The San Antonio Spurs just completed their first season with French sensation Victor Wembanyama at center, and – while the team's record wasn't all that impressive – a bright future is clearly on the horizon.
Wembanyama spoke about the Spurs working toward building a contender, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN:
“This is how it's been my whole life, having to be patient,” Wembanyama told ESPN. “Be patient, but not always, you know. Nothing is going to stop us from pursuing it as hard as we can even though we can't do it today. One day it's going to pay off, all of these efforts.”
Wembanyama is a perfect centerpiece for the Spurs to build around. The offensive skillset is already blossoming – with ample room to improve – and he's arguably already the most impactful defender in the league.
In earning 2023-2024 NBA All-Defensive First Team honors, the Spurs' generational talent became the youngest player to make First Team All-Defense.
Wemby, who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, averaged a league-leading 3.58 blocks and 1.24 steals to go along with 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game in 29.7 minutes. He led the NBA in blocks with 254 for the season, recording a league-best 10.01 block percentage—the highest of any player since Manute Bol's mark with the Washington Bullets in 1985-86.
He’s the first rookie to lead the NBA in blocked shots since Bol and the first rookie to average three or more blocks since Dallas Mavericks center Shawn Bradley in 1993-94.
The top pick in last summer's NBA Draft finished in the top-10 in total deflections (205), defensive rebounds per game (8.4), total defensive rebounds (594) and defensive rebound percentage (27.3%). Wembanyama is the first player to average at least 10 rebounds, three blocks and one steal since Marcus Camby did it as a member of the Denver Nuggets in 2007.
Spurs looking to add talent to Wembanyama at NBA Draft
The Spurs are reportedly interested in trading their two top-10 picks in this year's draft for the top overall pick, according to NBA Draft insider Jonathan Givony.
“You hear teams like San Antonio possibly exploring the idea of packaging the fourth and eighth pick. Maybe to move up to number one,” Givony, who serves as an NBA Draft analyst for ESPN, said.
The 2024 draft is widely considered to be below average, especially when it comes to potentially producing franchise players. In fact, there's a prevailing thought that not a single guy taken will turn into the kind of cornerstone that teams covet when picking very high.
On the “Lowe Post” podcast, Givony said the Spurs' patience on bettering their roster does come with limits.
“There's also a sentiment that they might want to accelerate this process and try and be competitive sooner rather than later if they can, if there are good trade opportunities out there for them to add veteran pieces that can help them make a playoff run as soon as next year. I was told that they would look at that,” Givony shared.
“I've been told that they don't want to be bad (next season).”
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