Spurs fans are growing frustrated over Gregg Popovich's reluctance to make 2023 #1 pick Victor Wembanyama a fixture of the offense. It has been evident throughout the season but was glaring in the team's 114-95 loss to the Bulls. Wembanyama had only 7 points and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes.

The mismanagement of Wembanyama has become so prevalent that even Bulls commentators Adam Amin and Stacey King called it out, much to the enjoyment of NBA fans.

“I don't know how you miss a 7'4″ guy,” King mused after Keldon Johnson missed an easy pass to Wembanyama on a fast break where he had his defender Demar DeRozan sealed for an easy dunk. “I just don't understand that. He's yelling, ‘throw the ball up to the rim'. He hurt the Bulls in San Antonio by just throwing the ball up to the rim and then he went to go get it. Man, it's almost like his team is reluctant to throw it to him.”

An even more glaring play that supports theories that Victor Wembanyama isn't a fixture of the Spurs offense was a play featuring Jeremy Sochan. Wembaanyama was open after he lost Nikola Vucevic on a trail to the basket and was wide open for a pass that would've likely resulted in an easy dunk or layup. Instead, Sochan called his own number and drove to the paint for a turnaround fadeaway that resulted in an airball.

Spurs fans were incensed and took to Twitter/X to let their frustrations be known.

@Tzipshmil tweeted, “Spurs picked a generational talent like Wemby and then gave the team to *check double notes* Jeremy Sochan. Where is Pop?”

“The front office NEEDS to get playmakers around Wemby. Not one good passer in the starting lineup is crazy,” @spursculture tweeted.

@Tre_Potts drew a parallel between Embiid and Wembanyama, tweeting, “If you’re going to build around Wemby, he has to be the focal point.. He has to get the ball EVERY SINGLE TIME down the floor. People joke about Embiid and his offense, but Philly gets him the ball EVERY SINGLE PLAY.”

@imbetta1 went even deeper, pointing out Sochan's assist numbers to Wembanyama relative to other players on the team.

“Sochan has a total of 11 assists to Wemby this season… they've played 24 games together That means he's averaging 0.45 assists per game to Wemby this season How tf does that happen between a lead guard and the team's best player?”

He added, “Can't even say it's ability because he has almost 3x that number of assists to Zach Collins lol”

Nevertheless, Gregg Popovich has to figure out how to build a more competent offensive system that features Victor Wembanayama as well as their other promising rising stars such as Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan. No one expects the Spurs to be title contenders or even playoff contenders right now. However, getting your top pick and generational superstar reps as the first option in the offense will pay dividends for the team in the future.

The Spurs visit Dallas to play Luka Doncić and the Mavericks on Saturday at 8:30 PM EST.