


The basketball gods have spoken.
Victor Wembanyama, perhaps the best NBA prospect since LeBron James – if not ever – is all but headed to San Antonio after the Spurs landed the first pick in next month’s NBA Draft.
A potential all-time great, the French sensation’s NBA arrival is expected to change the landscape of the league over the next two decades.
Just look at the impact he’s had on the Spurs’ prospects for next season, even before he’s played a game in San Antonio.
The Spurs, who finished last season tied for the second-worst record in the NBA (22-60), had their NBA title odds jump from 500/1 to 300/1 on DraftKings after Tuesday’s lottery balls went their way.
The odds drop moves them past the Houston Rockets (500/1), Detroit Pistons (500/1), and Charlotte Hornets (400/1), but they are far from the favorites.
The Boston Celtics (+500) and Denver Nuggets (+600) — this year’s favorites to win the title — are the top two favorites to win next year’s NBA Finals as well, followed by the Milwaukee Bucks (+650), Phoenix Suns (+850) and Los Angeles Lakers (+900).
San Antonio is still a mega-long shot to take home the 2024 title, to be sure.
But the move brings them a tick below a group of teams that competed for a play-in spot in their respective conference — the Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, and Orlando Magic — at 150/1 on the bookmaker’s board.
At this point, you’re probably throwing away your money by backing San Antonio to win next year’s finals — no matter how dominant Wembanyama is out of the gate, this team just doesn’t have enough talent or experience to make a playoff run.
The Spurs are definitely a team to keep an eye on when it comes to their win total over/under and playoff odds, though.
They have upwards of $40 million in cap space to bring in some running mates for Wembanyama and Gregg Popovich, one of the best coaches in NBA history.