Spurs made solving Victor Wembanyama impossible two weeks into the offseason

Over the past season, NBA teams, contenders or not, spent a significant amount of time trying to crack the Victor Wembanyama code. How do you deal with him? Just about every one of them decided that physicality was the way. Wear him down, irritate him, and force him to fight through contact all night. It worked at times in the playoffs, and fatigue became a factor.

Fast forward to June 23, and Brian Wright spends his first draft pick on Kentucky's frontcourt star Jayden Quaintance. He then trades the 35th pick to move back into the first round to land UConn standout big man Tarris Reed Jr., and all of a sudden, the temperature in the room has changed.

Wembanyama was under attack in the playoffs

Wemby is a center, but he's still working with a slender frame. The endless shots add up, and he constantly had bodies leaning on him, elbowing him in the ribs, slapping him upside the head, and anything else they could get away with. We saw the impact it had on The Alien over time.

He handled it extremely well for the most part; yes, that includes the Naz Reid elbow. This opinion may be controversial to some, and I'm glad Reid wasn't injured, but enough is enough sometimes. I want my big men to have some nastiness to them, and the star of the team can't allow himself to be bullied—especially at 7'4".

Nobody wants a soft center, and the Timberwolves were trying to treat him like he was soft. A lesson was learned in Game 4.

With that being said, he shouldn't have to take on that kind of burden alone. Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle spoke about the team's need to help Vic fight back on a few occasions, but what the Spurs needed were some true bigs with the size and ferocity to tussle with no disadvantages. They have them now.

Reed and Quaintance give the Spurs 12 fouls worth of muscle

Reed and Quaintance thrive in the dirty part of the game. Not dirty as in underhanded or classless, but in, as Tarris put it, "gritty."

Spurs fans expect these two to put in the hard work, and that includes delivering hard fouls to send messages whenever necessary. They'll already be a handful just by being themselves, as hooping with toughness is in their nature. But there will certainly be an expectation that one or both of them play the enforcer role this team lacked last year.

Opponents won't be able to spend four quarters beating on Wemby if these two are returning that punishment to sender with emphasis. That's 12 extra fouls the Spurs get to use before anyone even looks at The Alien funny.

Wembanyama will be much harder to stop now

The old formula was pretty straightforward. They were roughing him up to wear him down, trying to make Vic's experience on the floor a miserable one. It won't be so simple now.

First, they'll have to contend with the inevitable improvements the offseason will bring for Wembanyama. Don't count on him taking the summer off. He'll return with more muscle and a stronger core. He'll be more polished and have added tools to his loadout. In addition to that, he'll have more backup.

Now teams will be dealing with Wemby, Luke Kornet, Quaintance, and Reed. That's a lot of size, a lot of muscle, and a lot of fouls to use when teams want to play that game.

The new rookies won't solve every issue immediately, but they do solve the biggest one. Wembanyama will no longer be forced to absorb every ounce of punishment. The Silver and Black added a couple of young studs capable of sharing that burden. That makes the NBA's toughest puzzle even more difficult to solve.

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