Wemby Watch: Out for the Season, The Brighter Side
Well that was certainly bad news.
But, at least we have a nice collection of semi-positives that we can point to.
Qualifer
Before we get started, a qualifier:
The obvious “positive” is that the Spurs can start extra tanking for the 2025 lottery. But I’m anti-tank.
The Spurs already have Atlanta’s pick plus their own mild lottery position. Yes, they could technically tank to improve their own spot by 2, maybe 3 spots.
But enough is enough. Where’s the dignity? The Spurs have a D’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama duo — that’s a lot.
The coaches need to lift some heavier weights instead of letting the draft do all of the work.
And while Brian Wright deserves credit for the outstanding Fox trade, one smart move doesn’t erase his overall track record — and Fox forced his way to San Antonio.
Also, Wright’s recent wins like signing Chris Paul and drafting Stephon Castle came easily. I need to see him make more tough, winning decisions consistently; he’s been gifted a lot lately.
Not Making Playoffs Anyway / Only 30 Games
Due to their pre All-Star game skid, the Spurs squandered their playoff chances despite a promising start.
So if Victor’s able to fully recover, he’s really only missing 30 games which doesn’t sound nearly as bad as he’s out for the season.
D’Aaron Fox Hand
As for Fox’s hand — it’s clearly bothering him, and he’s already confirmed he needs offseason surgery. With 15 games remaining, why not shut him down soon and get a head start on his recovery?
Give him 10+ more games to get familiar with the team and then call season for Fox — it’s as good a time as any to address the inevitable.
Renewed Energy
Victor’s diagnosis actually helps explain many of his on-court struggles. We oftentimes saw him play passive, lazy and sluggish and he was routinely fatigued at the end of games.
This explains a lot.
If the Spurs can get on top of this condition, Victor could quickly level up his game even more.
Coaching Situation
The Spurs can now sweep away season two of the Victor Wembanyama experience under the rug with another convenient excuse: we didn’t make the playoffs because Victor was ruled out after the all-star break.
But we do need the Spurs address the coaching situation and finally have a non “development” plan moving forward.
Having a coach operate under an “acting head coach” label for nearly an entire season — with no clarity about the original coach’s status — is bad. And given that Gregg Popovich never returned this season, I’d like to see him retire (though RC Buford says he’ll return).
While I was hopeful about Mitch Johnson emerging as the next young coaching superstar, he failed to capitalize on what was an incredible opportunity. This is a good juncture for the Spurs to appoint a permanent head coach, and I believe it should be an Arizona Wildcat.
Just not Steve Kerr. Between his Trump fixation and political distractions (similar to Pop) and his inability to control his own locker room (#Draymond), he’s not the answer. I’ve heard whispers about his potential candidacy, which is concerning.
The clear choice is Sean Elliott — as I argued last year. He’s ideal for countless reasons. The Spurs need someone who can definitively lead the Victor Wembanyama era, and this is the moment to make that change.
If Pop returns, I think it’s a wasted opportunity and a real mistake on the part of the Spurs organization. His non-return paves the way for an easy transition to a new, permanent head coach who has the opportunity to coach Victor for the rest of his career.
There have been multiple, significant indicators that it’s time to step aside:
- Pop said he would leave when Tim Duncan left, a decade ago
- Pop posting losing season after losing season for several years
- The Trump diatribes
- Pop’s delusional Kawhi Leonard movie moment
- Pop suffering a stroke
Also, he’s 76.
Age doesn’t have to be the reason. If he was 76 and performing well and hyper focused on basketball, that works.
But he’s 76 with all of the other bullet points tacked on to the latter part of his resume. It’s time.
Spurs “Optimistic”
The Spurs optimism means nothing because they would never state otherwise. The Spurs aren’t going to come out and say they’re pessimistic.
Also, we were just lied to about Pop. Remember when they said Pop’s stroke was a minor health event or whatever it was. Clearly not.
That said, the doctor prognosis’s I’ve read make it seem more likely than not that Victor will end up on the good side of this.
We know that there’s a chance that this will end poorly, but Victor does have a lot working in his favor so it’s just hope for the best from here.
To Pop and the Spurs
I can’t find the quote, but last year I wrote continually about how it’s a horrible idea to just throw a year of Victor’s career away.
To throw a year away on “development” is to take for granted there are any years to throw away.
There aren’t. There never are.
