Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama says ‘no limitations’ on his role

SAN ANTONIO — The position Victor Wembanyama ultimately ends of playing in the NBA is still up for discussion, but after two days of training camp it seems clear the San Antonio Spurs are fine taking time to figure out what is best.

Two days after coach Gregg Popovich said one of the “cool” questions of camp will be figuring out if the 7-foot-3 ½ Wembanyama is a center, power forward or small forward, the No. 1 overall pick gave some insight on to how he’s being used.

“It just goes without saying that I’m sometimes playing the same role as (point guard) Tre Jones, sometimes the same as (center) Zach Collins, sometimes as (guard/forward) Devin Vassell,” Wembanyama said on Tuesday afternoon.

“There are really no limitations. On a lot of set plays, on a lot plays, it really depends on where you are. But I can be the point guard just like I can be the wing. It doesn’t matter.”

Wembanyama said there hasn’t been too much experimentation with lineups this quickly into camp, but the team doesn’t play a preseason game until Monday when they travel to Oklahoma City.

One area where the team did get to use different lineups was in open runs the players held prior to training camp.

That time also gave Wembanyama a chance to get used to his new teammates.

“I mean it was very useful in order to get to know each other,” Wembanyama said. “I think the game is more free in those open runs. You really can see the personality on the court of my teammates. It has been good, but I’m sure this will be more intense and very, very useful in just a couple of days.”

Veteran forward Doug McDermott got an up-close experience with Wembanyama during those open runs that showed him just how impactful the rookie could be in his first season.

“I came off a handoff in open gym a couple weeks ago and I thought I had a wide open three and all of a sudden an arm just comes out of nowhere and takes the ball out of the air,” McDermott said. “So it’s pretty special.”

McDermott joked that he doesn’t feel as bad getting blown by on defense now knowing that he has Wembanyama behind him to clean up any mistakes.

“I mean it’s incredible to watch,” McDermott said. “He does some things you can’t really explain. Fans will be surprised by it. He’s so coordinated for how tall he is and just a very unselfish player, can make any play and very comfortable shooting from anywhere.”

The Spurs have focused a lot on defense in the first two days of camp and Wembanyama said a lot of information is being thrown at him at a fast pace.

But even as he digests it and asks for more, coaches try to slow him down.

“But honestly, I’ve talked about the coaches about getting more information and they keep telling me to not worry and that it’s going to come naturally,” Wembanyama said. “It’s going to come eventually.”