Everything surrounding the San Antonio Spurs takes a backseat to Victor Wembanyama's development. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft is one of the best prospects in the history of basketball, boasting a combination of length, dexterity and budding skill the sport has literally never seen before. Wembanyama is the Spurs now.

He won't follow in Tim Duncan's footsteps as a multi-time champion in San Antonio without a strong supporting cast, but even that reality overemphasizes the significance of progress from other players on the roster this season. Wembanyama's debut campaign will be more about Gregg Popovich and company finding the right way to optimize him within the team context than fostering the growth of his teammates.

Case in point: Veteran big man Zach Collins reportedly slotting next to Wemanyama up front in San Antonio's 2023-24 starting lineup. There's no denying Wembanyama's peak two-way value will be derived from playing center. But he's still just 19, with years of filling out his 7'4 frame ahead and a history of injuries in his playing past. Don't forget the imminent health-risk precedent set by the handful of players his cartoonish size throughout NBA history.

It just makes most sense for the Spurs to start Wembanyama at power forward in 2023-24 — no matter what that means for the player who may still sit second in San Antonio's long-term developmental hierarchy.

Spurs player in danger of losing starting job: Jeremy Sochan

Devin Vassell is the Spurs' second-best prospect if that distinction doesn't belong to Sochan. But he's a small wing now and in the future, playing full-time on the perimeter and ill-equipped to slide down to power forward even in downsized lineups. Sochan and fellow building block Keldon Johnson are the players whose role and minutes will be most affected by Wembanyama starting at the 4, and the latter's superior jumper makes him most likely to remain in Popovich's opening lineup.

Sochan more than lived up to his pre-draft billing as a rookie, showing the early makings of a do-it-all, role-playing forward with ample room to grow. It's already clear he'll be an impact player for a title contender whenever the chance presents itself, switching across multiple positions, juicing transition play and making winning plays as a passing, cutting and screening “connector” in the half court. But Sochan also flashed raw, real on-ball talent in 2022-23, routinely finding his way to the paint off the bounce and hitting a respectable 41.0% on a low volume of pull-up twos, per NBA.com/stats.

If the Spurs hadn't won the lottery last May, getting a better grasp on Sochan's ceiling as a ball-in-hand playmaker might be their top organizational priority. Every team in basketball wants 6'9 forwards who can initiate offense and score for themselves while doubling as answers defensively. It's incumbent on San Antonio to figure out whether Sochan can fit that archetype, even if only as a secondary creator.

The aspect of his game likeliest to keep the 20-year-old from reaching those esteemed heights? His longe-range jumper, which is also what seems poised to keep him from starting again his sophomore season. Sochan shot 24.8% from beyond the arc last year, by far worst in the league among players who took at least 134 three-pointers, per research at Stathead Basketball. All but 26 of those tries were of the “wide open” variety, with defenses paying Sochan no mind when he was spotting up on the weak side or popping to the arc in pick-and-roll and even sagging way off him in dribble hand-offs.

That rippling weakness basically ensures Sochan is a non-starter for the Spurs, both figuratively and literally, with an opening frontcourt tandem of Wembanyama and Collins. Space will be tough enough for San Antonio to come by offensively given Tre Jones' similarly problematic shooting ability at point guard. Johnson just threatens defenses from deep much more than Sochan, even though he's not some marksman. The fifth-year pro only shot 32.9% from deep last season, begging the fraught question of whether Johnson's career-best accuracy in 2021-22 will prove an outlier.

Shoe-horning a non-shooter like Sochan into starting at small forward would be detrimental to the development of everyone in San Antonio, but Wembanyama most. Maybe Sochan took major strides with the jumper this summer, or more realistically, provides so much more on both ends than Collins that he forces his way back into the starting lineup. There will be plenty of opportunities for Wembanyama to play alongside another big this season, and Popovich could always revert back to that construction when the Spurs are tasked with battling the likes of Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

When training camp tips off and comes to a close, though, expect Sochan to be coming off the bench for San Antonio.