really know what I was doing on the court tonight," Wembanyama admitted. "I'm trying to learn for next game."

However, this wouldn't last long as the Spurs forward bounced all the way back in his second and final Summer League game. Though the team lost, Wembanyama dropped 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He racked up 12 rebounds, blocked three shots and added a steal as well. 

The French phenom truly looked like the top pick in the draft and the coveted prospect he was.

"I had so much s*** going on with the draft and with the media," Wembanyama said. "Two days ago was my first game, it made sense...Before [Sunday], I had just two practices and one game, I was just getting going."

Before his first game, Wemby was on a PR tour, taking media request after media request. Between his debut and second game, he didn't do much aside from the NBA In-Season Tournament debut. It was solely basketball for the 7-4 forward. He proved what he can do with that level of focus.

"I just wanna hoop, workout and lift," Wembanyama said. "This is my life. I understand that every No. 1 pick has to go through this, but this would make me better for the future."

Come basketball season, it will be nothing but basketball for Wemby, and his game will benefit from hit. However, this won't be the only reason he will be able to show why he was the consensus No. 1 pick. 

For example, Toronto Raptors rookie Gradey Dick doesn't have a great supporting cast in Summer League. He will look much better with a real NBA roster around him, and he will thrive much more. The same goes for Wemby, as he will benefit from having great spacing and a good playmaker in Tre Jones feeding him the ball.

With focus being on basketball alone and having a supporting cast that benefits Wembanyama, he will look much more like he did in his second Summer League game than how he did in his first game.

“All in all, I think he did a good job," Spurs summer league coach Matt Nielsen said. "You can see his basketball IQ is elite."

Wembanyama's IQ might be the only real, firm takeaway from Summer League. He's adjusting to a new style of basketball and is playing against guys that are physically NBA ready, but not ready for the league when it comes to top-tier skill, and that's why there is sloppy play. 

All in all, be ready to see a different version of Wembanyama come October than we saw these past couple of games in Las Vegas. 

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You can follow Kade Kimble on Twitter @KadeKimble.

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