Victor Wembanyama’s extension has already sparked a bigger question in San Antonio: does his willingness to take less money create pressure on Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper to follow suit?
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon pushed back on that idea this week on the set of GetUp, saying, "Just because Wemby did this, it's not fair to expect his teammates to do the same thing,". That’s the right place to start, because Wembanyama is not a normal case and the Spurs shouldn’t treat him like one.
The 7-foot-4 French star has been telling people who he is for a while now. In his rookie year, he called Las Vegas "the most dystopian place on the planet."
He trained with monks in the offseason. He has also made his feelings about money pretty clear, saying, "Money is kinda unhealthy, isn't it?"
and later, during the NBA Cup, "Just stacking money hasn't really been any goal of mine in my life."
That’s Wembanyama’s lane. He cares about winning, and if the Spurs want to keep winning at the highest level, continuity matters. That means keeping talented players around him, which is easy to say and a lot harder to do when those players start getting expensive.
Castle and Harper both look like max players in the making. If Wembanyama’s deal is combined with the possibility that the Spurs move De'Aaron Fox in another year or two, the team could be looking at roughly 75% of the cap tied up in three players. That’s exactly the kind of math that makes owners uneasy, especially with the penalties that come from crossing the first and second aprons.
The league’s current system puts stars in a tough spot, but it also creates a path for teams if the rules change. The NBPA has already floated the idea of opting out of the CBA when that becomes available in October 2028, in part to push back on those harsh penalties. If that happens and the league softens the financial punishment for spending, the Spurs could get some relief right when Castle’s and Harper’s contracts come due.
That said, if the system doesn’t change, nobody should blame either player for taking every dollar available. The recent example of the Knicks losing Mitchell Robinson to the Celtics in free agency showed how quickly ownership can draw the line on spending. New York owner James Dolan reportedly wasn’t willing to make that commitment.
Could Robinson have accepted less? Sure.
But that’s not really the point. As MacMahon’s warning makes clear, Wembanyama is the exception, not the standard.
The Spurs are lucky to have him. They just shouldn’t expect everyone else to think exactly like him.
In Other News...
Spurs Patience Around Wembanyama Suddenly Looks Smarter Than Ever
The Spurs spent last offseason resisting the urge to shortcut Victor Wembanyamas rise, choosing development and patience over a splashy veteran addition. Even with the franchise linked to big names such as Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio stayed on its own timeline and kept building around its young core rather than forcing a win-now move.
Now that approach looks even more deliberate. Durants market has cooled enough to make him a far less realistic target than he once seemed, and the same logic that kept the Spurs from chasing him then still applies now: the front office has been willing to wait for the right fit instead of paying a premium for a name. For a team built around Wembanyama, that kind of restraint suddenly feels less cautious and more like the clearest path forward. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Fans Have Every Reason To Hate This Wembanyama Cap Debate
The latest salary-cap debate has put Victor Wembanyama in the middle of a familiar NBA tug-of-war, with NBPA executive director David Kelly arguing the current system asks too much of stars who are willing to take less to help their teams. Kevin Love added to that frustration by describing the second apron as a hard cap on roster building, a view that resonates in San Antonio because the Spurs are trying to construct a contender around a young franchise centerpiece while working within the leagues tightening financial rules.
Adam Silver, meanwhile, is standing by the structure, saying the cap is meant to keep competition and balance intact and that these questions will be part of the next collective bargaining talks. For Spurs fans, the uneasy part is obvious: the league keeps talking about parity and restraint just as the teams own path to a title-caliber roster depends on exactly the kind of flexibility those rules are squeezing, which is why this argument around Wembanyama is unlikely to fade anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]