New Year's Resolutions for the Rebuilding San Antonio Spurs

The Silver and Black have a lengthy checklist to address as they enter 2024...

New Year, new me: For most people, that’s the creed they live by for the first couple of months after we turn our calendars to January. Professional basketball teams function under more intricate rules, but it is never a bad idea for their executives, coaches, and players to set goals as they approach the halfway point of the regular-season schedule.

For contenders like the Boston Celtics, a handful of slight tweaks might be all it takes to set them on a collision course to the 2024 NBA Finals. As for a rebuilding franchise like the San Antonio Spurs, they have overarching problems with rotations, personnel, and injuries that may be difficult to solve until the trade deadline, draft, or free agency.

Instead of fixating on issues like three-point shooting and team defense, let’s focus on addressing correctable hitches for individuals who will likely be here for the long haul of this thorough roster construction process. We all have a few New Year’s resolutions we want to see out, and here are five the Silver and Black should put on their to-do list.

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Victor Wembanyama: Reel in the Shot Selection

The first overall pick is supposed to have free rein, especially on a team that mustered a measly 22 wins the previous season. Nonetheless, providing them with the necessary space to spread their wings also comes with an obligation to hold them accountable, a challenging balancing act that places coaches in a tough position. Gregg Popovich has exercised almost unmatched leniency with Victor Wembanyama, but he might have to shorten the leash as we approach the halfway mark of the schedule.

Despite securing a generational talent like Wembanyama this summer, San Antonio is 5-28 and on pace for a franchise record 70 losses. To be clear, the Spurs are not flailing because of the shortcomings of their teenage sensation. However, his inefficiency as a go-to scorer has unquestionably factored into their noticeable offensive struggles. The skyscraping center has averaged a team-high 18.9 points per game, though his nightly production has come on lackluster .444/.294/.784 shooting splits.

Among the 60 players who average at least 18 points per game in the NBA this season, Wembanyama sports the second-worst True Shooting Percentage (53.3%), an advanced metric that weighs the value of two-point, three-point, and free throw attempts. While his shoddy supporting cast deserves some of the blame, the French phenom was never going to be a juggernaut on this end as a rookie, no matter his surroundings. Yet, with all the obstacles in his way, dubious shot selection has been his achilles heel.

Wembanyama attempts 15.8 field goals each game, but over two-thirds of his shot diet comes from above-the-break threes (30.1% on 4.7 FGA), midrange jumpers (33% on 3.7 FGA), and non-rim looks inside the paint (32.4% on 2.3 FGA). Though he is among the least effective players in the league from all those zones, the seven-footer often settles for contested leaners and pull-ups at the start of possessions, a dicey trend that might eventually become a bad habit if left unchecked for the rest of the year.

No one is suggesting Coach Popovich should stop Wembanyama from experimenting, but cutting out some of those head-scratchers early in the shot clock could afford San Antonio the chance to get into their half-court offense. Though the Spurs have been a little clunky against set defenses, building a process and establishing chemistry is one of the most instrumental steps in learning which players can coexist with their brand-new cornerstone as the front office fleshes out this roster.

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