The San Antonio Spurs were a dynasty for so long with some Hall of Famers in the middle of their lineup.
Now? After winning the 2023 NBA Draft lottery, they will end up taking Victor Wembanyama — sorry, we assume they will take the once-in-a-lifetime big man prospect, but really, c’mon — and perhaps kicking off another dynasty. You can imagine head coach Gregg Popovich is the most excited right now.
Let’s fast-forward to next month. What will the Spurs lineup look like with the big man slotting in? Let’s dive in and see how things are about to change for the franchise:
Victor Wembanyama
Let’s start here. Holy moly. He’s going to be coached by one of the all-time greats. They needed a big man given that they just traded Jakob Poeltl earlier this year. This is going to be so fun.
Jeremy Sochan
You already saw flashes of intriguing production from him — he does a little bit of everything and was starting to score more in the second half of the season. And he’s only 19!
Keldon Johnson
Fun fact: Johnson will be the highest-paid Spur next season at $20 million in 2023-24. But he’s proven to more than earn that money — he averaged 22.0 ppg last season. Can he be a better three-point shooter after going from 39.8 percent in 2021-22 to 32.9 percent last season? Maybe Wembanyama opens things up.
Devin Vassell
The No. 11 pick in 2020 broke out last year and has the look of a player who could be a two-way star (18.5 ppg, 1.1 spg) in the not-so-distant future.
Tre Jones
The point guard in his third year was solid on the defensive end and dished 6.6 assists. That number’s got to increase next season with this group, right?