Spurs Offseason Preview: Victor Wembanyama Extension and an Eventual Crossroads With De’Aaron Fox

Victor Wembanyama took the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals in his very first playoff appearance. They ran into a much more experienced Knicks team whose hungriness completely outmatched San Antonio as New York eliminated the Spurs in five games to become NBA champions. While a disappointing end to the season, the Spurs’ 2025–26 campaign marked the year they officially arrived as a title threat for years to come.

The Spurs showed an extreme amount of resiliency over the postseason, although it eventually ran out at the hands of the Knicks, who completed a historic playoff run. San Antonio fell down 3–2 in the Western Conference finals to the defending champion Thunder. Then, Wembanyama led his team to two straight wins, including a victory in Game 7 on the road. Although the Finals didn’t go as planned, the Spurs showed resiliency in their sole win against the Knicks, too.

San Antonio went into Madison Square Garden and got a win in Game 3, which was one of the most anticipated NBA games in recent memory due to the raucous (and expensive) environment. The Spurs couldn’t capitalize on the momentum, however, as they squandered big leads in two straight games which included a historic collapse in Game 4. That devastating blow took any remaining wind out of San Antonio’s sails. The team controlled most of Game 5 while facing elimination once again. But at that point, all the gas had run out.

Now, an offseason lies ahead for the Spurs where the same goal remains: championship or bust. Roster wise, San Antonio’s core remains intact. Sure, Wembanyama is in for a large extension that any team would happily pay. But there aren’t any drastic changes the Spurs’ front office has to consider unless it decides to move on from De’Aaron Fox after a tough showing in the Finals while Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper continue to emerge. The biggest problem is that the roster will get more expensive, which is a great problem to have because it means the young core is worth paying.

After a 62–20 regular season, all that’s left for the Spurs to accomplish is hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. They are in debatably the best spot to get there for the foreseeable future (even when you consider the Thunder), but like any team, San Antonio will face some decisions over the summer to shape its roster for another run at the title. Below is a look at what’s ahead for the Spurs over the offseason and a look back at all they accomplished this year in Wembanyama’s breakout campaign:

Spurs’ 2026 free agents

Victor Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie — Victor Wembanyama is eligible for an extension this year while Julian Champagnie can sign a new deal. | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Luckily for San Antonio, the Spurs’ biggest decisions over the offseason are quite easy to make. Pick up Julian Champagnie’s $3 million team option for next season and pay Wembanyama his money. Wembanyama is eligible to sign a rookie extension over the offseason and as things currently stand, the deal can be for five years and $251 million, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That number is lower than the full max because Wembanyama wasn’t eligible for postseason honors in 2024–25. Per Marks, Wembanyama’s extension will include All-NBA, MVP or Defensive Player of the Year language that increases the total value to $301 million if one of those league honors are met next season.

Signing Wembanyama long term as soon as possible is a no-brainer, which leaves the biggest question as to how general manager Brian Wright builds the roster around its superstar. The core is locked in for the time being: Castle is eligible for an extension after next season, while Harper becomes eligible after the 2027–28 season. De’Aaron Fox signed a four-year, $221.8 million extension last summer which doesn’t kick in until next year. With Castle and Harper’s emergence as the franchise’s backcourt of the future, it’s fair to question whether Wright may be inclined to trade Fox, especially after he struggled in the Finals, and open some flexibility as his young core gets exponentially more expensive.

A potential Fox trade doesn’t need to happen immediately with Wembanyama, Castle and Harper all on rookie deals next season, but it’s an eventual crossroads the franchise will likely face. One it may want to deal with sooner rather than later, though, after Fox struggled and made critical mistakes against the Knicks. The Spurs will prepare to make another run at the title and Fox’s rocky play in the biggest moments of the biggest games brings some tough questions the front office has to ask itself.

On a much smaller scale, Champagnie is another no brainer decision for the front office. He averaged a career-high 11.1 points per game and shot 38.1% from three-point territory this season mostly as a starter. He knocked down big shots throughout the playoffs and is yet another developmental win for the Spurs after the 76ers gave up on him after fewer than one season. The Spurs will likely be inclined to work out a new deal with Champagnie that keeps him with the group long term after his best season yet.

Sharpshooter Devin Vassell and Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson are also extension eligible this summer as two more key pieces to the roster. After he signed a rookie extension in 2023, Vassell remains under contract with the Spurs through the 2028–29 season, while Johnson’s current deal is up after next season. As the first man off the bench—and the best one across the NBA at that—San Antonio may be incentivized to work out a new deal with Johnson sooner rather than later. However, his $17.5 million salary is an expiring contract next year that the team could use as a valuable trade asset if it so chooses. San Antonio probably wouldn’t bring in a more valuable player at that price, but significant expiring contracts are always valuable assets to have on the trade market. The most likely path forward is Johnson gets a new deal and San Antonio parts with Fox and his big contract eventually as the rest of the roster gets more expensive, but the Spurs are in a great spot with numerous paths forward.

The rest of the Spurs’ free agents this summer are depth pieces who make around the league minimum other than Harrison Barnes and Kelly Olynyk who won’t make anything their current salaries on a new deal at this stage of their respective careers. Wright can fill out the rest of next year’s market with affordable players on the free agent market as there will be no shortage of folks willing to sign up to play with Wembanyama.

Here’s a look at the Spurs’ free agents this summer, courtesy of Spotrac:

Unrestricted free agents

Harrison Barnes
Kelly Olynyk
Bismack Biyombo
Jordan McLaughlin
Lindy Waters III
Mason Plumlee

Restricted free agents

Harrison Ingram (two-way)
David Jones-Garcia (two-way)

Team option

Julian Champagnie

Extension eligible

Victor Wembanyama
Devin Vassell
Keldon Johnson
Julian Champagnie

San Antonio’s draft assets

Despite finishing with the second-best record in the NBA, the Spurs will pick at No. 20 in the first round of the draft. San Antonio has had the luxury of picking in the lottery in each of the past six years and in the top five of the past three drafts. The franchise is more than happy to trade the lottery picks for its recent postseason success, but the 20th pick is yet another strong opportunity to add an impact player to one of the NBA’s best rosters. The Spurs have three second-round picks this year, too, at Nos. 35, 42 and 44. They won’t roster all those picks with plenty of draft-day movement around the horizon, but the Spurs can add some depth at the end of the bench and take on some new two-way player projects who could develop into true impact players eventually—just like Champagnie.

The Spurs traded their first-round pick in the 2027 draft but still own Atlanta’s, and San Antonio has the right to swap its pick with Boston in 2028. Further ahead, the Spurs can swap their pick with Dallas or Minnesota in 2030 and the pièce de résistance is the right to swap first-round picks with Sacramento in 2031. That’s a long ways out, but the Kings haven’t been exactly competitive in some time. Whether the Spurs use all these picks themselves or in trades gives them the flexibility to build around Wembanyama with plenty of assets in the cupboard.

Spurs’ season grade: A

Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs to new heights this year. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Looking back on the season as a whole, the Spurs deserve a high letter grade after they proved to be a true title contender and the Thunder’s biggest threat in the West for years to come. We knew Wembanyama’s arrival was forthcoming, but his takeover of the NBA is already here. San Antonio defeated Oklahoma City four times in five tries over the regular season with one win coming in NBA Cup play. The Thunder were 63–14 against every team besides the Spurs in the regular season and San Antonio got the better of the defending champs in the postseason, too.

It’s the NBA’s newest marquee rivalry and hopefully this year’s Western Conference finals was just the first meeting of many to come.

Beyond the success against the Thunder, Wemby became a true MVP candidate, won Defensive Player for the Year for the first time and received first-team All-NBA honors. He led the league in blocks for the third straight year in as many tries, while Castle took a huge leap in his second season and Harper became yet another building block for the franchise.

The flop in the Finals after coming in as the presumed more talented bunch was a disappointment, flat out. But the only thing that could’ve made the Spurs’ season better is if it ended in a title and something tells me they’re not too far off from that.

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