Spurs Summer League Schedule and an Early Look at the Roster
Spurs fans could see Victor Wembanyama playing in a Spurs uniform quite soon (Photo via Twitter)
In a little over a week, the San Antonio Spurs will be playing basketball. While it’s still unknown how much Victor Wembanyama will play in summer league, both Wembanyama and the Spurs have said recently that he will participate. The current expectation is that he’ll play in a couple of the games. However, I’ve been told it’s a very fluid situation.
Schedule for the Spurs Summer League Team
July 3 vs. Charlotte Hornets @ 7pm CDT (ESPN)
July 5 vs. Los Angeles Lakers @ 7pm CDT (ESPN)
July 7 vs. Charlotte Hornets @ 8pm CDT (ESPN)
July 9 vs. Portland Trail Blazers @ 7pm CDT (ESPN2)
July 11 vs. Washington Wizards @ 9:30pm CDT (NBA TV)
July 14 vs. Detroit Pistons @ 7:30pm CDT (NBA TV)
The first two Spurs summer league games will be played in Sacramento in the California Classic. After those two contests, the next four games will take place in the Las Vegas Summer League. When factoring in the summer league playoff games, every NBA team will play at least five contests in Vegas, which means the Spurs will play a minimum of seven summer league games this year.
Which Games is Victor Wembanyama Most Likely to Play?
Considering that both games in Sacramento and the first game in Las Vegas will be broadcast on ESPN, somebody somewhere obviously expects Wembanyama to play in those games. It’s also no accident that the Spurs play the Hornets twice in their first three games. Brandon Miller was drafted second in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Hornets, so Wembanyama versus Miller would be a battle of the top two draft picks.
The game against the Trail Blazers on July 9th would also be intriguing because it could feature Wembanyama versus Scoot Henderson, the player drafted third in the draft.
For Wembanyama, he might be looking forward to the game on July 11th against the Wizards the most. That’s because Bilal Coulibaly, his good friend and teammate from France, got traded to the Wizards on draft night.
Who Else Will Suit Up for the Spurs in Summer League?
Here’s a quick look at the other players expected to be on the Spurs summer league team:
Jeremy Sochan – Last I’ve heard, Sochan is expected to play for the Spurs in summer league. He missed summer league before his rookie season due to COVID-19. Sochan had a successful rookie campaign but it’d be interesting to see him take a larger role for the summer league squad. Plus, if Wembanyama is going to play, it’d be good to have Sochan there to absorb some of the physicality.
Malaki Branham – Branham seemingly got better and better as his rookie season went along. It’ll be exciting to see how much progress he’s made since the end of the regular season.
Blake Wesley – Although Wesley had a rocky rookie campaign, he exhibited flashes of potential. Can he start stringing together more good than bad? Summer league will tell us a lot about how Wesley is developing.
Sidy Cissoko – Drafted by the Spurs at 44 after the Spurs picked Wembanyama at 1, Cissoko will surely be in uniform during summer league. He played in the G League last year so he should be somewhat adjusted to this level of competition.
Dominick Barlow – Barlow played on the summer league team last year and should be on the team again this year. Since his roster spot isn’t yet set in stone for the coming year, he’ll be looking to take a few steps forward.
Julian Champagnie – Like Barlow, Champagnie was on a two-way contract last season. If he suits up for the Silver and Black in summer league, he’ll provide outside shooting and hustle on defense.
Charles Bassey – Bassey isn’t a sure thing for summer league. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in March and will be entering his third season in the league (typically, the Spurs send players to summer league prior to their first two seasons). If he’s healthy, summer league would be a good way for Bassey to show that he deserves a front row seat in the future of the team.
Sandro Mamukelashvili – Mamukelashvili, like Bassey, is entering his third season so he too is probably unlikely to participate. But, hey, if Wembanyama plays, Mamukelashvili could opt to play to show he can fit next to the French phenom.
Sir’Jabari Rice – Minutes after the draft, Rice signed a two-way contract with the Spurs. The 24-year-old out of the University of Texas is a quality outside shooter who plays a smart brand of basketball. He’ll be on the summer league team and should be able to step in and perform right away. Rice is known to play well in high pressure situations, so we’ll see if that translates to summer league action.
Charles Bediako – Bediako signed a training camp deal with the Spurs shortly after the draft. A big center who is nearly 7-feet tall, Bediako was a great defender at Alabama last season. Offensively, though, he can’t do much other than dunk. In fact, he hit only 35.5% of his free throws. Bediako is a long shot to make the final roster — but it’s not impossible due to how good he is defensively.
Setric Millner Jr. – Millner has signed a training camp deal with the Spurs. He played three years at Toledo and averaged 16.1 points and 5.9 rebounds last season. At 6-foot-7, he gives the Spurs depth at forward on their summer league roster.
Erik Stevenson – A 6-foot-4 guard who starred for West Virginia last year, Stevenson will play for San Antonio’s summer league team. Stevenson led West Virginia in scoring. Primarily a shooter, he knocked down better than 37% of his threes last season and shot his free throws at an 82.6% clip for his college career.
Tre Jones – It’s very, very unlikely that Jones will be on the Spurs summer league team. However, it wouldn’t be unprecedented. When Tim Duncan went to summer league in Salt Lake City, the Spurs sent a few veterans with him including Corey Alexander and Monty Williams. If San Antonio quickly re-signs the restricted free agent, could the Spurs send Jones to summer league to make sure things go smoothly for Wembanyama? Probably not … but it wouldn’t be completely unprecedented.
We’ll have a lot more summer league coverage in the coming days. Stay tuned.