Victor Wembanyama had inked a five-year, $252 million extension with the San Antonio Spurs, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The contract is the largest rookie extension in NBA history.
In the deal, “Wembanyama opted for a 25% maximum instead of the 30% supermax, which gives the Spurs more salary cap flexibility.”
By passing on a “supermax” extension, Wembanyama could save the Spurs roughly $50 million overall, depending on next season’s salary cap. This saves San Antonio about $10 million in annual cap space, which they would have owed him had he earned All-NBA honors or repeated as Defensive Player of the Year in 2026-27.
Before entering the NBA, Victor Wembanyama established himself as a dominant force in his home country. Playing for the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 during the 2022–23 LNB Pro A season, he led the French league in scoring, rebounds, and blocks. At just 19 years old, he became the youngest player in the league’s history to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP). During that same decorated season, he collected awards for Best Scorer, Best Defender, Best Shot Blocker, and Best Young Player—marking his third consecutive year winning the league’s top young player honors.
During the 2025–26 NBA season, Wembanyama had a truly dominant third campaign. The 22-year-old French phenom played in 64 regular-season games, averaging career highs of 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks. He secured him the league’s shot-blocking title for a third consecutive year. His individual brilliance earned him his first career All-NBA First Team nod and a third-place finish in regular-season MVP voting.
More historically, he became the youngest and the first-ever unanimous winner of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. Wembanyama successfully converted that regular-season dominance into a deep postseason run, capturing the Western Conference Finals MVP award and leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 62–20 record and an appearance in the 2026 NBA Finals.