The San Antonio Spurs reset their big man room around and behind Victor Wembanyama this summer. In the process, that meant quietly parting ways with a proven NBA veteran and the "biggest" member of last year's team: Bismack Biyombo.
The Spurs have a generational talent at center, a familiar place for them to be. David Robinson to Tim Duncan to Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs have a legacy of Hall of Fame centers. Yet even with Wembanyama manning the middle, there is a need for the team to have a robust supporting cast of bigs around him, both for two-big looks and the fill in when he is off the court.
Last season's options at the position left much to be desired. Zach Collins had one good stretch for the team a few years ago and was given a painfully lucrative new contract that was bad when he signed it and instantly got worse; he was dumped on the Chicago Bulls as a part of the Zach LaVine, De'Aaron Fox trade. Charles Bassey didn't realize his potential and has moved on. Sandr Mamukelashvili signed a deal with the Toronto Raptors.
In exchange, the Spurs used real resources to replace them. They signed former Boston Celtics backup center Luke Kornet to a four-year deal to back up Wembanyama. Rookie Carter Bryant has the size to get in the mix as a smallball big. Stretch big Kelly Olynyk was acquired from the Washington Wizards.
The Spurs didn't bring back Bismack Biyombo
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The final center from last year's team who is still floating in free agency is Bismack Biyombo. Onetime the 7th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets (the Spurs drafted Cory Joseph 29th overall to give you a sense of how long ago this was) Biyombo has been an NBA mainstay as he moved around from team to team. His defense, rebounding and knowledge of the game have kept him around, as has his positive influence on locked rooms.
Biyombo joined the Spurs on a couple of 10=day contracts last season after Wembanyama was declared out for the season with DVT, and then signed a rest-of-season contract at the beginning of March. He played in 28 games, starting 26 of them, and did exactly what the Spurs expected him to do: played good defense, rebounded the ball (10.8 rebounds per 36 minutes) and was an efficient finisher. He isn't reinventing the wheel, but he knows how to make it turn.
With a veteran like Biyombo, if he were going to be brought in as a veteran backup for the Spurs, that would have already happened. They have a single open roster spot but will likely carry that to the start of the season, either signing a training camp standout or leaving it unfilled to save money as the season begins.
At this stage in his career, Biyombo is more likely to be scooped up during the season by a team in need of center depth, as he was last year with the Spurs and the year before with both the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder. He has played well enough that it would be reasonable for a team to add him for the full year, but that hasn't happened yet.
Wherever Biyombo ends up, it doesn't appear to be with the Spurs for this season. Their upside and versatility went up by adding Kornet and Olynyk, but it remains to be seen if they will miss the rebounding presence of Biyombo on the roster. For now, they have moved on and parted ways with the stoutest member of last year's team.