The San Antonio Spurs have made one thing clear this summer: they’re building around Victor Wembanyama, and they’re doing it with a young core they believe can be special.
Wembanyama’s new deal was the headline move. ESPN’s Michael C.
Wright reported that “San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama has agreed to a five-year, $252 million maximum rookie-scale contract extension, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Friday. The deal includes a player option in the fifth season, sources said.
Wembanyama decided on the 25% maximum instead of the 30% supermax escalators to $303 million after he and the Spurs went through multiple frameworks, sources said. The deal could potentially save the Spurs roughly $50 million over the next five years," ESPN's Michael C.
Wright wrote.
That contract only sharpened the spotlight on what comes next, because the Spurs don’t just have Wembanyama. They also have Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle, two young guards generating serious buzz.
The conversation around that backcourt has already reached the kind of hype that gets people talking in bold strokes. Charles Barkley didn’t hold back when he described the pair.
“If I’m a guard in the NBA, I do not want to see them boys the next 10 years. They’re going to be the new Steph and Klay,” NBA legend Charles Barkley said.
Harper, though, may be the name the Spurs are highest on internally. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that the organization views him above De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle.
“The Spurs internally believe Dylan Harper is their second best player. That’s not a slight on De'Aaron Fox or Stephon Castle. Harper is a stud,” Windhorst said.
That’s strong language, and it says plenty about how San Antonio sees the lefty guard. Harper stood out in the playoffs during the summer, showing he could rise to the moment when the lights got brighter.
For a team that already feels like it has a major piece in Wembanyama, Harper’s ascent gives the Spurs another layer of belief. San Antonio clearly thinks his breakout is coming soon, and that he’s going to matter in a big way for the future of the franchise.
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Spurs Rotation Shift Could Cost Julian Champagnie A Bigger Role
The Spurs frontcourt picture got a little clearer this summer with the addition of Tobias Harris, and that has naturally started to reshape the rotation around him. Harris is expected to handle the starting power forward spot once healthy, which gives San Antonio a veteran presence at a position it had to address, while also putting Julian Champagnie in a spot where his role could shift depending on how the roster settles in around the new arrival.
Champagnie is still positioned to open the season in the starting five because Harris is dealing with an injury, but the long view is less certain. His place in the lineup may not last once Harris is available, and for now the more interesting part is how he handles the change after showing an acceptance of whatever role the Spurs ask of him as they sort out the minutes. [Read more 🡒]
Rockets Suddenly Linked To A De'Aaron Fox Move That Changes Everything
The Spurs have spent this stretch leaning into their young core, with guards Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle drawing a lot of attention as the organization keeps shaping its backcourt around Victor Wembanyama. Harper in particular has flashed enough to fuel the kind of optimism that usually comes with a premium draft pick, and the teams long-term picture appears to be getting clearer by the week as San Antonio continues to prioritize development over short-term fixes.
Thats where the DeAaron Fox conversation starts to get interesting, because the Spurs have more to sort through than just playing time at guard. If Harper is going to be part of the front line moving forward, Fox becomes the name that could alter the rotation and the roster balance in a hurry, with one scenario even sending him to Houston. For a team still defining its next version, the decision could say plenty about how quickly San Antonio wants to accelerate the timeline around Wembanyama and the young guards beside him. [Read more 🡒]
Victor Wembanyama Is Entering The Season With Massive MVP Pressure
Victor Wembanyama is walking into the season with a different kind of spotlight, and it is not hard to see why. NBCSports.coms analysts all pointed to the Spurs star as the early favorite for the NBAs Most Valuable Player award, leaning on what he already showed at an MVP level last season and the sense that there is still more room for him to grow. For San Antonio, that kind of recognition is a sign of how far the franchise has come in a short time, with Wembanyama no longer viewed as a future candidate so much as the standard everyone else is chasing.
The race will still have familiar heavyweights around it, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo all part of the conversation. But the real weight on Wembanyama is clear: this is the sort of projection that depends on him staying on the floor and the Spurs looking like one of the Wests best teams. For a player this young, the expectation is already enormous, and the season ahead could turn that buzz into something much bigger. [Read more 🡒]