{"id":2038419,"date":"2026-07-11T10:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2038419"},"modified":"2026-07-11T10:00:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:00:50","slug":"why-victor-wembanyamas-hometown-discount-has-nbpa-calling-for-second-apron-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2038419","title":{"rendered":"Why Victor Wembanyama\u2019s hometown discount has NBPA calling for second-apron changes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Victor Wembanyama\u2019s pen glided across the page in front of him at his home in France, he became an incredibly rich man. Just not quite as wealthy as he could\u2019ve been.<\/p>\n

On Friday, as relics of his past, nods to his future and the key figures of his professional life surrounded him, Wembanyama signed his next Spurs contract. It\u2019s a five-year extension for 25 percent of the salary cap, projected to come in at $252 million, according to league sources who were not authorized to discuss the financial terms of the deal.<\/p>\n

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Wembanyama was also entitled to receive the supermax clause, which could have raised his salary to 30 percent of the cap (a projected $301 million over those five years) if he wins MVP, Defensive Player of the Year or makes an All-NBA team next season. Considering he had just become the NBA\u2019s first unanimous defensive player of the year<\/a>, all he\u2019d effectively need to do to earn that extra salary is play at least 65 games next season.<\/p>\n

He passed up that chance because he had something bigger in mind: helping the Spurs keep this young team together.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccumulating money has never really been a goal,\u201d Wembanyama said last season.<\/p>\n

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Putting pen to paper \ud83d\udd8a\ufe0f\ud83d\udd12 pic.twitter.com\/bWu2sudRRt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In San Antonio, this is a lovely story of Wembanyama proving everything he has said about prioritizing winning above all else. But to the NBA Players Association, this is another example of the second apron applying pressure on star players to choose between getting paid what they\u2019re worth and keeping their teams together.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur position would be that the system should not require a player to carry all that burden,\u201d incoming NBPA executive director David Kelly said at his introductory press conference Friday, just before the details of Wembanyama\u2019s extension became public. \u201cIt should not put a player in a position where he has to carry the burden in order to keep a team together. A system that does that, we have a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wembanyama\u2019s decision comes amid the backdrop of teams increasingly using the second-apron threshold, set at just under $222 million next season, as a de facto hard cap. Days ago, Jaylen Brown, who had teamed with Jayson Tatum to lead the Boston Celtics to an NBA title in 2024 and consistent success over the last decade, was traded to the rival Philadelphia 76ers for a disappointing return that stunned many within the sport. When asked to explain the move<\/a>, Celtics president Brad Stevens said the penalties for exceeding the second apron were too punitive to have \u201c70 percent of our cap and such a high percent of our usage tied into two players.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wembanyama is not the first star of this era to make a financial sacrifice. In 2024, Jalen Brunson signed an extension with the Knicks a year earlier than he could have, foregoing around $37 million in the first three years of his new deal in the process. That opened the door for the Knicks to acquire and retain OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, both of whom helped push the Knicks to a title over Wembanyama\u2019s Spurs last month.<\/p>\n

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{“endpoint”:”https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql”}<\/p>\n

Now, Wembanyama has done something similar, giving up the chance to earn a $50 million bonus over five years to help his already deep team remain together.<\/p>\n

But in light of teams like the Celtics citing the second apron as a reason to jettison stars in their prime, NBPA leadership is concerned the CBA has created undue pressure on its members.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get drafted to a team and you make these benchmarks, All-NBA, whatever the case may be, and that takes you to a certain percentage of the cap, it ends up being a perception of a negative,\u201d Houston Rockets guard and NBPA president Fred VanVleet said Friday. \u201cWhether it actually is or not, there\u2019s systems in place now for the teams to use all of these buffers against a reason to keep the team together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In San Antonio, taking less for the good of the team is an ethos that preceded this financial climate. Tim Duncan notably signed below-market contracts in his mid-30s so the Spurs could afford to pay for a deeper roster than their peers. His financial sacrifices led to his fifth championship in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all it was about. I don\u2019t really care who was making what,\u201d Duncan said almost 10 years ago to the day in a 2016 interview with ViVid Streaming, per ESPN<\/a>. \u201cHonest truth is I didn\u2019t really know from year to year what people were making. I think that was the best perspective to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current Spurs, meanwhile, face the prospect of young building blocks Steph Castle and Dylan Harper seeking their own maximum contract extensions in the next two offseasons that will balloon the Spurs\u2019 payroll. Wembanyama knows that keeping that trio together could make them the best team in the league for years to come and, perhaps, allow them to maintain enough talent to end the NBA\u2019s record streak of eight straight champions without a repeat.<\/p>\n

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Victor Wembanyama’s top moments of the 2026 postseason<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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