SAN ANTONIO – As the San Antonio Spurs prep for a quick training camp ahead of next week’s trip to Sacramento for the California Classic Summer League, the club announced Victor Wembanyama won’t be in attendance.
Instead, the No. 1 pick of the Draft will join the team in Las Vegas ahead of the July 7 Summer League opener against the Charlotte Hornets.
It’s expected Wembanyama will make his NBA Summer League debut against the Hornets and No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich predicted after the NBA Draft that the team might ease Wembanyama into the Summer League schedule given his recent workload playing in the LNB Pro A French League. Wembanyama just finished a season leading the Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92s to the LNB Pro A Finals, playing 34 games while averaging 21.6 points and 10.2 rebounds playing 32 minutes per game.
“He never stopped playing,” Popovich said after the Draft. “He will participate in the summer league. To what degree, we are not exactly sure yet.”
It’s expected Wembanyama will make two appearances at the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. In addition to giving its prized first-round pick somewhat of a break, San Antonio hopes to use the time spent away from the Summer League squad to get Wembanyama acclimated to his new teammates that will play more prominent roles this upcoming season.
San Antonio plays two contests in Sacramento on July 3 and July 5 before heading to Las Vegas for NBA Summer League.
The Spurs open their Summer League play in Sacramento for games on July 3 and 5. The Spurs play the Charlotte Hornets on July 3 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and the Miami Heat on July 5 (8 ET, ESPN2) before heading to Las Vegas for NBA 2K24 Summer League.
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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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