San Antonio’s return to the postseason is as heavily anticipated as Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey movie set to premiere next summer 2026. Okay, that may not be the case for everyone, but it certainly is for Spurs Nation, and a top-four seed is on the table. They went from taking part in the playoffs every single year for two decades to six straight seasons without an appearance.
The organization was aiming for that goal last year, but it just wasn’t in the cards. There’s no need to rehash what happened to the team. The result of their misfortune, though, was the drafting of Dylan Harper. That’s quite the consolation prize, especially for a group of already super-talented guys.
The core guys may be young, but they’re ready to take the next step. There’s just too much talent on the team for that not to happen, and if you believe Victor Wembanyama is who they said he is, he’ll be the unstoppable driving force to elevate this team past common expectations.
The fourth seed isn’t out of reach for the Spurs
The last time San Antonio made the playoffs was the 2018-19 season. They went out in seven games to the Denver Nuggets. It was a crazy series that gave fans hope that something new and exciting was coming for the Silver and Black. LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMar DeRozan, and Derrick White almost stole a series from a young Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray without the services of an injured Dejounte Murray.
It’s a new day, and the players leading the charge will now be Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper. Yes, Harper. When you listen to him talk, leadership oozes from his pores naturally. He’ll immediately walk into that locker room and establish himself as someone you can follow.
50 wins earned the new Nuggets a fourth seed last year. That’s about what I expect the Spurs to win next season, so that spot will be theirs. But you really have to look at the rest of the Western Conference. It will be another dog fight, but only one dog can win per fight, so that’s a lot of losses for these teams, too.
After the moves made over the offseason thus far, OKC, Houston, and Denver look to be the cream of the crop. After that, it’s anybody’s guess. I’m not as high on the Clippers as some seem to be, unless we’re going back in time five years. Their team is relying on James Harden to play consistently and a bunch of injury-prone guys not to be injury-prone. Good luck with that.
Meanwhile, the Spurs will have a top 10 player in Wemby, a top 20-25 player in Fox, and the reigning Rookie of the Year in Castle. They added who would have been the number one pick in this year’s draft had Cooper Flagg not reclassified in high school, the best perimeter defender in the class, and one of the most reliable backup big men in the league.
My only hesitation to convey even more relentless optimism for this team is whether the shooting will be good enough. If it isn’t, things will be much harder than they need to be, and they might have to make a deal during the season. If it is, the West is in very big trouble because San Antonio doesn’t really have any other weaknesses.