As the San Antonio Spurs look to take another leap with Victor Wembanyama, here is a guide for what the team's offseason might hold
The last time the world saw Victor Wembanyama on a basketball court, he was a star among stars. The 21-year-old Spurs center was a wonder at the NBA All-Star game in February, running and dunking and blocking shots.
A few days after his coming-out party in San Francisco, Wembanyama received a diagnosis that ended his season early. Deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder turned the 7-foot-3 Wembanyama into the NBA’s tallest spectator for the final two months. Overall, Wembanyama liked what he saw from his spot on the bench or in front of the television. “I've seen some energy on the court and dedication that has grown throughout the season,” Wembanyama said. “At some point I even felt like, ‘Damn, I wish we played like that when I was there.’ ” READ MORE: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich taken by ambulance after restaurant incident If all goes to plan, Wembanyama will get his chance soon enough. A week ago Sunday, the Spurs completed their sixth straight season without a playoff appearance, the longest drought in franchise history. That is the bad news. The good news is that – even with their undisputed star out for all but 46 games – the Spurs still managed to finish 34-48. That matched the club’s best record since 2018-19, which also happened to be the Spurs’ last playoff season. The arrow is pointing up for Wembanyama and the Spurs. Here are five burning questions the Spurs must address in the offseason, the answers to which will go a long way toward determining the kind of leap the team might make next season: 1. Who will be the coach at the start of training camp? It’s kind of an important question, and one nobody could possibly answer at this point. Gregg Popovich missed almost the entire season after suffering a stroke five games into it, and his was felt throughout the club. Assistant coach Mitch Johnson filled in more than admirably under tough circumstances and deserves kudos. What comes next is up to Popovich and his doctors. Health-willing, the 76-year-old Popovich will have first dibs on reclaiming his job. The Spurs will not move to fill his seat until the winningest coach in NBA history decides to vacate it. Should Popovich choose to step down, the Spurs will have two choices. The first is to hand the reins full-time to the 38-year-old Johnson, who earned a look after guiding the Spurs through a challenging 2024-25 campaign. The second is to open the hypothetical vacancy to outside candidates, in which case the Spurs will find no shortage of applicants. Any basketball coach alive would love to coach Wembanyama entering his prime. Which leads us to our next question … 2. Can Wembanyama make it all the way back? Wembanyama was on his way to a Defensive Player of the Year trophy and All-NBA season when a blood clot issue shut him down in mid-February. How quickly he can get back on the court – and back to being a game-changing extraterrestrial – will be the question of the summertime. From the moment of Wembanyama’s diagnosis, the Spurs have maintained optimism he would be cleared for full participation in time for the start of training camp in the fall. Recent NBA history is rife with blood clot patients who have attempted a return. FINGER: Why the Spurs are putting trust in Jeremy Sochan for summer of 'good vibes' Chris Bosh remains the worst-case scenario. The Hall of Fame Miami Heat center was forced to retire in 2019 due to recurring blood clots. Other NBA players to have battled blood clots – including Detroit’s Ausar Thompson, Toronto’s Brandon Ingram and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Christian Koloko – have returned on timelines similar to what the Spurs have in mind for Wembanyama. The best-case scenario is Damian Lillard. Milwaukee’s All-Star guard was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf in March – after Wembanyama – and was cleared to resume basketball activities three weeks later. There is a chance Lillard could play for the Bucks in the playoffs this month. Regardless of how long it takes, the return of a healthy Wembanyama would be the best addition the Spurs could muster this summer. 3. What’s next for CP3? Chris Paul, the Spurs’ 39-year-old point guard savant, became the second-oldest player in NBA history to start all 82 games, following only Utah’s John Stockton. He is unlikely to be the Spurs’ starting point guard at the start of next season. The Spurs traded for De’Aaron Fox in February to be their point guard of the present. Paul’s return to San Antonio would likely be predicated on a willingness to come off the bench. Paul bristled at a bench role at Golden State in 2023-24, and specifically targeted teams that would let him start during free agency search last summer. Unless he has had a change of heart, his days in San Antonio are probably numbered. Paul has indicated a desire to keep playing past his 40th birthday. The Spurs loved him around. If Paul aims to continue his career as a starter, however, he will likely have to move on. 4. What about the Spurs’ other free-agents-to-be? With their top eight scorers under contract for next season, the Spurs don’t have an overwhelming amount of business to take care of when it comes to internal free agents. READ MORE: Why Spurs' Devin Vassell is ready for reduced role next season In addition to Paul, the Spurs will have to make decisions on reserve forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, backup centers Charles Bassey and Bismack Biyombo and reserve point guard Jordan McLaughlin. Of that group, Mamukelashvili is the most likely to return, especially if the Spurs can get him for something in the range of the $2.1 million salary he earned this season. 5. Can the Spurs strike more lottery gold? Thanks to Miami’s play-in victory over Atlanta on Friday, which kept the Hawks out of the playoffs, the Spurs will enter the June draft with two lottery picks. Their own pick came in with the eighth-best odds in next month’s lottery drawing, while the one obtained from Atlanta holds the 14th-best odds. Between the two picks, the Spurs have a 29.7% chance of landing at least one of them in the top 4. Their chances of drawing the No. 1 slot – and the opportunity to draft Duke wunderkind Cooper Flagg – sit at 6.7%. The Spurs have done well with their last two lottery picks, drafting Wembanyama first overall in 2023 and Stephon Castle – this year’s presumptive Rookie of the Year – at No. 4 last summer.
Hall Of Fame Los Angeles Lakers Hawks Duke CP3 Gregg Popovich Wemby Mitch Johnson All-Star Jordan Mclaughlin Cooper Flagg Damian Lillard Christian Chris Bosh Jeremy Sochan Brandon Ingram Koloko Devin Vassell Bismack Biyombo Charles Bassey Ausar Thompson Stephon Castle Rookie Of The Year John Stockton Why Spurs San Francisco Miami Heat Detroit Toronto Milwaukee Atlanta Bucks Utah Golden State NBA All-Star Game Defensive Player Of The Year Sandro Mamukelashvili All-NBA De'aaron Fox
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