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Seven of Victor Wembanyama's teammates, including recently signed free agent forward Tobias Harris, have joined the 22-year-old superstar for workouts this week in France. The Spurs on Tuesday posted a photo on their official X account of Wembanyama alongside Harris and six players who helped the Spurs win the 2025 Western Conference championship: Harrison Barnes, Carter Bryant, Stephon Castle, De'Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Jordan McLaughlin.
"They want to grow," Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said last week when he revealed on the YouTube show TRASH TALK that "eight or ten" players were expected to join Wembanyama in France for workouts. Buford said Wembanyama organizing the practices underscores his leadership skills. "Just seeing Victor calling his team and saying, 'Hey, come over here and spend a week with me' (shows his leadership)," Buford said.
Shaquille O'Neal says Knicks had 'a lot of luck' winning 2025-26 championship: If you don’t get that tip it’s over… you don’t win that game… If dumb ass De'Aaron Fox don’t f***ing try to score with 8 seconds left… If they don’t let the 29 point lead go. I’m just saying y’all won, but you had a lot of luck
NBA Trade Machine: Stephen Curry appeared in 8.9% of trades built on HoopsMatic over the past 24 hours. Of his trades, his most common destinations were San Antonio (30.5%), Boston (13.2%), and Philadelphia (10.6%). The players traded for him most often were De'Aaron Fox (25.2%), Keldon Johnson (15.9%), and Jayson Tatum (8.6%).
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NBA Trade Machine: 13.3% of trades built on HoopsMatic over the past 24 hours involved Stephen Curry. Of his trades, the most common landing spots were Philadelphia (21.7%), San Antonio (20.8%), and Boston (12.7%), while the most common return players were De'Aaron Fox (19.9%), Joel Embiid (16.3%), and VJ Edgecombe (12.2%).
There is also an understanding, according to those sources, that De'Aaron Fox is not tradeable on his contract at the moment, and rehabbing his value with a good playoff performance next season will be crucial to an inevitable backcourt succession plan. Castle is locked in as a starter, and though the three guards closed games together on occasion, it’s unlikely the Spurs would start all of them unless one of them becomes a knockdown shooter.
The fact that Wembanyama passed up the chance to receive a supermax contract, in part to make it easier for the Spurs to pay Dylan Harper when his rookie contract expires in a few years, certainly helped set the standard that sacrifice is expected across the roster. It’s part of why people familiar with Harper’s thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe team dynamics, acknowledge that he can take on a sixth-man role next season.
Obviously Fox, Haliburton and Maxey are great players. But given their overlapping skills, how do you see Kingston incorporating what they do into his game? Agusi: “His athleticism is the first thing that pops out to everybody. So we’re showing him how those guys change their speed in small spaces and in the open floor. You have the ability to change your speed. Your speed is a real weapon. So you have to really learn how to weaponize that. It’s also about being savvy enough in the game and having a feel in the game as well with shooting. That’s a bit of knock on Kingston as well as the volume of shots that he puts in. At Houston, he shot a really good percentage. But everybody wants to see more. So it’s really about showing him how those guys weren’t big volume shooters in college. But when they got to the NBA, they shoot a healthy dose of 3s and off-the-catch-shots to keep the defense honest. That’s something we gear to him as well.”
Jared Weiss: San Antonio Spurs GM Brian Wright on De’Aaron Fox: “The confidence level is very high.” Wright went on to get into Fox not making excuses before saying, “We have the ultimate faith in De’Aaron and who he is as a player, what he’s been for us, and what he means to this team. And there’s no wavering in that at all.”
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Tom Orsborn: More from Brian Wright on Dylan Harper and De'Aaron Fox: "They're are a tough matchup. We'll continue to put them in situations for them to be at their best...They'll learn from this year on how they continue to play off one another and support one another and go from there."
Tom Orsborn: Brian Wright said the Spurs have "ultimate faith in De'Aaron Fox and who he is as a player, what he's been for us, and what he means to this team, and there's no wavering in that at all."
Carmelo Anthony: I think De'Aaron Fox as a young veteran, somebody who's been around this game for a while should understand that the pace of the game, understand the momentum of the game, which is why he's there, right? He's there to control the game, make big shots. He's a closer, too. This is what he does. These shots are shots that De'Aaron Fox usually take and make. So, when you have the trust factor is so high in San Antonio that Mitch trusts is De'Aaron Fox to go out there and win him basketball games and be successful in certain moments. Now, it comes a point now where you have to say "What's my end game adjustment right now?" And you have to put Dylan Harper in there a lot faster in that run. Take that away. I’m a Harrison Barnes guy.
Internally, the Spurs remain committed to Fox as their franchise starting point guard. Sources called De’Aaron Fox a calming presence and the team's closer for most of the season, adding that one rough series essentially playing on one leg doesn't change that. The four-year, $229 million contract extension Fox signed last summer kicks in next season, raising his salary from $37.1 million to $49.8 million. He's scheduled to make $61.7 million in the final year of the deal in 2029-30, when he'll be 32 years old. It's expected that calls from Harper's camp for a spot in the starting lineup will grow louder going into next season. But it's not an issue San Antonio needs to address right away. Fox's contract won't become a potential eyesore until after Wembanyama's upcoming rookie extension kicks in, and when the Spurs are looking next summer to extend Castle to what should be a max deal.
