9 Random Thoughts After Spurs Land Victor Wembanyama

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/victor-wembanyama-san-antonio-spurs-thoughts/

OMG, tbh.

[Rosewood]

Still can’t believe we got him.

Him being actually excited to be apart of the Spurs is awesome to see. This pick literally couldn’t be any better.

you called him 7’5 in your article - I’ve seen many sizes thrown around on the internet from 7’2 to 7’6. Why the confusion surrounding his height I wonder?

[HankChinaski]

Good read. The amount of options the front office has right now with draft capital and cap space to go along with a potential generational talent. Crazy

[heyheymymy]

"It’s a new era. Anything that happened between 2014 and 2023 was just what needed to happen to get Wembanyama to the Spurs"

[NickiRasgo]

You barely sleep right? :downspin:

[JPB]

So how much are spurs worth now? 5 billions or something?

[John B]

10. The NBA eyes are on the Spurs again. What can this “alien” do? That means national telecast.

11. As other great players have elevated their teammates, I expect the same. I expect Vassell, Keldon, Sochan and everybody working on their game. Malaki, Blake getting stronger and better. There will be a lot of expectations from the fans. The Spurs have great coaches and ex-Spurs support. I know they will be back in the gym getting ready

12. As the team gets better, and Wemby starts showing why he is the next face of basketball greatness, I think some caliber FA could start knocking to share the greatness. Remember Aldridge choosing us? Be prepared who comes knocking when the time comes, Doncic? Jared Jackson (who might have enough of Ja’s juvenile stunts)? Whoever it is, he will be knocking…

As you said, this erases the pain of the prodigal nephew selling us out. This erases the 5 years of downward spiral, without knowing when it would be over. The city of San Antonio has been touched again by the basketball gods. How great it is to be a Spurs fan again. Go Spurs Go!

[Dejounte]

That state of the art, half a billion worth training facility will be perfect for Wemby. They are going to give the best and finest physical training there could be, tbh. Along with all the other young guys.

[Brazil]

Still can’t believe we got him.

Him being actually excited to be apart of the Spurs is awesome to see. This pick literally couldn’t be any better.

you called him 7’5 in your article - I’ve seen many sizes thrown around on the internet from 7’2 to 7’6. Why the confusion surrounding his height I wonder?

just because he was (is?) still growing so we started talking about him as a 7'2 then 3 4 5... then you have shoes, no shoes... most important to know he is tall very tall :lol

[Brazil]

Another point that seems obvious but better to be said, Victor is not attracted by big markets bs, he is "no I want to bring my talents to Miami or LA". That's probably the most important stuff that brought Tony, Boris... First as said he is happy and even relieved to be picked by the Spurs more importantly he will want to stay in San Antonio and build a dynasty. I believe Texas fits him well and he already had opportunity to spend time there with Tony.

[John B]

It’s a great day for French basketball also. Yes Tony and Boris will be hands-on to make sure of that. Everybody’s eyes will be on this French kid. We will see a lot of TP and Bobo… not to mention I’m sure Timmy, Manu.. all will be excited to get the Spurs back on top. Monty, Bud coming soon??

[Mr. Body]

Another point that seems obvious but better to be said, Victor is not attracted by big markets bs, he is "no I want to bring my talents to Miami or LA". That's probably the most important stuff that brought Tony, Boris... First as said he is happy and even relieved to be picked by the Spurs more importantly he will want to stay in San Antonio and build a dynasty. I believe Texas fits him well and he already had opportunity to spend time there with Tony.

International players tend to not be driven by American markets as much. Partly, I guess, because they're motivated by the sport, partly because they have access to actually great cities rather than the cow plop America generates.

[RC_Drunkford]

why are you saying we have around 30 milliion in cap space? We got 68 million tied up and the cap is projected to be at 134 million. Wembanyama's contract gonna be around 10 million which should have us at 56 million of open cap space. That's with salary ballast like Khem Birch, Devonte Graham and Doug McDermott still on the team

[Brazil]

It’s a great day for French basketball also. Yes Tony and Boris will be hands-on to make sure of that. Everybody’s eyes will be on this French kid. We will see a lot of TP and Bobo… not to mention I’m sure Timmy, Manu.. all will be excited to get the Spurs back on top. Monty, Bud coming soon??

You are right it's amazing for French bb.. I hope French federation will be able to capitalize on stat starting with the Olympics in Paris. On a side note, I cannot wait the threads about the fact Victor should not play for FNT this will remember us the good times of Tony and Manu :lol

[buttsR4rebounding]

That line up of Zollins, VW, KJ, Vassell and Sochan has an average height of 6'8". Might be one of the tallest starting lineups in league history. The Showtime Lakers were huge, but averaged 6'7".

[DAF86]

Tony > Manu. I always said it, tbh.

[Mal]

I am also about slower approach. Use the guys already on roster and give them full season, and see what we got. Then start thinking about actual roster structure for the future, using picks, cap space and other assets.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Another point that seems obvious but better to be said, Victor is not attracted by big markets bs, he is "no I want to bring my talents to Miami or LA". That's probably the most important stuff that brought Tony, Boris... First as said he is happy and even relieved to be picked by the Spurs more importantly he will want to stay in San Antonio and build a dynasty. I believe Texas fits him well and he already had opportunity to spend time there with Tony.

Thank god, a part of me fears he may bounce for a bigger market because he will be such a big star. His Instagram just shared a pic of him in a Parker jersey from 3 years ago

[duncan2k5]

Watch Pop try to outsmart everyone and draft a guy who is a 2nd round prospect ��

[Vince Carter's ankle]

Still can’t believe we got him.

Him being actually excited to be apart of the Spurs is awesome to see. This pick literally couldn’t be any better.

you called him 7’5 in your article - I’ve seen many sizes thrown around on the internet from 7’2 to 7’6. Why the confusion surrounding his height I wonder?
"I am 7-foot-3 (2.21-meter) bare feet," the French unicorn confirmed himself while talking to the ESPN crew. "Actually, I have never measured myself with shoes. But it's [height] gotta be like 7-foot-4 or 7-foot-5, I guess."

[Brazil]

Tony > Manu. I always said it, tbh.

:lol

[Dex]

It's the following morning and I still can't believe it. I think I scared my dogs with my shouting when they finally flashed Charlotte at #2.


2) Gregg Popovich is the perfect head coach to usher Wembanyama through the process of adjusting to the NBA. Popovich will see the big picture and won’t be too concerned about instant success. Once Wembanyama is ready to spread his wings and try to dominate, San Antonio’s head coach knows a thing or two about managing generational talents.

Popovich turns 75 shortly after Wembanyama turns 20. Personally, I hope that Popovich can stick around for at least another five years or so. That would be enough time to get Wembanyama on the right track.

If and when Pop decides to step down as coach, do you think he sticks around in some capacity? President of basketball operations or even like a consultant?

I could see the rigors of an 82 game season get draining on anybody at that age, but it would be nice if he could still be available to mentor Wemby regardless.

[Brazil]

Thank god, a part of me fears he may bounce for a bigger market because he will be such a big star. His Instagram just shared a pic of him in a Parker jersey from 3 years ago

Just to temper a bit expectations, he is 19 y/o so you never know what will happen once installed in the US but it looks like he has a great entourage that should keep him away from the temptations and the glamour around big markets... hopefully. In terms of business he looks quite on top of things, I read that he could sign a huge shoe deal soon. I hope exposure in SA will be enough to ensure him a superstar stream of revenue. Both him and SA should benefit of each other... he will bring a lot of attention to the franchise and he will be very marketable as a French following the footsteps of Tim and David, that's a remarkable story line right there. Also and this is not negligible, San Antonio is the preferred franchise of the French for obvious reasons this will add up to develop his brand and name in France.

[Dex]

That Kawhi Leonard fiasco was painful but that’s all forgotten now. Leonard needed to leave for the Spurs to get to where they are today with Wembanyama. Like the 2014 championship erased the 2013 pain, the Wembanyama lottery win erases any negatives that happened since the 2014 championship.

This may be a bit of revisionist thinking but it's hard to disagree with...and time has really shed the truth on Leonard.

In an alternate universe where Kawhi didn't demand the trade....MAYBE the Spurs give him the super-max. MAYBE the Spurs win another championship with him. Or MAYBE he walks in free agency since it's obvious he wanted to go to LA. Even if he had stayed with the Spurs, we'd now be the ones paying max value for a player who sits a third of the season and can't survive a playoff run.

Instead, we have a chance at player who could be a generational talent, and the future suddenly looks much more bright in San Antonio.

[Dex]

Watch Pop try to outsmart everyone and draft a guy who is a 2nd round prospect ��

https://media1.giphy.com/media/O1oJ840fg6uOVCqdzJ/giphy.gif

https://media3.giphy.com/media/JczRsTy3OmbjS6qrPS/giphy-downsized-large.gif

[Leetonidas]

We're actually gonna be on national TV a lot next year lol

[cd98]

Yes I think patience is key. Spurs need time to see Wemby grow and mature before cashing in assets. We need to ensure he is as advertised and let some young guys like Wesley and Brenham show if they can be part of the future. If for some reason Wemby gets really good fast, then we have the assets to build the team quickly.

[Mugen]

Maybe Porky was trying to will him to the Hornets tbh :lol

[Davidicus2]

I screamed so loud for so long I made my 5-mo old cry. I told her it’s all worth it.

This next morning is still unbelievable, like a dream. I keep telling myself they can’t take it back because it’s all over ESPN and Twitter.

Great read, looking forward to many more. The only piece I’d contend with is the Leonard trade we made our own luck.

One question I keep asking myself - does this lure Timmy into a full time assistant coach position, to mentor Wembanyama?

[Darkwaters]

So....rebuild complete? On to the winning?

[baseline bum]

Speaking of random thoughts, my tankathon roll yesterday afternoon came really close. Nailed the Wemby pick, called Detroit falling to 5, had Houston falling, and had Charlotte and Portland advancing to the top 3 but in opposite order. Only big miss it had was calling Dallas advancing to #4.


Just ran it for my roll today and got this, which would be a dream scenario since we get Kareem Abdul-Wembanyama and LOL Pistons LOL Rockets getting their worst possible picks. Plus Portland gets the #2 but obviously can't draft Scoot with Lollard there. Then Hornets #3 but they're going to draft him to play with Ball?

1. Spurs
2. Blazers
3. Hornets
4. Mavs
5. Pistons
6. Rockets
7. Magic

[Fireball]

I am walking along the streets and everyone else is thinking "why is he grinning so much the whole time?" :) best feeling since the last championship and, yes, signing of LMA

[thiste]

A question to the ones who follow closely what happens behind the scenes at the Spurs organization. I'm sure Timmy & David are aware of the lottery win and thrilled, so what in your opinion is the chance they actually come and check out the new kid and try and help him with his game over the next few seasons?
It was my impression that Timmy has shown little interest in Basketball in recent years (fair play to him, go knock yourself out with car stuff by all means). Do you guys think they'd be intrigued enough by Victor's presence and actually try to help him in any way? Or is it just fan talk?

[urunobili]

Some of my favorite LJ writing ever. Thanks this is great!

[rjv]

i'm still on cloud nine and reveling in the national media hating on the spurs again.

[lefty]

Side note : it was pretty cool to see Brandon Roy representing the Blazers

Super player, unlucky with his injuries

[Ariel]

"I am 7-foot-3 (2.21-meter) bare feet," the French unicorn confirmed himself while talking to the ESPN crew. "Actually, I have never measured myself with shoes. But it's [height] gotta be like 7-foot-4 or 7-foot-5, I guess."
I never understood the stupid "with shoes" measurements. It's just a deceptive marketing strategy.

[lefty]

Oh, and Udoka's face when Malika was introducing each team's rep, that was a live mugshot :lol

[Trueblood]

Search has been disabled so I couldn't bump the thread, but one of my thoughts went to the topic of drafting Bronnie James in order to get LeBron.

Now that you have Wemby locked up, do you consider drafting Jr next year in hopes of bringing in LeBron? He will be 40 by that point and probably down a few steps from where he is now. But the flip side of that coin is he is still playing at a very high rate, and his presence could attract other players. On a team with Wemby and his son I believe he would pull out all the stops and cash in every favor he has in the league to win a championship with his son. If he came over on a team friendly deal the Spurs would have the draft capital and cap space to trade for an Allstar to round out the roster. I think a roster of:

Wemby in his early stages
An established Allstar in his prime
A LeBron in his twilight
Our young core
And whatever ring chasing friends of LeBron that want to come in on minimum deals

Could be enough to chip.

When I first heard the prospect of drafting Bronnie to bring in his dad I was 100% opposed. But having this pick kind of makes me rethink it.

[rascal]

Search has been disabled so I couldn't bump the thread, but one of my thoughts went to the topic of drafting Bronnie James in order to get LeBron.

Now that you have Wemby locked up, do you consider drafting Jr next year in hopes of bringing in LeBron? He will be 40 by that point and probably down a few steps from where he is now. But the flip side of that coin is he is still playing at a very high rate, and his presence could attract other players. On a team with Wemby and his son I believe he would pull out all the stops and cash in every favor he has in the league to win a championship with his son. If he came over on a team friendly deal the Spurs would have the draft capital and cap space to trade for an Allstar to round out the roster. I think a roster of:

Wemby in his early stages
An established Allstar in his prime
A LeBron in his twilight
Our young core
And whatever ring chasing friends of LeBron that want to come in on minimum deals

Could be enough to chip.

When I first heard the prospect of drafting Bronnie to bring in his dad I was 100% opposed. But having this pick kind of makes me rethink it.

No, the Spurs can build a winner without a 40 year old James.

[DesignatedT]

Do you think he plays in the Vegas Summer League?

[slick'81]

Only in san antonio

[rjv]

Do you think he plays in the Vegas Summer League?

my guess would be that we'll see him for a couple of games at most and then they would shut him down.

[John B]

Search has been disabled so I couldn't bump the thread, but one of my thoughts went to the topic of drafting Bronnie James in order to get LeBron.

Now that you have Wemby locked up, do you consider drafting Jr next year in hopes of bringing in LeBron? He will be 40 by that point and probably down a few steps from where he is now. But the flip side of that coin is he is still playing at a very high rate, and his presence could attract other players. On a team with Wemby and his son I believe he would pull out all the stops and cash in every favor he has in the league to win a championship with his son. If he came over on a team friendly deal the Spurs would have the draft capital and cap space to trade for an Allstar to round out the roster. I think a roster of:

Wemby in his early stages
An established Allstar in his prime
A LeBron in his twilight
Our young core
And whatever ring chasing friends of LeBron that want to come in on minimum deals

Could be enough to chip.

When I first heard the prospect of drafting Bronnie to bring in his dad I was 100% opposed. But having this pick kind of makes me rethink it.

I’m not helping self-proclaim goat get his 5th ring. Hard pass.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

10) In a twist of fate if Josh Primo doesn’t expose himself do the ping pong balls bounce our way? Thanks Josh?

[Mr. Body]

Do you think he plays in the Vegas Summer League?

I kinda think no.

[John B]

10) In a twist of fate if Josh Primo doesn’t expose himself do the ping pong balls bounce our way? Thanks Josh?

Going back to Primo. It wouldn’t be a far-fetched if he comes back after redeeming himself.

[Mugen]

It should have been obvious that the Rockets weren't getting #1 when they had Ime repping them. Imagine the PR nightmare of having him front and center with the Wemby pick :lol

[John B]

Do you think he plays in the Vegas Summer League?

Nah.. he’d be wearing pads with Bobo as bodyguard everywhere he go

[John B]

I actually predicted the last 4 picks, called out each one with my eyes closed, while Tatum echoed my calls, each time hoping he doesn’t call the Spurs. It was pretty surreal when Tatum finally called Charlotte as the #2 pick and announced the Spurs getting the 1st pick!! Damn that was pretty intense.

[BillMc]

Wonder if Pop will play him enough to give him a real ROY shot.

[slick'81]

Robinson,duncan and wemby all in my lifetime:smokin

[Mugen]

Wonder if Pop will play him enough to give him a real ROY shot.

They'll manage his minutes and I don't think he plays more than 65-70 games next year. But he's good enough to win ROY playing 25mpg for 60ish gams tbh :lol

[BillMc]

They'll manage his minutes and I don't think he plays more than 65-70 games next year. But he's good enough to win ROY playing 25mpg for 60ish gams tbh :lol
:bobo

[John B]

Wonder if Pop will play him enough to give him a real ROY shot.

He will still be ROY. I think Pop would not deny him that to include in his legacy. It didn’t prevent Banchero the ROY despite a dismal record.

[gameFACE]

Great article. A few thoughts I had while reading:

- Patience, yes. But with him being well over 7' his prime career will most likely be shorter than most players so there have to be upfront considerations even if he's only 19.

- Pop's age isn't exactly the elephant in the room. I love Pop but may not want to see an 80 year old coaching.

- For a starting 5, Vassell (and Tre Jones) would be the odd man out. It may be more prudent to bring in a veteran point guard. C-Collins, PF-Wemby, SF-Sochan, SG-Keldon, PG-?

Some fun years coming. Fvvk, yeah!! :smokin

[ginobilized]

All of my thoughts are random, btw

This is all so surreal.......literally a lottery win and at the same time, seems like this was always supposed to work out this way.

Pop is the right guy for this job, for awhile, at least.

I was going back even further and starting with Artis Gilmore, Robinson, Duncan, and Wemby as a list of big men in our lineage. That's up there as far as All-Time big men franchises.

What a weird, wild last couple of seasons, without which, no Wemby. Makes one consider how life actually works sometimes.

One thing other than his height, skills, athleticism that I really love about Wemby is his maturity. Doesn't force the game. Plays within a system. He and Pop could be a very powerful combo. Reminds me of TD in that respect.

[BackHome]

I am also about slower approach. Use the guys already on roster and give them full season, and see what we got. Then start thinking about actual roster structure for the future, using picks, cap space and other assets.

I am right you with I want to see what he is good at and what is he bad at and based on that figure out who and what type of player fits with him. I definitely don’t want to be the Houston or Mavericks who have Stars but then bring in so called Star players who make your team worse ie, Kyrie Ivring and Harden. So I am all in for slow cooking using our current and future draft picks to build this team. Yeah in two or three years if everything is working out I might look at trading current first picks for established NBA players

[John B]

Great article. A few thoughts I had while reading:

- Patience, yes. But with him being well over 7' his prime career will most likely be shorter than most players so there have to be upfront considerations even if he's only 19.

- Pop's age isn't exactly the elephant in the room. I love Pop but may not want to see an 80 year old coaching.

- For a starting 5, Vassell (and Tre Jones) would be the odd man out. It may be more prudent to bring in a veteran point guard. C-Collins, PF-Wemby, SF-Sochan, SG-Keldon, PG-?

Some fun years coming. Fvvk, yeah!! :smokin

Vassell is a looong SG who can fabricate points fast, while Tre Jones is our ONLY true PG who can set-up plays. It’s actually Keldon who is the odd-man out. He is a tweener at PF where Sochan/Wemby are the better players, slow(er) at SF to cover perimeter. If Spurs find a starting PG and slides Sochan back to PF, Wemby at SF, Keldon is out.

I’d shop Keldon plus picks for Anthony Black right now.

[BackHome]

They'll manage his minutes and I don't think he plays more than 65-70 games next year. But he's good enough to win ROY playing 25mpg for 60ish gams tbh :lol

I think he will average at most 15 minutes a game and probably play around 40 games

[Mal]

10. There is no way this kid is gonna start flashing firearms on tiktok

[spurraider21]

Great article. A few thoughts I had while reading:

- Patience, yes. But with him being well over 7' his prime career will most likely be shorter than most players so there have to be upfront considerations even if he's only 19.

- Pop's age isn't exactly the elephant in the room. I love Pop but may not want to see an 80 year old coaching.

- For a starting 5, Vassell (and Tre Jones) would be the odd man out. It may be more prudent to bring in a veteran point guard. C-Collins, PF-Wemby, SF-Sochan, SG-Keldon, PG-?

Some fun years coming. Fvvk, yeah!! :smokin
keldon would leave the lineup before vassell does

[RC_Drunkford]

I am also about slower approach. Use the guys already on roster and give them full season, and see what we got. Then start thinking about actual roster structure for the future, using picks, cap space and other assets.

I‘m also for this. The FO has to figure out how to construct a roster that can dominate the league for years to come and win multiple championships. Use cap space wisely, front load every contract so they decline down the line to give you more flexibility. Make sure you have a ton of young guys on Wemby‘s timeline who will improve alongside him. Try to get a big FA signing in 2024. Stack more draft assets and bring in ring chasing vets down the line while having the ATL picks and the Boston swap to infuse more young talent to the team. If executed right the Spurs could dominate the league for years to come. The team needs to be absolutely stacked with talent

[Cry Havoc]

Put a team around Victor, and Honestly you don't even have to play him 65 games. The seeding won't matter. His potential is off the charts and he only needs maybe a solid second option for the Spurs to vault into contention in the current NBA environment.

Especially now that the era of the superteam seems to be fading -- you don't need 3-4 all-stars to compete with the Dubs and the Celtics, while set for years, are hardly an unbeatable team.

All signs point up for the Spurs right now. The priorities are finding a solid #2 in the next 2-3 years and keeping Wemby developing, healthy, and happy.

[exstatic]

Search has been disabled so I couldn't bump the thread, but one of my thoughts went to the topic of drafting Bronnie James in order to get LeBron.

Now that you have Wemby locked up, do you consider drafting Jr next year in hopes of bringing in LeBron? He will be 40 by that point and probably down a few steps from where he is now. But the flip side of that coin is he is still playing at a very high rate, and his presence could attract other players. On a team with Wemby and his son I believe he would pull out all the stops and cash in every favor he has in the league to win a championship with his son. If he came over on a team friendly deal the Spurs would have the draft capital and cap space to trade for an Allstar to round out the roster. I think a roster of:

Wemby in his early stages
An established Allstar in his prime
A LeBron in his twilight
Our young core
And whatever ring chasing friends of LeBron that want to come in on minimum deals

Could be enough to chip.

When I first heard the prospect of drafting Bronnie to bring in his dad I was 100% opposed. But having this pick kind of makes me rethink it.

I don’t want LeBron, and his self centered values anywhere near our young guys.

[ambchang]

My first thought is when will people start blaming Pop for Wemby not winning the MVP, Finals MVP, averaging 50.5ppg with 28.3 rpg with 4.6 bpg? Year 1?

[weeks]

i'm just worried about his injury potential. i say baby him as much as possible while giving him meaningful minutes. there's no need to rush things, we aren't going to be competing for a couple of seasons regardless. just let him grow...

[SpurPadre]

Tony > Manu. I always said it, tbh.

https://media.tenor.com/zSwssFAcaXYAAAAC/arnold-wrong.gif

[Arcadian]

Eeeehhhh, 25 mpg would be too low. I say 28-32.

[3&D_TBH]

Doesn't even feel real to me. I was in high school for Duncan draft. Crazy that I get to see my team with a chance to nab another generation dude. I'm thankful to get to see it, tbh.

[3&D_TBH]

And things could get interesting quickly because when he says, "I want a ring asap," what I hear is a very aggressive attitude. May not be able to keep from competing at a high level if he shows up and shows out from the jump, although I get why you would want to bring him along slowly as that would be my approach as well were I in charge. Gonna be fun

[gameFACE]

Vassell is a looong SG who can fabricate points fast, while Tre Jones is our ONLY true PG who can set-up plays. It’s actually Keldon who is the odd-man out. He is a tweener at PF where Sochan/Wemby are the better players, slow(er) at SF to cover perimeter. If Spurs find a starting PG and slides Sochan back to PF, Wemby at SF, Keldon is out.

I’d shop Keldon plus picks for Anthony Black right now.


keldon would leave the lineup before vassell does

There are a lot of tweeners on the team. Sochan is only 6'-8". I'd rather shop Keldon for an existing NBA player than another draft pick project. Still think a veteran PG would help the younger Spurs.

[Arcadian]

It's funny because I have at times over the years asked myself, just as a fun thought experiment, "If there's ever going to be a future Spur who could surpass Tim Duncan in greatness, what would that look like? He would have to be a weird combination of insanely tall and insanely skilled." And I was imagining far into the future, with me being close to dying of old age and basketball being all futuristic and played by genetically modified human clones.

And now we literally are about to draft that guy, and I only had to wait a few years :lol

[John B]

There are a lot of tweeners on the team. Sochan is only 6'-8". I'd rather shop Keldon for an existing NBA player than another draft pick project. Still think a veteran PG would help the younger Spurs.

Spurs can get a George Hill who knows the system, until Malaki and Blake are ready to take-over. And you still have Tre Jones as Spurs capable PG as backup.

But the idea of getting Anthony Black if he could be had. He is a big 6’7” defensive PG, strong and can be the starting PG from day 1. Black has higher upsides and a position of need. They are not going to win a lot, until they get better together.

[spurs1990]

Popovich turns 75 shortly after Wembanyama turns 20. Personally, I hope that Popovich can stick around for at least another five years or so.

Can’t possibly be serious??

[SpurPadre]

i'm still on cloud nine and reveling in the national media hating on the spurs again.

Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes have been doing that and will only ramp it up now.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Just to temper a bit expectations, he is 19 y/o so you never know what will happen once installed in the US but it looks like he has a great entourage that should keep him away from the temptations and the glamour around big markets... hopefully. In terms of business he looks quite on top of things, I read that he could sign a huge shoe deal soon. I hope exposure in SA will be enough to ensure him a superstar stream of revenue. Both him and SA should benefit of each other... he will bring a lot of attention to the franchise and he will be very marketable as a French following the footsteps of Tim and David, that's a remarkable story line right there. Also and this is not negligible, San Antonio is the preferred franchise of the French for obvious reasons this will add up to develop his brand and name in France.

Love to hear it, great write up!

[JPB]

Wonder if Pop will play him enough to give him a real ROY shot.

I believe he will when he'll discover, which they certainly already know, how competitive and ambitious he is. The kid wants to write history and that will start day and season one for him. I don't see Pop givng him the regular rookie treatment, all the more for a player with 2 years of experience as a pro and directly coming from a World Cup.

[JPB]

I think he will average at most 15 minutes a game and probably play around 40 games

Allow me to disagree with that. He'll play 25-30+ and 60-65+ games for me. No need to have a conservative, cocooning view on Wemby, he's ready. Just play the guy.

[Splits]

Can't believe he threw De Culo, Ian, Lauvernge, Livio under the bus like that

[R. DeMurre]

They'll manage his minutes and I don't think he plays more than 65-70 games next year. But he's good enough to win ROY playing 25mpg for 60ish gams tbh :lol

Starting next season, rookies have to play a minimum of 65 games to be eligible for ROY-- it's part of the new collective bargaining agreement.

[kobyz]

Should we shut down Wemby's rest of season in France?