THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

What to watch this year as Spurs, Wembanyama kick off regular season

After a breathless five-month buildup the Victor Wembanyama era is set to begin in San Antonio. Here are five storylines to watch ahead of Wednesday’s season opener at home against Dallas:

Is Wembanyama an automatic All-Star?

As the the most heralded rookie to enter the league in decades, Wembanyama would seem a shoo-in to make an All-Star team.

That could be easier said than done, even if the 19-yearold Frenchman lives up to the unprecedented hype that has preceded him.

Since 1950, only 45 rookies have been named to an NBA All-Star squad. The last to accomplish that was Blake Griffin, who represented the Los Angeles Clippers at the 2011 midseason extravaganza.

(Two of those All-Star rookies, incidentally, were from San Antonio — David Robinson in 1990 and Tim Duncan in 1998).

Wembanyama is all but guaranteed to break the Internet nightly with his head-spinning highlights, and he will have the international fan ballot on his side. He has that going for him.

Still, when it comes to AllStar voting, it will be tough sledding to break through a Western Conference frontcourt group that Nikola Jokic, LeBron

James, Anthony Davis and a resurgent Zion Williamson and Kawhi Leonard.

Even if the All-Star game eludes Wembanyama, he has a realistic shot at plenty of other accolades — Rookie of the Year, All-Rookie team and even an All-Defensive team mention are all within reach in his first NBA season.

Is Wemby the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year?

Asked during the preseason if the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award is among his personal goals this season, Wembanyama reacted as if he had been asked if he plans to breathe today.

“That goes without saying,” Wembanyama said.

Nobody is going to be surprised if Wembanyama brings home the Spurs’ first Rookie of the Year trophy since Duncan did it in 1997-98.

He will face some stiff competition, though.

Scoot Henderson, the wildly talented guard drafted directly after Wembanyama in June, will be handed the ball in Portland and given every opportunity to replicate Damian Lillard’s scoring numbers.

Brandon Miller in Charlotte and Amen Thompson in Houston would be on anybody else’s dark horse list of candidates.

The player most likely to challenge Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year, however, was drafted a year before he was.

Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren was the No. 2 overall pick in 2022, then missed all of what would have been his rookie campaign with a foot fracture suffered before training camp.

Healthy entering this season, the 7-1 Holmgren is Rookie of the Year-eligible and possesses the same sort of “how does a man that size make plays like that?” brand of wow-factor to equal Wembanyama’s.

Holmgren and Wemby are likely to produce quite the big man rivalry for decades to come. It begins now with the race for Rookie of the Year.

Will Vassell have a breakout season?

The first time many casual basketball fans heard about Devin Vassell came when he signed a five-year, $150 million extension earlier this month.

With the so-called “Wemby Effect” set to put the Spurs in front of a national and global TV audience, Vassell has a chance to become something of a household name himself.

The 11th overall pick in 2020 out of Florida State, Vassell’s career has to date been hallmarked by a slow but steady rise. The 23-year-old swingman might have broken out last season had a recurring knee injury not limited him to 38 games.

Now healthy, Vassell shot the lights out during the preseason and appears ready to build on the 18.5 points per game he averaged over last season’s injury-shortened cameo.

By the time Vassell’s lucrative extension kicks in next season, $150 million might look like a bargain.

How long will the Point Sochan experiment last?

Training camp opened with a math puzzle for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich: Five returning starters from last year’s club plus the onboarding of the NBA’s No. 1 draft pick equaled six players vying for five starting spots this season.

The solution — for now — has been to move last season’s starting power forward to point guard.

Jeremy Sochan didn’t magically morph into Magic Johnson entering his second NBA season, and that’s OK.

The Spurs don’t need the 6-8 Sochan to direct traffic or run much of any show. They just need him to get the ball up the floor without incident.

With Sochan at point, incumbent starter Tre Jones shifts to the bench. That allows Popovich to get the rest of Wembanyama, Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins into the starting unit.

That group does not sport a player shorter than 6-foot-5, making it perhaps the biggest lineup in Spurs history.

This all remains a work in progress.

Going forward, Johnson’s role bears watching in particular. Last season’s leading scorer, Johnson could find his touches limited by the arrival of Wembanyama and with Vassell back in the starting lineup.

At some point, it might behoove the Spurs to move Johnson to the bench, where he will be free to run amok on opposing second units like a latterday Manu Ginobili.

Johnson has been a good soldier in his four NBA seasons, and Popovich seems prepared to give him the opportunity to open his fifth campaign as a starter.

How long that configuration lasts remains to be seen.

How much will restocked Spurs defense improve?

One of the Spurs’ stated goals heading into camp was to improve their defense.

On the surface, that shouldn’t be difficult.

The Spurs ranked 30th out of 30 teams in defensive efficiency last season. It will not take much to move up to, say, 29th.

The addition of Wembanyama alone should propel the Spurs better than that. The big starting lineup — stocked with long, rangy defenders who can switch and guard any position — is geared toward a defensive renaissance.

A worst-to-first turnaround might be asking a lot from this group, but there is no reason the Spurs can’t become at least a half-decent defensive team.