NBA general managers voted the Spurs to win the championship this season, according to an annual league survey. Victor Wembanyama earned the projection for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same poll.
That's a bold consensus around San Antonio. The Spurs have missed the playoffs for three straight years and just entered a full rebuild. But Wembanyama, the generational prospect the team drafted first overall in 2023, has already changed the calculus. At 7-foot-4 with elite athleticism, shooting touch, and defensive versatility, he gives the Spurs a foundation they haven't had since Tim Duncan retired.
GMs aren't always right about futures. Projections and predictions from league insiders miss constantly. But this tells you something about how much the basketball world believes in Wembanyama's ceiling and how quickly he's moved expectations in San Antonio. The kid arrived as a prospect. He's already being evaluated as a franchise cornerstone capable of delivering a title run.
The Spurs still have a roster to build around him. One player doesn't win championships. But this survey shows that when GMs look at the league over the next few years, they see Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs in the conversation. That's where we are now.