After four years of failures, the San Antonio Spurs were rewarded for their losing effort at the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery. They won it and earned the right to select Victor Wembanyama with the first pick – the most hyped-up prospect in decades. Now, the 19-year-old Frenchman is set to lead the Spurs into the future.
Evidently, this is an honor many teams around the league wish they could have. In the 2023-24 NBA GM Survey, written up by John Schuhmann of NBA.com, Wembanyama finished second in the voting for which player GMs would most want to build a franchise around if they were starting today.
The Spurs rookie earned 23% of the votes, which trailed only Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, who received 33% after his championship run last season.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (13%), Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (10%), and Minnesota Timberwolves wing Anthony Edwards (7%) rounded out those who earned a large percentage of the votes. Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jayson Tatum also received votes.
Wembanyama also received an overwhelming number of votes from GMs in regard to who will win this year’s Rookie of the Year award, landing 50% of them. Plus, 90% of GMs voted Wembanyama as the rookie who will be the best player in five years.
As the season inches closer and closer, the Spurs will be looking to build around Wembanyama and help him become the best version of himself. And as they do so, the rest of the league will be watching closely, as the expectations for the rookie are sky-high.
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