The San Antonio Spurs may have to open the season without one of their biggest offseason additions.
Tobias Harris, who signed a two-year, $31 million deal with San Antonio, is dealing with a left calf strain from training camp and is now questionable for the regular season opener on October 20 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Per the Spurs, he will be reevaluated after the preseason.
That’s a frustrating turn for a veteran the Spurs brought in to steady the frontcourt with shotmaking and floor spacing. Harris, 33, arrived after helping spark a turnaround with the Detroit Pistons over the past two seasons, and San Antonio clearly views him as a reliable presence for a young roster.
The Spurs spent much of the offseason locking down pieces for the future, starting with Victor Wembanyama’s new deal. “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.
Adding Harris was another major move. “Free agent forward Tobias Harris has agreed to a two-year, $31 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Wednesday.
Harris, 33, is leaving the Detroit Pistons after helping lead a franchise turnaround over the past two seasons. Now the productive veteran known for shotmaking and floor spacing in the frontcourt joins a young Western Conference contender after the Spurs and agent Torrel Harris of Unique Sports Management worked through a deal,” ESPN wrote.
For now, though, the focus is on getting Harris healthy. The injury is being treated as a setback, not something more serious, and the Spurs will give him time to work back into shape before the season gets rolling.
In Other News...
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 🡒]