NBA Notes: Spurs, Victor Wembanyama, Raptors, Jazz, veterans

For the Spurs, he biggest storyline in 2025-26 is simple. It all boils down to how Victor Wembanyama comes back from the deep vein thrombosis that ended his sophomore season.

If healthy, he could realistically make first-team All-NBA and win Defensive Player of the Year in Year 3.

But the other issue is guard play, per ESPN’s Zach Kram. De’Aaron Fox, Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and No. 2 pick Dylan Harper combined for just 30.4 percent shooting from three last year (counting Harper’s college numbers).

Fox is a career 33 percent shooter, Castle has yet to prove it, and Harper is still untested at the NBA level. With Fox locked in long term, Kram notes the Spurs may face tough choices down the road if that trio can’t provide enough spacing around their franchise star.

• Raptors’ expensive middle ground: According to Kram, Toronto projects to finish $1.1 million above the first apron — making it one of just six apron teams. The problem? The other five (Boston, Denver, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Phoenix) have either been No. 1 seeds or reached the conference finals in the past two seasons. Toronto hasn’t made the playoffs in three years. That’s a strange place to be for a team shelling out $40 million annually for Brandon Ingram and $32.5 million for Immanuel Quickley. The investment could pay off in a weak East if the roster clicks, but it could just as easily backfire if this pricey lineup fails to mesh.

• Jazz double down on youth: Three years into the rebuild, Utah is still going younger. Out of 11 players who topped 800 minutes last year, only four were older than 23. This offseason, they dumped three of those veterans — Collin Sexton, John Collins and Jordan Clarkson. Only Lauri Markkanen, now 28, is left from the core that had any real experience. Kram points out that while newcomers like Jusuf Nurkic, Georges Niang, Kevin Love and Kyle Anderson could play rotation roles, the bigger emphasis will be on youth. Utah added two more first-rounders and plans to give more minutes to Taylor Hendricks, last year’s lottery pick, after surgery limited him to just three games as a rookie.

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