The San Antonio Spurs were the lucky winners of the 2023 NBA draft lottery. Barring an unexpected surprise, they’ll soon have a new franchise star in Victor Wembanyama.
The 19-year-old star from France has been labelled as a generational prospect. Given his talent and skill set, it’s practically impossible to imagine a scenario in which the Spurs do not take Wembanyama.
San Antonio, the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets all entered with equal odds of winning the draft lottery at 14 percent, followed by the Charlotte Hornets (12.5 percent), the Portland Trail Blazers (10.5 percent) and the Orlando Magic (9.0 percent).
This is the third time in their history were the Spurs will hold the first overall pick. They drafted two future Hall of Famers in David Robinson and Tim Duncan with the top selections in 1987 and 1997, respectively.
“The Twin Towers” powered the Spurs to NBA championships in 1999 and 2003. Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili kept the Spurs’ dynasty going after Robinson’s retirement and led San Antonio to championships in 2005, 2007 and 2014.
The Spurs qualified for the postseason every year from 1998 to 2019, but they’ve finished below .500 in each of the last four years. There have been whispers about legendary head coach Gregg Popovich retiring soon, but he just might stick around a while longer to help groom Wembanyama as the new franchise star.
