The San Antonio city council has shut down Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ push to send $489 million in funding for a new downtown arena back to the voters, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
That clears another hurdle for a project the Spurs have been working toward for years. The team plans to contribute $500 million toward the $1.3 billion arena, with the city set to nearly match that amount and the county covering the remaining $311 million through tourism taxes.
Following the council’s vote, Spurs CEO RC Buford said the team is ready to keep moving.
“Today’s decision allows San Antonio to move forward on a path that was established through years of work, public discussion, city and council action, and last year’s vote,” Buford said in a statement following the city council vote (Twitter link via ESPN’s Michael C. Wright). “We can now turn our full attention to delivering on that shared vision and the transformational opportunity ahead for our city.
“We are grateful to the community, business and civic leaders, Spurs fans and residents who have taken the time to learn the facts and make their voices heard. There is still a great deal of work ahead, and we are ready for it. We remain committed to working alongside our public and community partners to deliver a downtown arena and district that strengthens San Antonio for generations to come.”
Weiss reports that the Spurs, who are currently at the Frost Bank Center, are aiming to break ground on the new arena in 2029 and start playing there in 2032.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference, Victor Wembanyama has picked up another major honor before France’s next FIBA World Cup qualifying window. ESPN’s Michael C. Wright reports that the Spurs star has been named captain of the French national team.
Rudy Gobert held that role during the summer’s earlier World Cup qualifiers, and Evan Fournier remains among the veterans on France’s roster. But head coach Frederic Fauthoux told L’Equipe that he and his staff were ready to hand the job to the young star.
“There was no point in waiting,” Fauthoux said (hat tip to BasketNews). “The time was right.”
In Golden State, free agent swingman Dalen Terry was seen earlier this week at a Golden State Valkyries game with Warriors star Stephen Curry, as Dylan Grausz of NBC Sports Bay Area relays. That sighting lines up with reporting that the Warriors have interest in Terry as a possible training camp invitee.
Golden State currently has 13 players on standard contracts, but the team is expected to carry 15 into the regular season. That leaves room for Terry and other camp hopefuls to battle for spots.
And in Oklahoma City, the focus is turning toward how a thinner roster will affect the Thunder’s ceiling. Anthony Slater of ESPN writes that the team’s offseason was mostly built around cost-cutting trades, and the central question heading into the 2026/27 season is whether the loss of depth will show up when the games matter most.
Slater also notes that younger players could be asked to step up. Aday Mara, Nikola Topic, and Bennett Stirtz are among the names likely to get a look as the Thunder sort through the regular-season rotation after the departures of Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, and .
In Other News...
Dwyane Wade Just Raised The Stakes For Victor Wembanyama
Victor Wembanyama has already moved from cant-miss prospect to one of the NBAs defining young stars since the Spurs made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft. He has piled up the kind of early rsum that usually takes years to build, earning two All-Star nods while establishing himself as the centerpiece of San Antonios rise back into the leagues upper tier.
Dwyane Wades public praise only adds to the pressure that comes with that trajectory, because expectations around Wembanyama are no longer about potential alone. The Spurs have a franchise player with elite credentials already on the board, and when a three-time champion starts talking about what should come next, it is a reminder that San Antonio is being measured by a far bigger standard than just making noise in the regular season. [Read more 🡒]
DeMar DeRozans Denver Move Could Create A New Spurs Opening
DeMar DeRozan is headed to Denver on a one-year deal, according to NBA senior insider Chris Haynes, and the move is already being picked apart for what it says about the Nuggets' current construction. DeRozan brings real scoring value and a long track record as a halfcourt shot-maker, but the fit questions are easy to see when you look at a roster that still has to balance its offense with the demands of the Western Conference.
For San Antonio, the more interesting layer is what this kind of veteran swing can mean around the league as teams keep chasing short-term answers. Denver is trying to add another established name to its mix, but this is the sort of deal that can also sharpen the pressure on a roster if the pieces do not naturally complement each other, and the Spurs know that kind of ripple effect can reshape the market even when they are not the team making the move. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Have No Reason To Bail Out Houston In Kevin Durant Talk
A speculative Kevin Durant trade proposal making the rounds online has prompted fresh debate around the Spurs long-term direction, but theres little reason for San Antonio to treat it as anything more than background noise. The idea has Houston trying to reshape its roster around Durant and Fred VanVleet, with draft capital in the mix, while the Spurs would be asked to part with DeAaron Fox and Keldon Johnson in return, a swap that immediately raises the question of why San Antonio would volunteer for it.
The answer, at least from the Spurs side, is that they probably wouldnt. San Antonio has been operating with real roster stability and has already shown it can hang near the top of the league on both ends of the floor, which makes the upside of a dramatic swing look limited rather than tempting. Until either team does something more than let a rumor circulate, this remains exactly what it started as - a theoretical deal that says more about Houstons search for a path forward than it does about San Antonios need to help make one. [Read more 🡒]