Heading into the 2025\/26 season, the San Antonio Spurs have one of the more unique rosters in the NBA. On one hand, they have a group of players seemingly ready to compete in the postseason, and on the other, raw, undeveloped talents.<\/p>\n
The superstar of the team, Victor Wembanyama<\/a>, will enter his third season and will now have a slew of weapons to play alongside. Veterans like De\u2019Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, and Jordan McLaughlin provide much-needed experience for the storied franchise. In addition, they have Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and this year\u2019s No. 2 pick, Dylan Harper,<\/a> to add energy and spark.<\/p>\n Having both youth and experience gives the Spurs a luxury problem to manage. What will the identity of this team be? NBA insider Brian Windhorst has two theories, and neither may be what San Antonio fans want to hear.<\/p>\n Windhorst suggested that the Spurs will be the tale of two squads. \u201cThey need experience, ya know? Because they kind of got two different teams. They\u2019ve got some veterans on their roster,\u201d stated the analyst, mentioning Fox, Barnes, and McLaughlin as guys who will bring that experience to what is mainly a young team.<\/p>\n The Spurs could rely on their experienced stars this season, allowing the young players to develop away from the spotlight. At the same time, Windhorst can\u2019t help but notice the young talent in San Antonio and wonders if the organization might instead prioritize giving these future stars as much playing time as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re looking at committing to playing two very young guards. If you\u2019re talking about the recipe for winning in the NBA, it\u2019s not playing young guards,\u201d Windy said, referring to Harper and Castle.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, they\u2019re going to have to walk the line a little bit between developing their young guys who they drafted to put next to Victor, and whether they actually want to win in a very highly competitive Western Conference,\u201d added<\/a> the 47-year-old.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a completely new approach. The Spurs are shaping a roster similar to what the Golden State Warriors<\/a> did in the mid-2010s. The Warriors paired young stars like Stephen Curry<\/a>, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green with experienced players such as Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut.<\/p>\n San Antonio is taking a comparable path by pairing Wembanyama, Castle, and Harper with veterans like Fox and Barnes. This balance allows the young core to develop while keeping the team competitive. It worked remarkably well for the Warriors, and if it clicks, the Spurs could follow a similar path to sustained success.<\/p>\n Windy later mentioned how much the Spurs do, in fact, value their younger core. \u201cThe big thing with the Spurs is they\u2019ve got three guards with Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, and De\u2019Aron Fox, and they\u2019re gonna wanna play all three. They value those three guys.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n