After news broke that San Antonio Spurs superstar [Victor Wembanyama would be sidelined](https://airalamo.com/first-victor-wembanyama-injury-updates-include-hopeful-silver-lining) for 2-3 weeks with a calf strain, many questioned how San Antonio would be able to stay afloat. The answer has been to rely on De'Aaron Fox and depth with the team currently 3-0 as they await the return of their superstar.
Hopefully, San Antonio will be able to keep things moving right along for the next few games until they are back at full strength with Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper back in the lineup. However, when the Spurs are back at full strength, they should use their depth to try and alleviate pressure on Wembanyama.
After all, before his injury, he was playing big minutes game after game with few days off to recover in between. That alone didn't cause his calf strain. Still, it certainly didn't help and underscores the need for San Antonio to be more cautious by not overexerting their best player in the name of winning regular season games.
To be fair, some of Wembanyama's big-minute games were a result of the Spurs not having Fox to pick up the scoring slack. The absence of Luke Kornet and Jeremy Sochan to back Wembanyama up didn't help either.
The Spurs must load manage Victor Wembanyama
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Coach Mitch Johnson could be forgiven for having him play an extra five minutes if it means keeping Bismack Biyombo off the floor during the fourth quarter.
But, with Wembanyama hopefully soon returning, San Antonio should be monitoring his minutes much more closely going forward. Him playing around 33 minutes per game seems to be in line with most stars. That will, of course, mean the occasional big-minute game.
But that should be few and far in between, with San Antonio having Fox, Castle, and Harper to rely on as well as more than capable backup big men.
They should also look to limit his minutes during either game of a back-to-back. If the Spurs are playing a bad team first, then they should try to have him play fewer than 30 minutes to preserve him for playing against a better team.
Keeping Wembanyama healthy for the playoff must be top priority
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And, if the Spurs are playing a crazy number of games in a short span, they should not hesitate to have a rest game for Wembanyama. Doing so could preserve him for the long season and hopefully a long playoff run.
Minimizing the wear and tear on a 7'5" big man should be top priority, with a player of his height often suffering repeated injuries. Hopefully, he will be the exception.
However, San Antonio should be operating under the assumption that he shouldn't be playing big minutes consistently and occasionally even have him sit games to preserve him for when he is needed. That would be the playoffs and hopefully the NBA Finals.