Despite freakish superstar rookie Victor Wembanyama leading the way, the San Antonio Spurs were one of the worst teams in the NBA last season. But Wembanyama will presumably only improve, and with their latest offseason moves and all the draft capital they have, ESPN’s Zach Lowe is ready to make a big prediction for the Spurs’ 2024-25 season.
After the Spurs acquired Harrison Barnes and a 2031 first-round pick swap from the Sacramento Kings as part of the DeMar DeRozan trade, Lowe said that San Antonio made a very smart move by involving themselves in the trade and taking on 32-year-old Barnes and yet another piece in a larger draft strategy.
“The Spurs now have pick swaps from Dallas, Minnesota, and Sacramento in 2030 and 2031. Clearly, this is a calculated strategy of, A: We’re going to be good so we can swap up; B: We’re going to be needing low-price talent injections around Wembanyama in the apron era with little availability to do it, and that’s one way we can do it through the draft — if we up our pick and have a better chance of getting an actual good player in the draft. A+ work for the Spurs. I have no notes for the Spurs. Harrison Barnes can fit on their team, they can flip Harrison Barnes at the deadline for some draft assets. I’m telling you right now, Chris Herring, I’m calling it now: the Spurs are going to be in the playoff race next year.”
San Antonio Spurs: A playoff team?
After the San Antonio Spurs drafted Victor Wembanyama with the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, there were calls by some fans and media members that the Spurs should have ‘sped up’ their rebuilding process by acquiring talented, high-cost players who could make an immediate impact playing next to a player as interesting as Wembanyama. San Antonio, as it has been known to do, stuck to its plan and dedicated Wembanyama’s rookie season to developing the unique giant and his supporting cast.
The results were, as expected, poor if you’re basing it on wins and losses. The Spurs finished the season with a record of 22-60, the fifth-worst in the NBA, and had one of the worst offenses in the league. But the Spurs have begun to address some of the weaknesses that became so glaring last season, including the absence of a true, high-level point guard.
While Tre Jones did his best — Jones averaged a team-high 6.2 assists per game — a player as big and long as Wembanyama needed someone more adept at finding him offensively. So who better to do that than Chris Paul, one of the greatest point guards in NBA history? Paul signed a one-year, $11 million contract with the Spurs this offseason surely in no small part due to the prospect of throwing lobs to a superstar-in-the-making like Wembanyama. Additionally, with the Spurs choosing Stephon Castle with their first-round pick, Paul could serve as a mentor for the young guard.
Similarly, Harrison Barnes will likely not be a long-term piece for the Spurs, but the veteran wing should be able to help provide a steady hand either as a starter or in a bench role. Barnes averaged 12.2 points in 29.0 minutes per game last season with the Sacramento Kings and is a career 37.9% three-point shooter. His veteran leadership and playoff experience should make him a valuable member of a still relatively young Spurs team.
In addition to Wembanyama, Barnes, Paul, and Castle, the Spurs will have some decisions to make over the next few seasons in regards to their roster. San Antonio could, depending on how things break this upcoming season, have four first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. They also can swap picks in 2026 with the Atlanta Hawks, who also sent an unprotected 2027 first-round pick to the Spurs.
With so many picks, the Spurs could elect, as Zach Lowe mentioned, to keep drafting players in a high-risk, low-cost strategy to complement Wembanyama. They also could at some point decide to push their proverbial chips in and package their many picks to trade for a big-time player.
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