The San Antonio Spurs have had some pretty good shooters over the years. Manu Ginobili. Steve Kerr. Chuck Person. But none of them ever did what Julian Champagnie just did over a single season. And on his birthday, the team decided to make sure he sticks around.
The Spurs signed the 6-foot-7 forward to a three-year, $45 million deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. That’s a massive jump from the $3 million team option they turned down. Basically, they tore up the old contract to give him new money. $42 million of it is fresh, and the structure reportedly pays out early, which gives San Antonio some cap flexibility down the line.
How he made it happen
Champagnie set a Spurs single-season franchise record with 195 made threes in the 2025-26 season. That’s more than any Spur in history, including Ginobili. He also knocked down 11 threes in a single game against the Knicks on New Year’s Eve, scoring a career-high 38 points. That night, he became the first NBA player ever to score at least 36 points without attempting a single two-point field goal. And he did it all as an undrafted guy.
He played all 82 games for the second straight season. His 68 starts were second on the team behind De’Aaron Fox, but a lot of those early starts came because other guys were hurt. Once he moved into the starting lineup full-time in February, the Spurs went undefeated that month and eventually made the NBA Finals. His regular season numbers were career highs across the board: 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists in 27.6 minutes, shooting 38.1% from three.
He got even better in the playoffs. Shot 44.4% from the floor and 39.6% from deep. His 61 threes set a new Spurs record for a single postseason run. He averaged 11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals over 23 games.
Where he fits now
The Spurs have Champagnie locked up through 2028-29. That matters because they need spacing around Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Fox. Champagnie isn’t a star, but he’s a reliable shooter who never misses games. Since the 2023-24 season, he’s played in 185 consecutive regular season games, which is the second-longest active streak in the league.
He’s only 25. His career averages are 9.4 points and 4.1 rebounds over 255 games with the Spurs and Sixers. Philadelphia waived him three years ago so they could sign Mac McClung for the 2023 Slam Dunk Contest. That decision looks worse by the day. Champagnie now ranks tenth in Spurs history in made threes with 507, and he got there on fewer attempts than Kawhi Leonard (1,351 attempts compared to Leonard’s 1,370 for the franchise).
Not bad for a guy nobody drafted.
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