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San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama talks with Spurs general manager Brian Wright during practice at Madison Square Garden in New York, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, ahead of Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n
Sam Owens\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
If\u00a0Jayden Quaintance isn\u2019t starting alongside Victor Wembanyama by 2028, it won\u2019t cost Brian Wright his job. That\u2019s a big reason why Quaintance is coming to San Antonio in the first place.<\/p>\n
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No matter what, Wright will be calling the shots in the Spurs\u2019 front office for years to come, which enables him to take the kind of draft night swings many of his fellow general managers can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
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After all, it\u2019s a lot easier to plan for the future when you know you\u2019re going to be part of it.<\/p>\n
This is one of the most underrated advantages the Spurs enjoy in the NBA, and it\u2019s a wonder that more teams haven\u2019t figured it out yet. In a league where franchises churn through decision makers like gym socks, patience isn\u2019t just a virtue.<\/p>\n
And even though there\u2019s no guarantee that using a first-round draft pick on a high-flying kid with a balky knee will look smarter in two or three years than it did Tuesday night? As per their custom, the Spurs gave themselves a chance to come out way ahead in the long game.<\/p>\n
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NBA DRAFT: Why the Spurs rolled the dice on a pair of big men in Tuesday’s draft<\/a><\/p>\n They should be good at it. They\u2019ve been playing it for a while now.\u00a0<\/p>\n Somehow, it\u2019s been just shy of 30 years since the last time the Spurs fired either a general manager or a head coach. In professional sports, that\u2019s as unthinkable as a world without gambling ads.\u00a0<\/p>\n But think about what job security can mean for an executive who knows he\u2019ll have to deal with the consequences of his actions, whether good or bad. Think about the way such a setup might bode better for the direction of an organization that isn\u2019t always worried about winning the next press conference, or faring well in the next set of overnight NBA draft grades.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make no mistake about it: The Spurs could have scored a lot better among those graders had they taken a more conventional approach to Tuesday\u2019s draft. Selecting Mexico\u2019s Karim Lopez with the No. 20 pick would have elated the national draftniks and the Spurs\u2019 marketing department, and taking Houston\u2019s Chris Cenac Jr. at No. 26 would have been popular, too.<\/p>\n