The San Antonio Spurs received injury news they dreaded involving the franchise's best player, Victor Wembanyama. The 7-foot-3 phenom suffered a season-ending injury to his right shoulder, putting San Antonio's Play-In hopes in serious jeopardy and giving Spurs fans reason to start looking ahead towards the upcoming offseason.
While this is obviously not what Spurs fans wanted to see, there's still reason to be extremely optimistic about San Antonio's future. Wembanyama is expected to be back fully healthy by the start of next season, and the Spurs have a strong core consisting of De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Devin Vassell around him, not to mention an abundance of draft capital at their disposal as well.
Wembanyama is going to remain in San Antonio in 2026 and beyond, but his season-ending injury likely ensures that three of his current teammates won't play another game with him.
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3. The Spurs have no reason to re-sign Sandro Mamukelashvili
Sandro Mamukelashvili has spent parts of each of the last three seasons with the Spurs and has yet to establish himself as a viable rotation player. He has played in 98 games for the Spurs over that timetable, starting only 12 of them and averaging under 12 minutes per game.
So far this season, Mamukelashvili has appeared in 33 games but has averaged just eight minutes per contest. He has played in over 10 minutes just ten times, and that's with the Spurs not having a legitimate backup center on their roster.
San Antonio might be willing to bring Mamukelashvili, an impending free agent, back, but it's tough to envision the Spurs rushing to do so considering his lack of a role on Spurs teams that were subpar. With the team only improving, there isn't really room for him.
2. Jordan McLaughlin's Spurs tenure will end without a single minute played alongside Wembanyama
The big Spurs trade at this year's trade deadline saw them acquire De'Aaron Fox in a deal with the Sacramento Kings. The other player acquired by San Antonio in that same deal was Jordan McLaughlin. Fox is obviously a key piece of their core now and in the future, but McLaughlin's involvement appeared at the time to be nothing more than San Antonio needing to find a way to make the deal work. So far, McLaughlin's usage in San Antonio has backed that up.
The 28-year-old has made one appearance in San Antonio, and he played just 25 seconds in a game that was out of hand along with four other players out of the team's rotation.
This isn't much of a surprise, as McLaughlin didn't play much for the Sacramento Kings before the trade, and he's behind several point guards on the Spurs. With McLaughlin headed for free agency after the year, the Spurs will likely let him walk without having even played a minute alongside Wembanyama.
1. The Spurs have Chris Paul's replacement already on the roster
This is the big one. Chris Paul signed a one-year deal with the Spurs this past offseason primarily to give Wembanyama a true point guard to play with. In Wembanyama's rookie year, he was often on the court without a true facilitator and leader at the point guard position. Paul fits that to a tee, and has proven to be a great fit alongside Wembanyama.
With that being said, Paul is now 39 years old, and the Spurs just traded for a star point guard in Fox who will be Wembanyama's running mate long-term. Given that fact, what's Paul's future in San Antonio?
The Spurs have actually been starting him alongside Fox since making the blockbuster trade, and could conceivably continue doing that, but chances are, they'll want Fox to have full control of the team's offense. Paul might be willing to return in a reduced role, but if he's open to that, he might prefer signing with a team better suited to win a championship next season than San Antonio.
It's hard to know exactly what Paul will prioritize in the upcoming offseason, but there's reason to believe he'd look to retire or join a championship contender before he'd choose to re-sign in San Antonio and play a lesser role.