The NBA has already entered the Victor Wembanyama phase, and the rest of the league is still trying to catch up.
San Antonio just rode the French star to the Finals in his third season, and even though the Spurs fell short against the red-hot Knicks, Wembanyama made the kind of leap that forces everyone else to start game-planning years in advance. He’s 22, he’s a one-of-one physical force, and he’s only getting harder to deal with. One anonymous scout told Sports Illustrated that New York “laid the blueprint on how to attack him.”
“Draw him out to the corner,” the scout said. “And that whole series, he was getting off-balance with shot fakes and getting beat on closeouts. OG Anunoby did a great job finishing against him at the rim, using him as a protection, stuff like that.
“So I'd be curious to see if teams take the same approach the Knicks did during the regular season when you don't have much time to prepare. But they really tired him out by just moving him around, attacking him.
They were putting him in ball screens early in the possession, which is kind of the thing that common sense would tell you not to do. But they would put him in that screen, move him around, and I thought they did a good job of wearing him out.”
Even with that kind of treatment, Wembanyama still put up 26.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game in the Finals. He was the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and finished third in MVP voting despite missing time with minor ailments and later working under minutes restrictions.
Now the next step is obvious: a full season with the kind of workload that could push him into a different stratosphere. The scout sees a monster year coming if San Antonio removes the limits.
“Wembanyama is going to have a monster regular season,” the scout said. “If the Spurs take the minutes restrictions off, he’s going to put up some ridiculous numbers. We can assume that he's a little stronger and healthier, and will get a bump just from that.”
San Antonio’s young backcourt is part of what makes the whole thing so dangerous. No. 2 pick Dylan Harper was impactful as a rookie, especially in the playoffs, while Stephon Castle made a real jump in his second season as a scorer, playmaker and perimeter defender. Both still have room to grow as shooters, but they already look like the kind of guards you can build around next to Wembanyama for a long time.
That development also puts De’Aaron Fox in an awkward spot. He was an All-Star last season and averaged 18.6 points per game in the regular season, but his postseason faded, especially after he came back from an ankle sprain late in the playoffs. His four-year, $221.7 million extension begins next year, which creates a tricky financial picture if San Antonio eventually has to pay Harper and Castle too.
For now, though, the scout doesn’t see that as an immediate problem.
“I don't think it's a problem in the regular season. I think there's enough minutes to go around.
I mean, you just rotate the three of them,” the scout told SI. “I'm sure there's enough ball to go around.
Wemby's still the kingpin of the team, so they're not fighting over that No. 1 spot. I think the issue will come in the playoffs when it's closing time.
Can they play all three? Probably not.
It depends on their playing, but then they have to make a decision and it's obviously going to be tougher to sit Fox. Maybe the 82 games will dictate that Harper and Castle have arrived and it’s their time.”
The offseason was quiet by design. The Spurs’ biggest priority was getting Wembanyama locked in, and in July he agreed to a five-year, $252 million extension. He left about $50 million on the table to give San Antonio more flexibility to keep a contender together.
The only major outside addition was Tobias Harris, the former Pistons forward who should fill a real need at forward after his playoff push in Detroit. San Antonio also kept Julian Champagnie, who emerged as a key starter during the regular season and then made a major playoff impact as a shooter and defender.
The Spurs didn’t lose any rotation pieces, and that matters for a team that finished just three wins short of a championship. Jayden Quaintance, the 20th pick in the draft, is expected to need time after surgery to repair a torn meniscus. UConn big man Tarris Reed Jr. could have a quicker path into the mix, especially with Kelly Olynyk and Bismack Biyombo still free agents and unlikely to return.
The bottom line is simple: San Antonio looks loaded again.
Wembanyama is still Wembanyama, Harper and Castle are only going to get better, and Fox still gives them real scoring punch even after a rough playoff stretch. Harris looks like a useful addition, Champagnie has become a strong floor spacer, and Devin Vassell plus Keldon Johnson, last season’s Sixth Man of the Year, round out a deep group.
Health is the one thing that can derail all of it. Beyond that, the Spurs are positioned to stay right in the title mix, with the biggest measuring stick being Oklahoma City.
The Thunder finished two games ahead in the win column last year, even though San Antonio had their number in the regular season. The two teams should be right on top of each other again, and another Thunder-Spurs playoff series would only add to what’s already become the NBA’s best rivalry.
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