2023 NBA Draft Team Recap: San Antonio Spurs
While things were finalized on Thursday night for the Spurs, they truly became big winners of this 2023 NBA Draft back in May when they won the NBA Draft Lottery and the No. 1 overall pick. Victor Wembanyama is the type of generational prospect that would fit in with any organization and roster structure but makes even more sense with this current iteration of the San Antonio Spurs.
For anyone that isn’t familiar with Wembanyama, he is a 7-foot-5 multi-skilled big man offensively that will also make an immediate impact on the defensive end of the floor. This past season playing for the Metropolitans 92 in the LNB A Pro League, he averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds per game to go along with just under two-and-a-half assists.
As incredible as the French sensation was, there are some improvements to keep an eye on throughout his rookie season.
While many believe in his shooting touch, and rightfully so considering the 82% from the free throw line, he did only make 27% of his 3-point attempts. This is by no means a must have aspect of his game immediately because of the versatility he offers offensively but it will be interesting to track the improvement this upcoming season.
Second, it will be interesting if the Spurs decide to take a cautious approach with the amount of games Wembanyama plays his rookie year. He is a competitor that is mature beyond his years when it comes to taking care of his body but it would not be surprising to see him taking the second night off of some of their back-to-backs.
While this will immediately become Wembanyama’s team he will be surrounded by some other young talent on the roster including Zach Collins (26 years old), Keldon Johnson (24), Devin Vassell (23) and Jeremy Sochan (20).
According to Spotrac, the Spurs will also have anywhere between 37 and 42 million dollars in cap space this summer to bring in some additional talent around the No. 1 pick.
The second addition on draft night came in the second round with pick No. 44, overall. Another French product was added to the young core in the form of G-League Ignite wing Sidy Cissoko.
The 6-foot-8 Cissoko will give this team another versatile wing defender to add to the mix and combined with Wembanyama may be the best defensive duo of any in the 2023 draft.
Obviously, there is a reason that the 19-year-old wasn’t drafted until the middle of the second round and that stems from his raw offensive game. The shooting and scoring will definitely have to improve but on the positive side he did average over three assists per game for the Ignite.
While Sissoko was a really nice second round pickup we all know the prize of the night for the Spurs rests with Wembanyama. He projects to be the type of prospect that immediately changes the trajectory of your franchise, much like the Spurs big men before him, and will have the eyes of every NBA fan on his rookie season.
At time of publishing the San Antonio Spurs have also added these players:
- Jabari Rice (Two-Way)
- Seth Millner (Exhibit-10)
- Logan Johnson (Exhibit-10)
- Charles Bediako (Exhibit-10)
- Erik Stevenson (Summer League Deal)
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