Despite adding No. 1 overall draft pick Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs appear set to be a lottery team once again in 2023/24, writes Paul Fogerty of SpursTalk.
As Fogerty notes, San Antonio is anticipated to surpass the 22-60 record it posted last season, but will likely still finish well below .500. Part of the thinking behind that forecast, per Fogerty, is that the makeup of the rest of the club remains fairly unchanged this year.
There’s more out of San Antonio:
- Bouncing back from the lottery dregs for the Spurs is going to take more than adding Wembanyama, ESPN’s Andrew Lopez and Kevin Pelton opine. The Spurs’ two previous No. 1 picks, Hall of Fame big men Tim Duncan and David Robinson, powered San Antonio to two of the three best single-season improvements in NBA history during their respective rookie years. Duncan led the Spurs to a 36-win turnaround in 1997/98, while Robinson propelled San Antonio to a 35-win shift in 1989/90. However, it’s unfair to place the same expectations on Wembanyama, ESPN’s duo writes.
- Wembanyama has confirmed that he plans to play for Team France at the Paris Olympics next summer, according to The Associated Press. “Performing well at the Olympics would be a great story,” Wembanyama said. “I’ll be present at the Olympics, and there’s no other goal than gold.” France won the silver medal at the most recent summer games in 2021, but did not advance out of the first round in the FIBA World Cup this summer. “The World Cup was very disappointing,” Wembanyama was quoted as saying on Tuesday. “But I have no judgment to make as I wasn’t there.”
- In case you missed it, free agent guard Javante McCoy has signed an Exhibit 10 training camp deal with the Spurs.
I think Fogerty is underestimating how hard Pop worked to get that number 1 pick without looking like he was tanking. There’s some pretty good pieces on their roster and there were lots of “injuries” last year that often kept the best combinations off the floor. Not saying they will definitely be a playoff team, but they are closer than he suggests.
Who did it not look like he was tanking to?
Spurs will be bad again. Wemby is a tall guy that can dribble really well (for a tall guy), and shoot reasonably well (again, for a tall guy).
For a guy his size, he’s not a game changer in the paint – you need that more than you need his shooting and dribbling skills.
Gonna be a long first few months of high expectations, until people realize Wemby is just a super-tall rookie.
Spurs have a better shot at making the playoffs than the Mavs…
But that’s not saying a lot…