The San Antonio Spurs secured their next franchise cornerstone in French phenom Victor Wembanyama when they landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. However, ESPN cooked up some mind-boggling trades that San Antonio may want to consider, including one with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The hypothetical Spurs-Thunder swap involves Wembanyama, of course, and Oklahoma City's 2022 No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren.
Wembanyama and Holmgren have been compared to each other quite a bit over the last few years due to their similar builds as tall, lanky, and highly-skilled freaks of nature. But still, Wembanyama carries a lot more upside due to his size (he's five inches taller than Holmgren), longer wingspan, and mobility. While Holmgren is agile for a 7-footer, Wemby is just more fluid with his movement and his handle.
Nonetheless, here's the hypothetical Spurs-Thunder trade that ESPN proposed:
San Antonio Spurs get: Chet Holmgren, 2023 No. 12 pick, 2024 Rockets first-rounder (top-four protected), 2025 Sixers first-rounder (top-six protected), and 2026 Clippers first-rounder
Oklahoma City Thunder get: Victor Wembanyama
Spurs perspective
With this deal, the Spurs get a plethora of draft capital that they can use to further build their future around new franchise cornerstone Chet Holmgren. San Antonio already has some intriguing young talent in Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson. Adding a multi-faceted big man like Holmgren to that young core, as well as continuing to build around them with future picks, could make San Antonio a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
Nonetheless, that is achievable with a generational talent with Wemby, too. In fact, the Spurs' ceiling may be higher if they built the franchise around the French kid.
Obviously, there's still no telling how their careers will pan out. Wembanyama and Holmgren are essentially going to be entering the league at the same time. But based on their skill set and build, Wembanyama just carries a lot more upside. He possesses a tighter handle and is a better shooter and more versatile scorer than Holmgren.
In addition, Holmgren also just came off a Lisfranc injury that took away his entire rookie campaign. Though both carry the same injury risk due to their build, Holmgren already has some wear and tear on that foot that could become a problem down the line. With that said, there's no way San Antonio even considers this deal.
Thunder perspective
If Spurs GM RC Buford called Thunder GM Sam Presti right now offering this deal, the latter would instantly send a plane over to France and fly Wembanyama to Oklahoma City.
Imagine pairing a tantalizing talent like Wembanyama with an All-NBA guard like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished as the fourth leading scorer of the season? Wemby and SGA would instantly become one of the deadliest one-two punches in the NBA with their versatility and scoring prowess.
That duo would terrorize the NBA for years to come and hot take — this may be the greatest tandem to ever play in Thunder history once it's all said and done.
Unfortunately for Oklahoma City fans, this is nothing but a pipe dream. As mentioned, there's no way San Antonio considers this unless Gilgeous-Alexander is included in the package. Otherwise, if Presti wants to make the call and not include SGA, he should expect nothing less than a hang up from Buford.
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