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Seven of Victor Wembanyama's teammates, including recently signed free agent forward Tobias Harris, have joined the 22-year-old superstar for workouts this week in France. The Spurs on Tuesday posted a photo on their official X account of Wembanyama alongside Harris and six players who helped the Spurs win the 2025 Western Conference championship: Harrison Barnes, Carter Bryant, Stephon Castle, De'Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Jordan McLaughlin.
"They want to grow," Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said last week when he revealed on the YouTube show TRASH TALK that "eight or ten" players were expected to join Wembanyama in France for workouts. Buford said Wembanyama organizing the practices underscores his leadership skills. "Just seeing Victor calling his team and saying, 'Hey, come over here and spend a week with me' (shows his leadership)," Buford said.
Maxime Aubin: Are the Spurs pursuing LeBron James? I asked RC Buford about it. Here’s his answer: “What I will say is that we’re excited about the team we’ve been able to keep together — and to add Tobias [Harris] to that, plus our young draft picks. I think our history shows how we build teams.” Full one-on-one interview with the Spurs CEO tomorrow in @lequipe
The Pistons were grateful for Harris’ contributions during his second stint with the organization, but they understood Harris likely played himself out of their market. According to a league source, Detroit had an internal discussion about Harris, then briefly met before negotiations revealed it’d be best for both parties to part ways.
I want to throw a little curveball at you, and I don’t know if you think I’m crazy by saying this, but I’ve thrown out the idea of the Spurs — if he takes the veteran’s minimum — being a great landing spot for LeBron, because they already have all the pieces. They just kind of need that veteran to stabilize everything, and he would be the guy that would help him get over the hump, and it would help him get closer to Jordan, if not match Jordan by the time his career is over. What are your overall thoughts on that possibility? Mario Chalmers: I thought that too, until they signed Tobias Harris. Tobias Harris was a great pickup for the Spurs, just because him and (Julian) Champagne, they’re kind of the same player, and they kind of bring the same thing to the floor, so you really don’t lose anything with either one. I’ll never pick Champagne or Tobias Harris over LeBron James, so I won’t say that. But ‘Bron with the Spurs, I don’t necessarily like it because they’re a young fast team, and they’re still learning. When Bron’s IQ is sometimes more than the coach’s, it will tend those young players to listen more to ‘Bron than the coach, and not on purpose, but just the IQ would be kind of different.
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Sources say Hachimura was very much in play for San Antonio before Tobias Harris rejected an offer to return to the Detroit Pistons. Harris and the Spurs swiftly agreed to a two-year, $31 million deal after San Antonio and Brooklyn were most frequently mentioned as likely Hachimura suitors before free agency officially began Tuesday at 6 PM ET.
Before agreeing to a two-year, $31 million deal with the Spurs, Tobias Harris received interest from the Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, and Charlotte Hornets, HoopsHype has learned.
Marc Stein: The Spurs’ deal with Tobias Harris slams the point home, but league sources say San Antonio is not expected to pursue LeBron James. @BennettDurando reported that Denver, by contrast, IS joining Golden State, Cleveland and Miami in this chase. More NBA: tinyurl.com/pebetpkn
Michael Scotto: Breaking: Tobias Harris and the San Antonio Spurs have agreed to a 2-year, $31 million deal, league sources say. Agent Torrel Harris and the Spurs worked together to finalize the deal.
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Jake Fischer: The Clippers will create a trade exception by helping facilitate John Collins’ sign-and-trade to Detroit, sources say. Collins’ three-year, $51 million contract with the Pistons is only guaranteed for the first season, as @omarisankofa reported. I’m told Detroit wasn’t willing to offer Tobias Harris more than one guaranteed season, either. With the Lakers business today, let’s see if Harris or Rui Hachimura end up signing into the Spurs’ open forward spot.
Lakers free agent Rui Hachimura, Clippers free agent John Collins and Pistons free agent Tobias Harris are also known to be on San Antonio's list. Hachimura, for that matter, is also believed to still be drawing interest from Brooklyn and Detroit and is regarded as increasingly likely to join James. Smart and Phoenix-bound Luke Kennard out the exit door in Lakerland.
The 33-year-old unrestricted free agent was the Pistons’ second-most productive player in the playoffs (behind Cade Cunningham), averaging 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds. Yet Harris will be visiting with five teams at the start of free agency, according to a league source who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe ongoing negotiations. (It’s not clear whether the meetings are virtual, phone or in person, or which teams are in play). At minimum, that means the prospect of Detroit losing Harris is somewhat real.
