Victor Wembanyama signed a maximum five-year salary rookie scale extension with the Spurs earlier this month.

The deal is worth approximately $252.3MM but Wembanyama could have gotten even more. He decided not to add Rose rule language to his contract, which means his deal will start at 25% of the 2027/28 salary cap rather than having the potential to be worth 30% of the cap if he had met certain performance criteria next season (another All-NBA berth, Defensive Player of the Year, or MVP).

Wembanyama is a strong candidate for any of those accolades if he stays healthy. So why did he give his team a discount? Wembanyama believes that giving the front office more flexibility in future seasons will increase the Spurs’ ability to win multiple championships.

“We have a good team, we had a very good playoff run, and we had a very good regular season. But what’s even better and greater is our potential,” Wembanyama told The Athletic’s Jason Jones. “The reality of today’s NBA is that often, the potential of teams is not fulfilled because of money. I just want to make sure it’s never our case.”

The Spurs could save around $50MM over the life of the extension, which could be applied to roster upgrades while staying below tax aprons.

Jones notes that San Antonio’s last two lottery picks, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, will be eligible for rookie scale extension over the next two offseasons. That alone will increase the payroll.

Wembanyama is coming off an NBA Finals loss to a team whose star player – Jalen Brunson – who was widely lauded for signing for less than his full maximum salary in order to give the Knicks the flexibility to build a deep, talented roster around him.

Wembanyama made his comments regarding his extension during an interview for NBA 2K27. He’ll be one of the cover athletes for the video game series, something he considers another milestone.

“Just like every achievement in my career, I wish it happened sooner,” he said. “It’s all happening very quick, but I am not satisfied, and I want it to happen quicker. It’s definitely a big milestone, something good. That’s done.”