To build around Wembanyama are the San Antonio Spurs looking for Scottie Pippen or David Robinson, another young talent or an established star?
The NBA Draft is quickly approaching, and the Spurs have the 4th and 8th picks overall. Two top-ten picks hold a variety of possibilities, from their selection of players to trade potential. Victor Wembanyama needs another major player next to him if the Spurs are to become contenders once again, and there’s a couple of routes they could take.
Going for a ‘Robinson’ would mean trading the picks, current or future, and acquiring a proven veteran who could step on the court right away and make the Spurs at least a play-in team. David Robinson, already an All-NBA player, was the perfect, pre-existing star to pair with Tim Duncan, who also held All-NBA talent from year one, then took San Antonio to the promised land in 1999.
That caliber of player may not be available looking at the current NBA landscape, which does influence the nature of how the Spurs want to build around their current star. That being said, is there at least an All-Star level player that would fit well and is worth going after? That pool is a bit larger, and the Spurs have a few unprotected future picks owed to them by Atlanta, which could get a deal done.
Looking for a ‘Pippen’ would mean using the draft picks as draft picks to find a future star, like Scottie Pippen was to Michael Jordan. The Spurs may have a player or two already in mind with picks 4 and/or 8; however, with this year’s draft being regarded as lacking in star power, there is no telling what might happen on draft night.
Neither path is the given correct answer, as both come with inherent risks. The draft can be a bit of a crap shoot, particularly this year’s. But trading resources for players can also leave a team in no better a position or even worse off if the fit is poor or simply not good enough (e.g. the Atlanta Hawks). It also raises the thought exercise of asking how much of Duncan’s early success and how much of Jordan’s delayed success can be attributed to the teams around them.
Overall, it’s a nuanced discussion. This is especially true when considering both the Spurs and Bulls organizations changed formulas at some point in their stars’ careers to effectually extend their dynasties. Regardless, this more-or-less boils down to how Gregg Popovich and the front office feel about Victor going into the 2024-25 season. Is he on the level of Tim Duncan, where he can be the number one guy on a playoff team in year two, or will it take a little longer for him to refine his game and work towards a championship level? The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle.
From the outside looking in, it appears Wembanyama wants to be here and he wants to win every time he is on the court. He probably would like some better players around him, but he has also shown trust in his coaches and the organization to do right by him. With his talent that seems to build on itself like a snowball rolling downhill, it’s also hard to figure out what might be the best fit around him.
Considering Wembanyama already has the gravitational talent that will make players want to join the Spurs just to play with him, they can afford to take more of a Pippen route. While they show no intentions of being complacent, they also are practicing diligence, careful to be efficient with any moves they may make. The last thing they want is to bleed their resources dry in a scurry to build a better team immediately, just to be left in the middle with no other moves to make (e.g. the Los Angeles Lakers).
So when looking to build around Wembanyama, it will take a sophisticated strategy. But in an attempt to distill all the above questions and find the best answer, only one thing really matters. Ignore the national media, the noise, the social media, and even the rest of the league, because there is no one way to build a team, and there is no one way to build up a superstar. A Pippen or a Robinson? A running mate or a proven veteran? Is Wemby more like Michael or Tim? All good questions to ask, but what matters most is this: What is best for Victor Wembanyama? What does he want? All things considered, whatever is best for him at this point is what is best for the Spurs. Their goals are aligned.
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