Victor Wembanyama is the prince that was promised. Despite all the pre-draft hype that was built around the French phenom, Wembanyama has still managed to exceed expectations during his rookie year.

Producing plenty of uniquely stacked box scores along the way, he’s essentially a lock to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award this season, just as most people expected.

What many didn’t anticipate, though, was Wembanyama ranking second in Defensive Player of the Year odds this late into the season. It’s clear that he’s ready to compete for a championship now, and the longer the San Antonio Spurs take to field a contending roster around him, the more time they’re wasting.

Some members of the NBA media have already speculated that Wembanyama could pressure the Spurs to accelerate their rebuild sooner rather than later, lest he grow discontented in San Antonio. And it appears that the Spurs brass agree that their prized prospect is ready to lead a competitive team now.

According to NBA.com reporter Michael C. Wright, the Spurs intend to get Wembanyama’s input on the direction they should take in the 2024 NBA offseason.

Spurs Can Get Creative With Trades and Free Agency This Summer

San Antonio is projected to have over $34 million in cap space this offseason

The Spurs — and Victor Wembanyama — have plenty of room to operate once the offseason rolls around. Spotrac projects them to have over $34 million in cap space to use to allure free agents.

This summer could potentially feature a strong free agency class, so there’s a chance San Antonio could add an established star who wants to play alongside Wembanyama.

They’re also on pace to potentially land a top-three draft pick, assuming the lottery balls fall their way. With that, they can either spend the selection on another blue-chip prospect to pair with Wembanyama as their future cornerstones, or they could use that pick as a trade asset to bring in more established talent.

Not only do the Spurs have their own pick in the upcoming draft to work with, they could wind up with the Toronto Raptors’ first-round selection if it lands outside the top six. If that pans out, they could use their second top-14 selection in the draft to either take a rookie or potentially spin it off as trade bait in a potential deal.

That’s not all that San Antonio has in draft capital either. They also own future first-round picks from the Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks, and Chicago Bulls. On top of that, they have the rights to swap first-rounders with the Boston Celtics in 2028 and the Dallas Mavericks in 2030.

All of that extra ammunition can be part of their war chest to make moves if need be.

Which Current Spurs Players Should Remain for the Long Haul?

The Spurs have 10 players under contract for the 2024-25 NBA season.

Aside from their future draft picks, the Spurs have plenty of players that they could also include in potential trades. San Antonio’s brass will have to decide how much of their current roster they want to keep in the pursuit of building a title contender around Wembanyama.

Many of San Antonio’s young prospects might not be perfect fits alongside their new franchise star, but they could command a solid return in a potential deal. With as much cap space as the Spurs will have this summer along with multiple draft picks, San Antonio may not keep all 10 of the players they currently have signed on for next season.

Any Spur that doesn’t fit alongside Wembanyama or make sense as a piece of the team’s future and long-term plans is unlikely to stick around for long. But it’ll be interesting to see just how much input Wembanyama provides to the Spurs this offseason, and what type of moves that results in the team making.