After a few seasons, the San Antonio Spurs are important again.
They won Tuesday’s NBA sweepstakes, which will give them the chance to draft French phenom Victor Wimpanyama with the No. 1 pick when the draft takes place late next month.
The hype surrounding Mbaniyama has been massive, with many feeling that he has the potential to become the best player in the game in just a few short years.
When the Spurs finished first in 1987 and 1997, they took on David Robinson and Tim Duncan, respectively, and won 56 games in both of their rookie seasons.
This has set the bar very high for Mbananyama next season.
The standards for success are high with San Antonio’s #1 choice.
The Spurs went 56-26 in his first season with David Robinson and 56-26 in his first season with Tim Duncan.
Those are the two best records set by a team with the #1 rookie pick in the Lottery era (since 1985). pic.twitter.com/UBS2h7wZjr
– ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 17, 2023
Wimbanyama, who is at least 7-foot-2 (some sources put his height as high as 7-foot-5), has impressive ball-handling skills and a general fluidity for a tall man like himself.
But even if he is going to face the hype, Tottenham will have to build a winning team around him, and that will take time.
When they recruit Robinson, he doesn’t debut for two years because he had to serve two years in the Navy, and in the meantime, they manage to get some backing for him, including Terry Cummings, Rod Strickland, and Sean Elliott.
San Antonio became a constant rival with Robinson, and after missing most of the 1996-97 season due to injury, Duncan joined what was already a solid team when healthy.
This time, Spurs are short of seasoned and experienced players, but one should expect them to be aggressive this season, especially since they will have plenty of salary cap space.
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Tottenham already see the benefits of the No. 1 pick