Victor Wembanyama already looks like the San Antonio Spurs’ leader, but the next step for him this season is less about talent and more about control.
Nobody in San Antonio is questioning who the best player is. Wembanyama brings the competitive edge, the voice, and the kind of presence that naturally pulls a roster around him.
When the Spurs win a tight game or a big one, he tends to wear it all over his face, and that intensity has made him stand out even more. It also comes with a downside: the emotional swings can spill over in ways the Spurs want to clean up before the regular season begins.
That’s the part the team is trying to sharpen. His fire is useful.
His frustration is where the line gets blurry. During the playoff run last spring, he was full of joy after wins, but the losses brought out a different version of him.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon put it this way: "Victor certainly presents himself for the most part as a very mature, thoughtful, young guy, but there were streaks of immaturity throughout that playoff run," said ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "The crap with lining up the elbow on Naz Reed...and then taking zero accountability."
The source of the issue is pretty clear: Wembanyama was willing to stand his ground, sometimes too aggressively. He clearly intended to hit Reed, even if he didn’t own up to it, and he also shoved Jalen Brunson in the Finals.
Plenty of fans liked seeing him refuse to back down. But the line between toughness and trouble is thin, and an ejection or suspension would have been a disaster.
The Spurs still want him in a leadership role, on the floor and in the locker room. What they’re asking for now is a more disciplined version of that leadership.
Jared Weiss reported from Sunday’s scrimmage that "Victor Wembanyama grabbed a clipboard during a huddle at Sunday’s scrimmage and sketched up a play he was sure would work," and added, "Ideally, this won’t be the last time Wembanyama draws up a play this season. He made strides learning how to read the floor in Year 3.
Now he has to own his space more efficiently and effectively in Year 4."
He doesn’t have Nikola Jokic’s court vision, but Wembanyama is still elite in that department. The Spurs are betting they can bring more of that out this season, while trimming back the emotional baggage that comes with it.
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DeAaron Fox has only just become part of the Spurs long-term conversation, but the fit may already be complicated enough to matter. San Antonio has younger players projected as the heart of the roster, which makes Fox more of a luxury than a must-keep centerpiece, especially given how much the guard costs against the cap.
An expansion draft a couple of seasons down the road could create a rare kind of flexibility for the Spurs if they decide they would rather move forward without that commitment. Fox will also have time to reshape the conversation by improving his play and, by extension, his trade value, which leaves San Antonio with a decision that could become a lot clearer or a lot trickier depending on how the next few years unfold. [Read more 🡒]
JJ Redick Just Gave The Spurs A Contender Reality Check
As the Spurs continue to get mentioned in the same breath as the leagues rising contenders, the attention around San Antonio is only growing. Victor Wembanyama, Dylan Harper and Devin Vassell are part of a group that has the franchise leaning into bigger goals, with championship talk and individual awards now part of the conversation around what this team could become.
JJ Redicks latest comments offered a different kind of reminder from a contender in the West: the Lakers are not spending much time worrying about where San Antonio fits in the bigger picture. Instead, Los Angeles is focused on its own path, pointing to roster improvements built around Luka Doncic on offense and Walker Kesslers presence to help on the glass and at the defensive end. For the Spurs, the challenge is the same one that comes with any rising team, proving the buzz matches the reality. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Still Have One Rival They Havent Caught Yet
For a franchise that has spent decades building a standard of consistency, there is still one familiar measuring stick sitting just out of reach. The Lakers remain the one regular-season opponent that has given San Antonio more trouble than anyone else over the long haul, a quirk that stands out even in a rivalry filled with big playoff moments and memorable Spurs wins.
There is still time for that to change this season, with three games left against Los Angeles and a chance to flip the series in San Antonio's favor if everything breaks right. The matchup looks different now, too, with the Lakers roster having gone through changes that include LeBron James moving on to Philadelphia, leaving the Spurs to chase a piece of history against a version of the rivalry that keeps evolving. [Read more 🡒]