Surprising NBA Trade Idea Pairs Victor Wembanyama With MVP Center

Victor Wembanyama's quick rise to stardom has put pressure on the San Antonio Spurs to put a playoff-contending team around him.

While the Spurs have yet to even reach the Play-In Tournament in the two years that Wembanyama has been in the league, it is not for a lack of trying on San Antonio's part.

The Spurs have set themselves up with the BEST young core in the NBA 🤯 below is a list of our players who are 25 or younger and are part of that young core 🤩 pic.twitter.com/S67zQosepw
— Area 51 👽 (@FiestaCityHoops) June 27, 2025

The Spurs struck gold by drafting Stephon Castle in the 2024 NBA Draft and he went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year, giving Wembanyama a young guard with a high ceiling to compete with for years.

Added to the highly-touted prospect in Castle, the Spurs were awarded the second overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and selected Dylan Harper, who many have coined one of the best guard prospects of the last few years.

How can the Spurs get Wembanyama to the playoffs?

Even after drafting well with Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and Carter Bryant, the Spurs wanted to bring in a veteran with playoff experience to pair with Wembanyama, and they did just that in trading for star guard De'Aaron Fox.

While Fox and Wembanyama did not play much together, their potential is off the charts if Fox can return to the level he was at in Sacramento with the Kings.

Wemby on if the Spurs should’ve gone all-in to acquire a star this offseason:

“Breaking up a young core for a single player rarely works… I want the Spurs to be a balanced team, they’ve been masters of that in that past.”

(via @MaximeAubin1) pic.twitter.com/L3sFLn7RjQ
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 14, 2025

A core of Fox, Castle, Harper, and Wembanyama is promising, but in a loaded Western Conference, that still might not be enough to reach a playoff spot.

Taking a risk is something to consider in San Antonio

The Spurs haven't reached the playoffs since the 2018-2019 season, and even though they have a solid young core with plenty of draft capital to trade, they could benefit from a high-risk, high-reward move to catapult them into a higher tier.

A new trade idea by ClutchPoints' Jedd Pagaduan places a former MVP center next to Wembanyama in the Spurs' frontcourt:

Spurs receive: Joel Embiid

76ers receive: Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes, Jeremy Sochan, three first-round picks (2027 ATL first-round pick, 2029 and 2031 SAS first-round pick)

He continues to say, "Make no mistake about it, there is no way the San Antonio Spurs will agree to this trade. There is no universe where the Spurs will decide to give up all of those assets for someone like Embiid, especially not when we live in a universe where they refused to be aggressive in acquiring Kevin Durant — someone who could have fit perfectly for what they're building around Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox."

Word around the league is that the status of Joel Embiid’s knee is “bad” and Paul George expected to miss the start of 76ers training camp, per @BrettSiegelNBA. pic.twitter.com/Pwjw2029DB
— APHoops (@APH00PS) August 3, 2025

Pagaduan continued to write, "But if somehow, Embiid's best self is still in there, then this could be a risk any team — including the Spurs — could talk themselves into. The last time Embiid was healthy, he was dominant; even when he was limping during the 2024 NBA playoffs, he dropped 50 and left it all out on the court."

There is serious concern for Embiid's injury history in any potential trade, but for San Antonio, is it worth risking significant assets for an unknown?

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How can the Spurs get Wembanyama to the playoffs?

Taking a risk is something to consider in San Antonio

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