San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama doesn’t want money to be the reason his team falls short of a championship. Because of that, Wembanyama took less in his new extension with the Spurs.
That decision came as a bit of a surprise, as Wembanyama was set to earn a ludicrous amount of money after winning the Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards, and making two All-Star teams in his first three NBA seasons.
For the first time since signing that deal, Wembanyama explained why he took less than the supermax, telling The Athletic it’s all about keeping the team in a good spot.
“The reality of today’s NBA is that often, the potential of teams is not fulfilled because of money. I just want to make sure it’s never our case.”
Though Wembanyama didn’t fully maximize his future earnings with the deal, he’s still making a boatload of money over the next five seasons. Wembanyama’s extension was worth an astounding $252 million, the largest rookie extension in NBA history.
And yet, it’s also somewhat of a bargain.
Instead of taking a 30 percent supermax deal from the Spurs, Wembanyama instead opted for the 25 percent maximum. That move will save the team roughly $50 million over the course of the deal. In the short term, it allows the Spurs to use a nontaxpayer midlevel exception in 2027 to remain below the first apron of the salary cap, per The Athletic.
Wembanyama was likely going to qualify for a 30 percent supermax deal based on his previous play. While most rookie extensions can reach a maximum of 25 percent of the salary cap, Wembanyama could have unlocked a 30 percent deal based on what’s known as the Derrick Rose Rule. In order to unlock that extra 5 percent, Wembanyama would have had to be named to the All-NBA team or win the Defensive Player of the Year award or MVP next season. Given his previous performance in the NBA, at least one of those seemed possible.
While it’s not always the most popular move, there’s precedent for NBA stars taking less in order to put their team in a better position to contend for a title. That’s exactly what New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson did in 2024, when he left $113 million on the table to re-sign with the Knicks. That proved to be a wise move, as the Knicks won the championship in June.
The gesture is actually familiar in San Antonio, where star forward Tim Duncan did it in 2007.
Whether the tactic works for Wembanyama and the Spurs remains to be seen. But after watching Brunson and the Knicks dismantle his team in five games during the NBA Finals, Wembanyama clearly felt it was the right path to take moving forward.
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