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The San Antonio Spurs open the new year with perhaps more questions than most teams. Much of it centers on superstar Victor Wembanyama.
In Wemby, the Silver and Black feature the best young prospect turned the best young player the NBA has seen in years. While there's little doubt that he'll rank among the league's best โ if not an all-timer, how much better can he be as a sophomore following a unanimous Rookie of the Year season?
The team's biggest pick-ups, Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, make the Spurs better immediately. But, as valuable as he still is, Paul's best years are behind him while Barnes is the type of player who's most effective as an important of a playoff team.
How much of an impact will rookie Stephon Castle make this season? Though the fourth overall pick this past June is a preseason favorite to win the Rookie of the Year, most rooks don't get tons of playing time in San Antonio.
Here are predictions regarding those very questions.
Victor Wembanyama will finish top-5 in MVP voting
๐๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐-๐๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ pic.twitter.com/LpWgwkQkr4
โ San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) October 19, 2024
Before the 20-year-old center's career is over, Wemby will win multiple NBA MVP's. Related, he'll finish among the award's finalists several other times. A top three season may not be in the cards now, but he will end up among the top 5.
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Theย 7-foot-3 phenom is set up for a tremendous encore. In just 29.7 minutes per game, he averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, an NBA-best 3.58 blocks as well as 1.24 steals. He accumulated 1,522 total points, 755 rebounds, 274 assists, a league-leading 254 blocks and 88 steals to become the first player in NBA history to surpass 1,500+ points, 700+ rebounds, 250+ assists, 250+ blocks while making 100+ 3-pointers in a single season. The 2023-24 Rookie of the Year also earned First Team All-Defense honors after finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Imagine what he can do with more playing time. And with players who will prioritize putting him in better spots. Speaking ofโฆ
Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes will help the Spurs to Play-In contention
A 22-win team in 2023-24, the Spurs will win at least 15 more games this season. That will ultimately fall short of the top 10 records in the Western Conference and, hence, the Play-In, but they'll be in the hunt heading into the final month of the season.
The 39-year-old Paul and Barnes immediately become two of the Spurs top five players. At the moment, only Wembanyama and Devin Vassell, who'll miss the start of the season, are better players right now. In addition to aiding Wemby's ascension, the veteran pair will help Vassell and the rest of the young core's top players, Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson, grow. They'll also prove valuable for the Spurs most recent first round pick.
Stephon Castle will win Rookie of the Year
The highest draft selection the Spurs have taken outside of their three famed top overall picks (David Robinson and Tim Duncan along with Wemby), Stephon Castle will shine as a rookie. In fact, he'll prove early forecasts that he'll win Rookie of the Year true. The former UConn Husky star's talent will eventually prove too much to ignore.
Typically slow with first-year players, Castle's skill set as a 6-foot-5 point guard, will push the Spurs to give him minutes โ especially during a season which Wembanyama is looking to compete league wide.
