The San Antonio Spurs have been in headlines all NBA offseason because of the once in a generation opportunity that they had to draft Victor Wembanyama number one overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. They of course capitalized on this chance, and Wembanyama has quickly become endeared to Spurs fans across the world. Many speculated whether or not Victor Wembanyama would play in 2023 NBA Summer League given how high profile he is, but he ultimately put on the Spurs uniform for the first time. He only played in two games, but it was easy to see why he was the consensus No. 1 overall pick. While Wembanyama was the number one storyline for the Spurs summer league, there were other players to watch that revealed a lot to San Antonio. Besides learning the truth behind their Wembanyama selection, the Spurs also learned that Julian Champagnie is a legitimate NBA scorer.

While Wembanyama won't be playing in any more games this summer, Champagnie will be able to continue to demonstrate that he can be a pivotal aspect of the Spurs future. The Spurs in general have a very young team and will be looking pretty much anywhere to find guys to supplement Wemby for years to come; it is a very bright future in San Antonio, but there is no resting on laurels in the quest to win an NBA championship. It would be wise for the Spurs to try and build a contender around Wembanyama as soon as possible, especially if they want to persuade him to be with the Spurs for life. Thus, the Spurs need to take into account everything that they possibly can from NBA Summer League, including the two biggest things that they learned about Victor Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie.

*Stats via ESPN

Victor Wembanyama is the truth

In typical NBA Twitter fashion, Victor Wembanyama was roasted to the utmost degree after a rough showing in his first summer league appearance. He did not shoot well from the field on his way to nine points, eight rebounds, three steals, and five blocks. However, he showed immediately that he can impact the game in a plethora of ways, as evidenced by his five blocks and three steals. Not to mention, his presence on the court was obvious on both ends, as it was clear that there needs to be multiple guys attuned to him at all times. The Spurs also got the win, so his rough shooting numbers weren't given much thought. Still, the Spurs definitely wanted to see the elite skillset that made him the No. 1 pick, and it didn't take long until his second game to come through.

In the Spurs second NBA Summer League game with Victor Wembanyama, the French phenom went off for 27 points and 12 rebounds. This was much more like what the Spurs wanted to see and he posted this performance on a very efficient shooting night. He was 9/14 from the field and 2/4 from the three-point line, demonstrating that even at his 7'3 frame, defenders are going to have to respect him on the perimeter. The Spurs were quick to shut him down after this contest, indicating that they had seen enough to be confident in their pick. This isn't a surprise, as Wembanyama is the most highly touted prospect since LeBron James. The Spurs will have learned that all of that hype is undoubtedly warranted after leaving 2023 NBA Summer League

Julian Champagnie is an NBA scorer

Julian Champagnie started to see consistent minutes for the Spurs at the end of last season and did not let them go to waste. 2023 NBA Summer League was a chance for Champagnie to prove to the Spurs that his output to end last year was no fluke, and he has done just that. In the Salt Lake City Summer League, Champagnie averaged 29.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 block per game. These are absolutely huge numbers that cemented that Champagnie is a legitimate scoring threat. Then he started the Vegas summer league by throwing down an absolutely massive poster dunk on rookie James Nnaji; this gained some traction on social media, and now Champagnie's name is getting thrown around as a serious potential rotation guy for the Spurs this season.

His scoring numbers have not been as high in Vegas, but Champagnie is still doing plenty to demonstrate that he deserves substantial playing time this season. Champagnie is averaging 14.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists in Vegas; these are numbers that show he is not just a scorer but an overall playmaker too. For a team that will be looking to do everything that they can to build a contender around Wembanyama, it looks like they might have found a diamond in the rough on their own roster. Once NBA Summer League officially comes to a close, the Spurs will have learned that Julian Champagnie can be a regular contributor on the team this season.