Inside The Spurs

NBA Draft: How Does Victor Wembanyama Affect Zach Collins, Spurs Starters Next Year?

The Spurs hold the highest chance of landing the 7-2 big man, and while it would greatly improve their team's success, adding him could come at the expense of one player in particular.

Matt Guzman

Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
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Every NBA team likes the idea of adding a generational talent to its roster during the NBA Draft. 

This year, that comes in the form of 7-2 center Victor Wembanyama, and the San Antonio Spurs are looking like a strong landing spot for the big man.

The Spurs currently hold the highest percentage chance to win the NBA Draft Lottery, tied with the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons at 14 percent, also making for a strong chance to fall in the top three picks. 

Obviously, the Spurs would prefer Wembanyama in this draft, but what would that mean for the roster?

Fortunately for San Antonio, coach Gregg Popovich and his team are full of youth. Eleven of the 17 rostered players are 23 years or younger, and all have years to grow into a well-rounded career in the league.

That makes current starting center Zach Collins an outlier. Not just because of his age — at 25-years-old — but also because of his position.

"The Draft Lottery will be extra suspenseful for Collins since he may be more expendable to the front office if the Spurs land the top pick," Air Alamo wrote about Collins' situation. "They would presumably take the most highly-anticipated prospect in years in Victor Wembanyama. Collins can stretch the floor with his shooting and provide solid defense, but Wemby has the potential to do all that and so much more."

This season, Collins had a career revival of sorts, making his way into Popovich' s starting lineup by being consistent all around the court. His impressive play earned him the respect of his coach, who preemptively named him next year's starter ... barring extremely good luck from that Spurs that might spell trouble for the young center.

That's not to say that Collins wouldn't have a spot on the team. He's proven to be a reliable big who isn't stuck down low, but his minutes would see a reduction, and given his young age, he might want to explore another destination where he could be the starter he knows he can be. 

But for now, San Antonio is his home, and it looks to stay that in most scenarios, so fans will just have to wait and see.

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Matt Guzman
MATT GUZMAN

Matt Guzman is a sports journalist and storyteller from Austin, Texas. He serves as a credentialed reporter and site manager for San Antonio Spurs On SI and a staff writer for multiple collegiate sites in the same network. In the world of professional sports, he is a firm believer that athletes are people, too, and intends to tell stories of players and teams’ true, behind-the-scenes character that otherwise would not be seen through strong narrative writing, hooking ledes and passionate words.

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