The Spurs have their franchise cornerstone in Victor Wembanyama who exceeded his sky-high draft expectations with a historic rookie year. Wembanyama is on track to be a superstar and one of the faces in the league. This makes the Spurs one of the more interesting off-season teams as they could build around Wemby in several different ways.
2024 NBA Off-Season Preview: What’s Next For The San Antonio Spurs?
Season Recap
The Spurs season was defined by two things: Wembanayama’s historic rookie season and the lack of talent around him. Wemby averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks, and 1.2 steals en route to becoming the sixth unanimous Rookie of the Year in league history. Notably, his 3.6 blocks lead the league and he was the runner-up in the Defensive Player of the Year race many people believed he should have won the award. Furthermore, he became the youngest player to ever be named to an All-Defensive team. However, the Spurs’ lack of playmaking and guard play was a key concern all season.
The Spurs started the year with six-foot-eight Jeremy Sochan as their starting point guard. Sochan is a versatile forward and solid secondary or tertiary playmaker but he does read the floor well enough to be a lead guard. The Spurs were scrutinized for this decision all year and many pointed out Wembanyama’s teammates were not passing to him enough. Eventually, Tre Jones would take over the starting point guard role which improved upon the problem. Nevertheless, Jones is not talented enough to be a true lead guard and is best suited in a reserve role.
The other massive problem for the Spurs was a lack of spacing. Despite ranking 11th in three-point attempts the Spurs ranked 28th in three-point percentage. Ultimately the Spurs finished with a 22-60 record good for 14th in the Western Conference. This off-season the Spurs will focus on improving the overall talent around Wemby with a priority on playmaking and shooting.
Projected Cap Space and Draft Picks
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21 million in Cap Space
The Spurs will have a projected 21 million dollars in cap space. Allowing for flexibility and options in free agency. The Spurs can use this to upgrade the playmaking and shooting around Wembamyama. However, given their youth direction, the draft could be the Spurs main way to upgrade their roster.
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4th and 8th overall Draft Picks
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Primary Targets
- Stephon Castle
- Reed Sheppard
- Rob Dillingham
- Nikola Topic
- Zaccharie Risacher
- Cody Williams
With the fourth and eighth overall picks in the draft, the Spurs are perfectly positioned to build around Wembamyama in this year’s draft. The Spurs could target a plethora of players with these picks but landing a guard with playmaking abilities with at least one of these picks is paramount. Stephon Castle, Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, and Nikola Topic are all guards that fit this build. Both Castle and Sheppard are ideal defensive fits next to Wembanyama. Adding an established three-level scorer in Dillingham or a versatile tall playmaker in Topic are both exciting possibilities.
It would be shocking if the Spurs don’t draft at least one of these four guards and drafting some combination of the four is a realistic possibility. Another need for the Spurs is floor spacing making Zaccharie Risacher and Cody Williams intriguing fits. Risacher and Williams also allow the Spurs to improve upon the length around Wemby and offer defensive upside. Notably, Risacher is French just like Wemby and the two may have a connection. Tidjane Salaun, a fellow French prospect who is seen as a high-upside yet raw wing has also been linked to the Spurs.
If the Spurs want to accelerate the timeline around Wembanyama and trade for a win-now guard that’s also possible, one of these picks could be included in a potential trade. However, that feels somewhat unlikely given the Spurs’ approach to building around Wemby so far. Additionally, the Spurs have two second-round picks 35th and 48th overall. Ultimately the draft day possibilities are endless for the Spurs.
Pending Free Agents and Possible Departures
Free Agents
- Cedi Osman (Unrestricted)
- Dominick Barlow (Restricted/Two Way contract)
- David Duke Jr. (Restricted/Two Way contract)
- Sandro Mamukelashvili (Restricted)
The Spurs don’t have a ton of key free agents this helps with their flexibility heading into the off-season. Osman might be brought back due to his three-point shooting ability. Mamukelashvili showed some flashes in the second half of the season so he might be brought back as an intriguing young big man. However, the Spurs can certainly afford to lose all of these free agents and use their 21 million dollar cap space to upgrade the roster in a more meaningful way. Luckily for the Spurs, they won’t have to use any of this cap space on extensions for their existing core giving them plenty of flexibility in the off-season.
Trade pieces
Devin Vassell appears to be the only long-term fit alongside Wemby due to his shooting and overall creation abilities. Everyone else should be on the table for possible trades. Jeremy Sochan is a versatile defender and someone the Spurs are extremely high on as a result he is likely to stay. Johnson and Collins are the most likely tradable pieces for the Spurs especially if they decide to target a star. Johnson will make 19 million dollars next year while Collins is set to make 16 million. These salaries paired with some draft capital would allow the Spurs to trade for a star-level player. Alternatively, one of these players could be used to trade for a lesser level yet still highly impactful player.
Realistic Off-Season Targets
Trade
The Spurs are in one of the most interesting and unique positions in the league. Wembanyama is ascending to stardom even faster than expected. The Spurs have a plethora of future assets and could develop an elite young core around Wemby. Alternatively, they could go all-in on Wembanyama’s talent and build a competitive team right now. There have been rumors in this direction indicating the Spurs may target a star. Interestingly enough the Spurs are betting favorites to land Darius Garland; his playmaking and scoring abilities make him an ideal fit with Wemby.
Furthermore, at 24 Garland is the best of both worlds as he fits both a rebuilding and competitive timeline. Trae Young has been the other name heavily rumored to the Spurs. However, the Spurs have largely downplayed their interest. Young’s teammate Dejounte Murray has also been connected to the Spurs in a potential reunion. Trading for either Hawks guard would give the Spurs a high-level playmaker and star lead guard while giving the Hawks some of their picks back from the Murray trade in 2022. It’s also worth noting that the Spurs’ primary guard draft targets could all play alongside another lead guard. As mentioned before the Spurs’ main trade assets would be Johnson and Collins along with draft capital.
If the Spurs want to upgrade the roster in a meaningful way through trades but don’t want to sacrifice prized assets for a legit star, Malcolm Brogdon and Kevin Huerter are interesting names to monitor. Brogdon would provide the Spurs with high-level playmaking and shooting. Huerter would give the Spurs a shooting wing at a low cost. Dorian Finney-Smith is another fit that offers more defensive value.
Free agents
There are also several free agents that the Spurs could target with their 21 million dollars in cap space. The Spurs will likely draft a point guard. However, if they want to pair a young guard with a veteran, Tyus Jones and Spencer Dinwiddie are two names to keep an eye out for. Jones is the brother of Tre Jones which could help this pairing become reality. The Spurs have also been linked to Chris Paul which is an intriguing possibility however this young of a team would be quite the change for Paul.
Nic Claxton is a name to watch if the Spurs want to get weird and run a double-big lineup. The defensive upside between Claxton and Wemby would be incredible. Goga Bitadze would be a cheaper yet ideal fit in the Spurs’ center rotation or to play alongside Wembanayma. Ultimately though the Spurs will probably spend most of their resources on shooting agency luckily this class features plenty of knockdown shooters. The most reasonable shooting targets for the Spurs would be Gary Trent Jr. and Buddy Hield. Malik Beasley is a name of similar value. With Eric Gordon and Simone Fontechhio being budget options. Overall this off-season offers the Spurs a variety of ways to improve their primary needs of shooting and playmaking to upgrade the roster around Wemby.
