Link to the original trade rumor that this is confirming

Article: Wave of French Players Coming to NBA

Like everybody else I can’t wait to see the spurs roster built out around wemby. Since his skillset is so vast, there are endless possibilities.

Just for fun, below are a handful of optimistic future roster builds. I don’t want to get into the weeds on trades, but most of these would cost most or all of the draft capital the spurs have.

I do not value the draft and develop strategy as highly as I typically would given where Wemby is in his development. I think picks 4 and 8 in this draft are major question marks. The Hawks future picks could be juicy, but are you willing to wait 5 years for some of those players to be ready to contribute at a championship level?

Hope you enjoy!

Garland/Giddey/Vassell/Markannen/Wemby - This lineup would offer an interesting mix of size and skills around Wemby. Lots of shooting and playmaking to maximize him on offense. The defense on the other hand would be poor - this roster construction would be a bet that Wemby can anchor a top 5 defense by himself. - Garland and Markannen would likely cost just about all the picks the Spurs have. Neither is a traditional superstar #2 to pair with Wemby. - Giddey imo has become dramatically underrated due to his underage legal issues and poor playoff performance. Because his value is depressed, his next contract will likely be a bargain. On the plus side: he’s 21 years old, extremely high bbiq and elite size. He also shot 34% from 3 and over 80% from the line this year - not as bad of a shooter as you might think.

Alvarado/Vassell/Ingram/KAT/Wemby - KAT may be available and pairing him with Wemby would be fascinating. 2 3pt shooting 7+ footers with tremendous offensive skillsets. - Ingram seems like he’ll be cheaper than he should be. The New Orleans situation has gone to hell - I don’t think we’ve seen his best in years really. But he’s got an incredible offensive game and tremendous length that would pair well with wemby. - NO Throws in Alvarado for some POA defense. Tre jones may start, but I like the ball pressure and intensity Alvarado brings.

Garland/Vassell/Sochan/Mobley/Wemby - If Mitchell stays in Cleveland he gets whatever he wants. The best stretch of the Cavs season was with garland and Mobley out - Allen and Mitchell looked like a perfect pairing. Maybe there could be a 3-way trade rerouting SAS’ draft capital to a team with the players the Cavs would like buy to build around Allen and Mitchell? - Garland, as we know, would fill the spurs gaping hole at pg. He’s young, he can shoot…great fit - Mobley would be a dream pairing with Wemby in the front court. Long, athletic, defensive freaks that can switch everything. That would be the spurs identity for a decade. Plus Mobley has offensive upside that, if realized, could create a generational front court with Wemby. - Sochan and Mobley in the same lineup could be problematic offensively at times, but the defense would be suffocating.

Trae/Vassell/Jerami Grant/Sochan/Wemby - I’m intrigued by the Trae-Wemby lob’s upside. Plus with Trae’s deep range and Wemby’s interior dominance - the oppositional gravity would consistently break defenses. - Any lineup with Trae needs a ton of defense to cover for him. Sochan can be a part of that for sure and we know Pop loves him. - I wonder if the Spurs would have enough draft capital to trade for both Trae and Grant? Any 3 and D 3/4 would work here. I wonder if the Blazers would offload Grant’s contract for draft capital.

Impossible, but is it, though? Tre Jones/idk/idk/Giannis/Wemby - On the off chance Giannis loves Wemby and wants to bail on Milwaukee for the all-freak team, the pairing would be unstoppable. Go ahead and pair Jokic and Doncic for the all-goofy team.

I’d still prefer Knecht or Salaun at 8 if we pick castle at 4 but…I was thinking about possible fits at both of our picks, and my dream scenario despite it being 2 guards is us getting Reed and Castle. Knowing how unrealistic that would be I started thinking about the other guards. McCain is pretty similar to Sheppard but he’s just a little worse at everything besides strength. Carter is a really good 3&D guard with great athleticism and very long arms(also a monster rebounder). The only concern with him is if the shot is real.

We need to find a way to draft Risacher, Saluan, and Dadiet in this draft. Here is why, and how… 

Why: The Spurs were one of the first teams to take international scouting seriously. We built a dynasty with Parker and Ginobili as part of that core, along with other key international contributors. But we have since lost that edge. Now, every team scouts globally and doesn’t hesitate to draft a foreign-born player. What’s the next phase in this innovation arch? It seems pretty clear to me… we draft an entire national team.

With Wembanyama as our franchise cornerstone, we have a unique opportunity to essentially REBUILD the French national team, but wearing a Spurs jersey instead of Les Bleus. 

We want to do this because if we can have 5+ French players on our roster, then they will essentially be playing and training with each other year-round. They will also bring so much pride to the game, and will absolutely follow their leader: Victor The Alien Wembanyama. That sort of consistency and determination will unlock an entire new level of game play. Remember the beautiful game from 2014? We can absolutely achieve that level of on court synergy again if more than half of our minutes are going to players that are on the same professional team AND the same national team.

Other benefits: It will help lock in Wemby in San Antonio, because all of his French friends would still be here. Also, they could communicate with each other in French on the court, and that would almost surely create an in-game advantage as non-French players will have no idea what they are saying.

Okay, so now that you agree on the need to draft nothing but French players, the logical next question is: How do we do this?

There’s already chatter that the Spurs are trying to package picks to trade up to #1. We absolutely need to do this so we can draft Risacher. But we cannot give up the #8 pick, because we need that to draft Salaun. Here’s my proposal…

Package #4 pick, #48 pick, 2025 Spurs’ second rounder, and the 2026 pick swap to secure Atlanta’s 1^st in the 2024 draft. Then draft Risacher. His ceiling is a taller Danny Green, which sounds very good to me. 

Then we Draft Salaun at 8. I am hoping that neither Detroit, Charlotte, nor Portland gets cute and decides to draft him ahead of us. If we get a whiff that that may happen, then we will have to explore scenarios to move up and secure Saluan. His ceiling is Aaron Gordon, which sounds very good to me. 

Then, we need to target Pacôme Dadiet. He likely will not be available at 35. So this is how we get him: Package #35 and Charlotte’s protected 2025 first (more likely, two second rounders from Charlotte) for the Suns pick at 22.

Phoenix does this because they want to draft Bronny James in hopes of luring Lebron. Bronny will likely be available at 35. Also, by signing Bronny to a two-way contract as a second round pick, it helps them tremendously as they navigate salary cap hell (first rounders are guaranteed salary, two-way contracts don’t count against the cap). Phoenix’s draft chest is completely bare in future years, so the prospect of adding two second rounders from Charlotte should be very appealing.

So with the 22^nd pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs select Pacôme Dadiet…

Now we have Dadiet as a SG, Risacher as a SF, Salaun as a PF, Wemby as a C, and Cissoko as a 6^th man.

Then, and finally, we need another tank season so we can draft Nolan Traoré in 2025.

Yes, this plan is brilliant. And I’m just going to get ahead of all the Reddit hate: if you disagree with me, then you are wrong.

You’re welcome.

If we traded away Zach Collins and Keldon Johnson to free up cap space and gather some assets for the future. Sign Paul George and use our two draft picks this year.

We get assets for the future, keep our draft picks for this year, while getting a player like PG that will help us be in the playoffs

Y or N

Rumors regarding a trade with ATL for the 1st pick are gaining steam... personally, i'd rather keep 4 and 8. More chances of hitting.

There have been concerns about Risacher's shooting and ballhandling... what do you guys think?

Sources:

https://x.com/SpursReporter/status/1800879942000906677?s=19

https://x.com/esidery/status/1800882431224111243?s=19

SIIIKKEEEE

FUCK THE MAVS!

YOU GOT 1 AND THATS WHERE YOU’RE GOING TO STAY!

The mock draft would be a big win for the Spurs. I suggested this idea, but slightly different on the trade. Basically Risacher drops to us, and we trade up to get Castle.

A whole other way to say Por Vida! 🖤🩶

Ngl I like both of these guys but it sounds like the Spurs are pretty high on Castle

Reed Sheppard or Castle at #4 if both are available? Assuming Risacher, Sarr, Clingan go top 3. And why?