Spurs NBA Draft projection gives Victor Wembanyama the only thing that's missing

The San Antonio Spurs are 19-22, which is 1.5 games removed from the final Play-In slot in a competitive Western Conference.

Chris Paul's influence on the team has been palpable. He isn't up to his former standards on the court, of course, but Paul's leadership and basketball IQ is infectious. He brings the best out of everyone, which includes second-year big man Victor Wembanyama.

The former No. 1 pick put together an all-time great rookie season, but Wemby has already leveled up. The MVP race is probably a stretch — the Spurs just aren't good enough — but Wembanyama is going to end the season in the top five on a lot of NBA player rankings. He's a runaway DPOY candidate, and feels like the easy DPOY frontrunner for the next decade. The offense is meaningfully better than it was at this time last season.

Wembanyama is averaging 24.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 59.2 percent true shooting. He's also putting up 1.1 steals and, uh, 4.0 blocks per game. So, yeah. Good stuff.

The generational talent we all were promised, Wemby appears more than capable of dragging San Antonio to contention sooner than later. There is still a missing piece or two on this roster, though, and one can't help but feel the absence of a long-term solution at point guard.

Look no further than the 2025 NBA Draft class.

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Spurs pair Kasparas Jakucionis with Victor Wembanyama in updated NBA mock draft

The Spurs vaulted up to No. 3 in FanSided's latest mock draft, where Illinoins point guard Kasparas Jakucionis was the easy pick. There will be others who argue for the shot-making of Ace Bailey or the defensive ferocity of VJ Edgecombe, but Jakucionis has too often lapped his peers in both productivity and aura.

That last part doesn't really matter, but Jakucionis commands the floor with such an undeniable magnetism that it's hard to ignore. The "eye test," so to speak, is backed up by the numbers. He has been among the best freshmen in college basketball when healthy, averaging 15.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on .497/.405/.872 splits.

At 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, Jakucionis has excellent positional size. He is skilled enough to hit spot-up 3s and operate in a secondary role, but make no mistake — Jakucionis is a point guard through and through, and San Antonio would deploy him as such. What he lacks in an explosive first step or vertical pop, Jakucionis makes up for with dexterity and craft. His arhythmic handles and creative footwork often leaves defenders grasping at air. You won't find a prettier step-back jumper in the draft.

He's got a smidge of that James Harden magic to his game.

Jakucionis is also a dazzling playmaker; he is perhaps the most polished pick-and-roll operator on the board. That should appeal to Wembanyama, who can roll hard for lobs or pop out to the 3-point line, where he is almost doubling his shot volume from a season ago. Wemby is his own self-sustaining offensive ecosystem at this point, but Jakucionis' on-ball dynamism and gravity figures to help Wemby a lot, and vice versa. It's a mutually beneficial partnership.

The primary concerns with Jakucionis lie on defense, where he'd be well-insulated by Wembanyama at the next level. This is a match made in heaven for the Spurs, who'd be thrilled to walk away with Jakucionis, even if he's not Cooper Flagg.