The San Antonio Spurs want to do everything that they can to ensure Victor Wembanyama is a lifelong member of the organization. That task got more difficult when Paolo Banchero [negotiated a player option](https://orlandomagicdaily.com/orlando-magic-silence-all-doubts-cement-paolo-banchero-superstar) for his new deal with the Orlando Magic.
Wembanyama is a generational prospect, the kind of player who looked like a future MVP before he came to the league and has been as good as hoped for over the first two seasons of his career. The Spurs have a foundational superstar to build a team around, and the last time they had one of those they won five titles with Tim Duncan.
One path to ensuring Wembanyama is on the Spurs is to have him under contract. If Wemby hits free agency he has the option of signing with another team, however unlikely that may seem. The closer he gets to free agency, the more leverage he has to request a trade. The Spurs organization will obviously do everything that they can to ensure he never _wants_ out, but if they can keep him under contract that never becomes an issue in the first place.
In July of 2026 the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama will be eligible to negotiate a rookie extension, and it's a foregone conclusion that such a deal will include the maximum 25 percent salary that San Antonio can offer. Additionally, it will almost certainly have "Rose Rule" escalators that if Wembanyama makes an All-NBA Team, wins Defensive Player of the Year or wins MVP in his fourth season, he will move up to making 30 percent of the salary cap.
The Spurs don't want to offer a player option
---------------------------------------------
There is one final piece of the negotiating pie, however, and that is a player option. Wembanyama could sign a full five-year maximum rookie extension next summer, keeping him under contract through 2031-32, or he could negotiate to add a player option onto that last season. That would allow him to opt out and sign a new contract potentially worth even more, or to hit free agency, or to leverage a trade. You have to assume that a player will use a player option to their benefit and not the team's.
The Spurs had some small hope that Wembanyama would not negotiate a player option onto his deal. That hope was built on recent history; no player had received a player option on a max rookie extension in four full years, since Luka Doncic and Trae Young negotiated player options onto their contract. Doncic just used his player option to leverage a player-friendly contract extension to set up his massive payday at 10 years of service, and Young will try to use his to do the same.
Since then, however, no player has negotiated a player option. Cade Cunningham did not have one on his maximum extension. Same for Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes. Anthony Edwards did not get one despite his ascending stardom. Neither did any of the top-notch point guards over that span, including LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant, Tyrese Haliburton and Darius Garland. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren just signed extensions this summer and did not negotiate in player options.
It is certainly possible that Wembanyama was going to ask for one and receive it, because his standing is greater than any young player since Luka Doncic. But it was reasonable for the Spurs to hold out hope of keeping a contract clear of that add-on -- until Paolo Banchero's new deal was announced.
Paolo Banchero screwed over the Spurs
-------------------------------------
The No. 1 pick a year before Wembanyama, Banchero is a polarizing point forward breathing new life into the Orlando Magic -- polarizing because it's not clear whether he is a bona fide superstar in the making or an actor playing the part of a young LeBron James but without the substance. The Magic clearly think it's the former, and they not only handed Banchero a max rookie extension, they added every sweetener on top -- including Rose Rule escalators and a player option.
NBA contracts are built on comps, and now Wembanyama's agent will point to Banchero's contract and say something along the lines of "he got a player option and Wembanyama is much better than him, so we need to get one as well." The Spurs will have little leverage to do anything but agree.
That means the clock will be ticking toward the next time Wembanyama is due for a next contract -- a date that will be a full year shorter. It may seem small now, but it only increases the pressure on the Spurs and the leverage for Wembanyama. That's a situation the Spurs hoped they would not have to be in.
Then Paolo Banchero -- or more accurately, the Orlando Magic -- screwed them over.