NBA Scout Calls Out Victor Wembanyama: Spurs Star 'Not Impactful at All on Offense'

Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Just 80 games into Victor Wembanyama's NBA career, the critiques about his game are already starting from people within the league.

One scout for an opposing team told ESPN's Tim Bontemps that Wembanyama is "not impactful at all on offense" right now.

Bontemps did note the scout "firmly believes" in Wembanyama's long-term potential, but it looks like he's playing without a lot of direction from the San Antonio Spurs.

The shooting numbers for Wembanyama aren't good through his first nine games this season. He's averaging 17.7 points per game on 41.3 percent shooting overall and 22.6 percent from three-point range.

As a rookie, Wembanyama put up 21.4 points on 46.5 percent shooting (32.5 percent from three) in 71 starts.

Some of the shooting issues for Wembanyama can be attributed to the Spurs wanting him to take more threes so that he can improve in that area.

Head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters after an Oct. 31 win over the Utah Jazz he "absolutely" wants to see Wembanyama get off as many threes as he can, calling him "more of a perimeter player than a post player" and they want him to be able to do everything on the floor (starts at 1:03 mark).

Of the 15.3 shot attempts Wembanyama is averaging per game this season, more than 45 percent of them are from behind the arc (6.9). This was always going to be a process for the 20-year-old because shooting consistency was considered an area he needed to improve upon when he was still a prospect.

Another factor is the Spurs are still a rebuilding team without a great infrastructure around Wembanyama to make things as easy as possible for him. Chris Paul has provided stability at point guard, but this wasn't a roster analysts were looking at as ready to challenge for a playoff spot in a loaded Western Conference.

Wembanyama also didn't have much of an offseason. After the Spurs season ended in April, he led France to a silver medal in the Olympics.

Even within the poor shooting numbers for Wembanyama, there are reasons to be encouraged. He's shooting 91.2 percent from the free-throw line, an increase of almost 12 percentage points from his rookie campaign (79.6).

Wembanyama is still a force on defense, averaging an NBA-high 3.7 blocks per game. He is one of three players in league history with multiple 5x5 games after putting up 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals and five blocks in the win over Utah.

The Spurs might have a more efficient offense right now if Wembanyama reduced his three-point output, but it's in the best long-term interest of both parties to let him work out his issues right now with the hope he will become a league-average or better shooter from behind the arc as he continues to get acclimated to the NBA.