NBA Rookie of the Year Power Rankings: Unicorns unleashed

Dear, San Antonio Spurs... please let Victor Wembanyama do more stuff. Signed, all of us.

The early returns on Victor Wembanyama are overwhelmingly positive. Every night, as expected, he does something we have never seen before. A 7-foot-4 big with his combination of mobility and skill level is simply unheard of. He is already San Antonio's most potent isolation scorer. He is also the anchor of their defense, a savvy off-ball shooter, and a towering lob threat for the Spurs' ball-handlers.

Still, it's hard not to be a little bit disappointed in the vanilla nature of Wemby's stat line right now. He's averaging 16.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.3 blocks on .460/.263/.700 splits in 27.3 minutes per game. That's pretty incredible for a rookie, but Wembanyama was hailed as the next Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He's supposed to be blowing expectations out of the water, and he's not.

A lot of the "disappointment" stems from how the Spurs deploy Wembanyama. He spends half his time without a real point guard on the floor (it's time to shelve the Point Sochan experiment). Rather than calling plays for the 7-foot-4 wunderkind, Gregg Popovich frequently stations him away from the ball. Too often, Wembanyama is utilized as a cog in the machine, rather than the driving force he's so capable of being. It's on the Spurs' coaching staff to force Wembanyama into a more involved role.

The 3-point percentage is a bit concerning, but Wembanyama's touch is reason enough for optimism. Frankly, even the threat of his 3-point shot is enough to crack defenses wide-open. Wembanyama already looks completely comfortable as a face-up scorer, tightly navigating traffic off the dribble and frequently unleashing his silky pull-up jumper in the mid-range. Every now and then, Wemby takes matters into his own hands with a post-up or an iso at the elbow. The Spurs should encourage more of that.

If the spacing around him improves, so will Wembanyama's numbers. He's still the overwhelming award favorite projecting ahead, even if he's at a slight disadvantage one week in. The defensive impact is singular and the offense will continue to evolve at a rapid pace.