In our exclusive interview, the 'Red Mamba' discusses the San Antonio Spurs' NBA title chances, the Toronto Raptors' targets this season and which teams have surprised him so far.
Matt Bonner believes San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama can still reach new heights as an NBA player after his fast start to the 2025-26 season.
Wembanyama has put up incredible numbers over the first few weeks of the new season, and Bonner – who won two NBA championships with the Spurs during his career – believes the Frenchman could be considered the future face of the league thanks to his rare blend of size, skill and athleticism.
The Spurs are priced at 40/1 to win the title in the NBA betting odds this season, while Wembanyama’s performances have put him in early consideration for the MVP award.
In our exclusive interview, Bonner also discusses whether the Spurs will go all in by trading their young guards, what the Toronto Raptors’ aims should be this season and which teams have surprised him over the first 10 games.
How impressed have you been by the San Antonio Spurs’ start to the season, and have they surprised you?
They’ve definitely exceeded my expectations. I knew they were going to be better, just not this much better, this fast. And this is how it goes when you have a transcendental talent like Victor Wembanyama – at some point they’re going to plant their flag as one of the top players in the league.
You don’t really know exactly when it’s going to happen, and I think for him it happened right from game one. He said, “I’m here. I want to be in the conversation for the top five players in the league,” and I think the Spurs have done a great job putting other young talent around him. They’re building towards something once fully healthy where they can try to make a push and at least win one round in the playoffs.
How many more levels does Wembanyama have to reach? Are there still ways he can improve?
Absolutely. First and foremost, physically. You look at someone that young, and strength has been a weakness in his first couple years in the NBA, which is expected when you’re a teenager and you’re 7ft 5in with an 8ft wingspan. It’s easier to put on weight and muscle as you get into adulthood, and that’s literally what he’s going through. He’s going to continue to get stronger, which will allow him to do even more in the paint. He got pushed out a lot his first two years, but much less this year.
Teams are also going to scheme and gameplan for him much more. They’re going to throw a lot of double teams, weird rotations and strategies to slow him down that he hasn’t seen. Through that experience, he’s going to learn how to counter that
You named Devin Vassell the Spurs ‘X-factor’ and then they also have Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper in the backcourt. Will they keep those young players or make a trade?
They definitely have backcourt depth where they could make a trade. There’s only so many minutes to go around and when you have those four guys, that’s a good problem to have. How do you work those guys in and give them the minutes they deserve?
Then the front office have the luxury where if they wanted to add somebody at another position, they could probably spare one of those guards. The Spurs have a lot of draft assets, too, and pretty good cap space.
They have a lot of options moving forward as they analyze the roster, where Wemby is and when they want to pull the trigger and go for it. It’s looking like that might be sooner rather than later.
You won your first title with a more experienced Spurs team led by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. This is a much younger team, but can the Oklahoma City Thunder’s title win last year be an inspiration for the Spurs?
I definitely believe that. It comes down to having the right chemistry and leadership. When you look at that Thunder team, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams – their two best players – are about the right things. They play hard on both ends of the floor, they’re low maintenance, they’re great teammates, they stay out of trouble off the court.
They’re kind of like old souls, and I think Wemby’s the same. The most impressive thing about him is between the ears, his focus, his dedication to the craft, to his team, to winning, demanding excellence.
That’s the leadership I got when I got traded to the Spurs in 2006 with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, not to mention all the veteran role players we had. These guys knew what it takes to win championships.
It seems like the younger players now are getting that as well.
Why do you think young players are now seemingly more ready to contend for titles so early in their career?
That’s a really good question. It’s counter-intuitive, especially because when I played you got your ass kicked in the league for the first few years. You’re just trying to figure it out, never mind be the leader of a team that’s going to contend for a championship.
It’s a nod to how talented players are at a younger age. When you’re one of the best players on your team, you’re naturally looked at as a leader, and so it’s just as important to understand that and embrace leadership qualities.
The next ‘face of the NBA’ has been a talking point for a while now. Is Wembanyama best positioned to claim that title?
I think so. It’s tricky because the NBA is in America and you haven’t really seen a face of the league from outside of America, even if they are the best player. By that logic, Nikola Jokic should be the face of the league, or SGA.
But for some reason they don’t seem to get as much as much of the media hype. That’s probably a good thing if you’re on their team. On the Spurs, Tim Duncan was about winning, being a good teammate and working hard, “pounding the rock,” as coach Pop says. He had no interest in any of the glitz and glamour or attention off the court.
But that doesn’t make you the face of the league. The NBA is about more than just basketball. It’s about social media, commercials, pop culture, fashion, all these different things that get eyeballs, clicks, attention. You can be one of the top players and not be the face of the league because you don’t embrace any of that off the court stuff. Which, as a player, I think is great because those are all distractions.
That all being said, I think Wembanyama can transcend that because of the physical phenomenon he is. When you see him, you can’t take your eyeballs off him. He looks like a create-a-player in NBA2K, he just sticks out with his size, length and his skillset. It boggles your mind.
And if you see him in person, it’s even more impressive. If you’re within 20 feet of him you’re just like, “holy crap, how is this a real person?”
So I think that garners a certain fascination which could give him the potential break that mold and be the face of the league.
Your other former team, the Toronto Raptors, have started 5-5. What should be their target this season?
The goal is the playoffs. In a perfect world, you make a top-six seed, and it’s totally possible with the Eastern Conference being weak, but even winning the play-in and reaching the playoffs [should be the goal].
They have a lot of talent. They have really good chemistry and momentum carried over from last year. They enjoy being with each other. They play hard every single night. They’ve spent a lot of money, especially on that starting five.
It’s just a matter of staying healthy and putting it all together on both ends of the floor. They’re 5-5, they’ve kind of been up and down, and a big reason for that is Jakob Poeltl being injured.
He’s been in and out of the line up, and even when he’s in, he looks a hair off. He was really an underrated anchor for the team on both ends of the court last year. He was a guy who offensively was always in the right place at the right time, and he would always make the right play. He’s great quarterback from the high post.
Defensively, this Raptors team’s mindset is pressure. They’re picking up 94 feet, they’re playing physical and trying to force as many turnovers as possible. And when you do that, you’re going to get burnt from time to time.
I called Jakob ‘Tim Duncan lite’ because his understanding of space and angles with his 7ft frame is fantastic and he could usually put out most of the fires cause by those gambles.
I don’t think this team’s going to reach its full potential until Jakob’s back fully healthy and I think that’s going to be a big determinant on how far this team goes.
The new GM, Bobby Webster, said he doesn’t think this roster will look the same at the end of the season. Do you think there’s a suggestion they might go for it with a big trade?
Man, I don’t know. The salary cap situation makes it harder to make moves, especially big moves. I feel like the guys that other teams want, well, you want them too, so why are you going to trade someone who’s playing well for you? Then the other guys who you think you can improve upon – what’s their trade value? Is it worth it?
It’ll be interesting to see what ends up happening roster wise. I’m curious what the sample size of games is for Bobby Webster to make a decision on guys. A big part of this is evaluating talent and a lot of these guys were injured for so many chunks of last season. I feel like they don’t really know what they have with everybody being healthy and playing together.
There are other ways this team can be better, like getting more locked in on defense, especially off the ball.
The Raptors didn’t extend RJ Barrett’s contract. Given his increased efficiency this year, do you think they will look to keep him and build around him?
RJ Barrett’s been great as more of a complimentary piece. His stats are up, but his usage is down, which means he’s been way more efficient with shot selection and decision making.
He’s arguably playing the best basketball on the team. If he keeps doing what he’s doing then I think he’s a very valuable piece to any team as your third guy. He will find a way to get to 20 points pretty much every single night, and he’s doing it in a very efficient way.
For RJ, it’s more of the other stuff like locking in on defense, especially off the ball, staying focused and intense, rebounding. If he can focus on all that and just keep doing what he’s doing on offense, I wouldn’t get rid of him. I think they kind of need him.
He’s been very consistent for them and he’s from the Toronto area. I think it’s really nice to have a local guy on the team and I know it’s important to the Raptors to represent the community in Toronto and all across Canada. and you’ve got a guy right there who it means more to than anyone. I think he’s had a great year so far.
Which teams have surprised you at this stage of the season?
The Lakers. I wasn’t expecting them to be playing as well as they have, especially with LeBron starting the season injured. Austin Reeves has gone up a level, he’s been very impressive. Jake LaRavia – this is what you do, you get an opportunity playing for the Lakers, that’s a big stage and he’s really embraced it and played well. Marcus Smart, as annoying as he is, has given them some grit and grind. Rui Hachimura has been very consistent.
JJ Redick has pulled all the right levers schematically, substitution-wise. He’s done a great job managing that whole situation. I was worried about them coming into the season but they’ve looked really good. I’m curious to see what happens when LeBron comes back and they integrate him. As a team, can they go up a level?
Everybody’s interested in the Lakers, wants to talk about the Lakers, watch the Lakers. They’ve got a spotlight on them, so it’s good for the league when they’re playing well and I’m happy for them.
I thought the Miami Heat were going to be really bad this year and it’s probably stupid for anyone to think that because of Coach Spoelstra and the culture there. They’re going to make moves to bring in guys that they believe will embrace that.
As a group they’ve figured out how to be competitive with the roster. When you looked at it coming in the season, they were kind of dismissed, so I have a lot of respect for them hovering around .500 at this point.
The Bulls are also off to a good start. Coach Donovan, my college coach, I’m really happy for him. I love his offensive system and philosophy, and their young talent has taken a step forward.
Josh Giddey looks amazing and I hope they sustain it because I obviously I’m rooting for my old college coach, and that’s another team where I think it’s good for the league when they’re playing well. So I’m happy that the Bulls are doing well.
The Detroit Pistons are off to a great start, and I called that one. Not to toot my own horn, but that was my dark horse team. It just felt like last season after they were bad for so long, last year they were finally pretty good. They got in the playoffs, they were one missed call from pushing the Knicks to Game 7. And who knows after that?
They got took a big step forward and I just thought they had a ton of momentum coming in this year, and then adding Duncan Robinson. Say what you want about Robinson, but I think he has an underrated floor game just with his gravity. The threat of him being out there opens up a lot of space and he and he’s 6ft 8in, he’s got good size and he never stops moving and hunting shots.
I thought he was going to be totally additive to whatever it is they’re trying to do, regardless of his stats. I thought it was a good role-player to pick up. They’ve been off to a good start despite injuries and I’m curious to see what they do come the postseason.
Disappointment-wise, I thought Orlando was going to be really good this year. They added Desmond Bane and I thought that was a big missing piece for them. They just struggled on offense so much and I thought alright, they got this guy, they’re going to be passable on offense. They’re going to be nasty on defense as always. The East is weak. This is the team to watch.
But they just haven’t figured it out or put it together yet.
The Milwaukee Bucks have made a good start. Do you think a good season will convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to stay long-term?
I don’t know. If you watch the Bucks this year, I like what they’ve done as far as putting a bunch of shooters around Giannis, but I just worry about Giannis’ workload. When you watch them, he has to do everything. Everything runs through him. At the end of the games, he just looks so tired.
He’s not old, but he’s not a spring chicken anymore. I’m just curious, over 82 games of getting beat down with that workload, by the time the playoffs come, is he going to be healthy? That’s been an issue for him the last few years, and if he’s not 100 per cent going into the playoffs, they have no chance, obviously.
So I guess if you’re Giannis, you’re looking at it like, “do I like this? Do I like having to do all this stuff in order for us to be successful?”
Or would it be nice to go to a team where he has a little more help at the point of attack, like when we had when they had Damian Lillard. Someone else who can take that workload and give them a break here and there.
He’s been in Milwaukee his whole career. They’ve always taken care of him. They’ve always done everything they can. They’ve mortgaged their whole future – they don’t have any draft picks, ever. They’ve done everything they can to try be competitive while they have him in his prime. Does that mean something to him? Or is it like, “man, I need some help. What else is out there?”
At this stage of the season, what’s your Finals prediction?
The Cleveland Cavs and Oklahoma City Thunder and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Oklahoma City to repeat.
I don’t feel great about saying that because I was on two championship teams with the Spurs and we kept the teams together the next season and were not able to repeat. It’s just so hard.
When you win an NBA championship, it is such a physical, mental and emotional grind. You’re playing for like another two-plus months after the season where every other day you have an insane amount of pressure.
Then it’s finally over, you win the championship and I don’t know how to explain the mental relief once that happens. You then have the bullseye on your back. You’re getting everybody’s best shot every single night.
I think that when you win the championship, you lose a little bit of that edge. It’s really hard to maintain that same level of drive, especially when you’re in a tough Western Conference where other teams are pretty close.
All that being said, I think they’re focused enough. I really like the leadership on the team, the steadiness of it with SGA and Jalen Williams. They have a lot of depth. I think they’re still the best team and because of that I’m going to pick them to win it, even though I don’t like doing it because it’s really hard to repeat.
