San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama agreed to a five-year, $252 million maximum rookie-scale contract extension on Friday. He could have gotten roughly $303 million, but chose to take a pay cut to give his team around a $50 million salary-cap flexibility during the term of his contract.
Rich Paul, LeBron James’ agent, shared his thoughts on Sunday’s “Nightcap” podcast about Wemby’s decision to sacrifice for his team.
Rich Paul Shares Honest Opinion on Victor Wembanyama’s Contract Strategy
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Spurs offered “the full super max and different variations of extensions,” but Wemby still gave his team a staggering discount.
While many praised the 2026 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Paul gave a blunt response to the news.
“It depends on your situation, and it depends on what’s important to you. The way I look at things has always been, ‘You guys aren’t going to play forever.’ I don’t know if you’re going to play five years, seven years, 10 years, 14. At some point, your value doesn’t stay consistent or doesn’t increase. Most people’s value decreases, especially after Year 5 or 6,” Paul said.
Shannon Sharpe asked Rich Paul about Victor Wembanyama taking a pay cut to stay with the San Antonio Spurs. Rich Paul says as an NBA player you have a very short window of time to make money unlike an executive, whose prime comes later as they get older and earn more pic.twitter.com/8sj7GcSohp
— NBA Hoops (@Thechat101) July 13, 2026
The Klutch Sports Group CEO has a point.
Players of Wembanyama’s size (7-foot-4) often don’t last long in the NBA due to injuries, which is why Paul wants his clients to get the most out of the market while they are still healthy and valuable.
Wemby is counting on himself to stay healthy so that he can negotiate another potentially massive deal after his current contract expires.
Wembanyama and the Spurs lost a closely fought 2026 NBA Finals to the New York Knicks last month. Leading the Knicks was finals MVP Jalen Brunson, who reportedly left $113 million on the table when he agreed to an extension two years ago.
Brunson signed a $156.6 million extension in July 2024. According to Forbes, if he had waited for free agency, the lefty guard would have been eligible to get a $269 million contract. Brunson’s sacrifice paid off as the Knicks were able to build a championship-winning roster around him.
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Wembanyama is making the same sacrifice to help the Spurs keep their young core. San Antonio saved roughly $10 million per season during Wemby’s five-year contract.
The significance of Wemby’s gesture was laid out by The Athletic’s Jared Weiss and John Hollinger.
“That $10 million is likely to be especially relevant in the 2029-30 season, when core pieces Castle and Harper will be upgraded from their current rookie deals to max or near-max deals; Devin Vassell, Carter Bryant, and Champagnie will all have outrun their current value deals and need new ones,” Weiss and Hollinger wrote.
Wembanyama is also following in the footsteps of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker, who took pay cuts to keep the Spurs in contention for two decades.
The Frenchman is using the same blueprint, hoping his sacrifice will result in another multi-year success for the franchise.
