The San Antonio Spurs have played an outstanding first round. That was by no means to be expected. But it shows what incredible potential the squad has. Will it even be enough for the title?
A new era began for the San Antonio Spurs this season: for the first time in around 30 years, the Texans started the season without Gregg Popovich as head coach. The coaching legend had suffered a stroke and resigned as a result. Mitch Johnson, who had also coached the team in Pop’s absence last season, took over.
It was a change at a time when the Spurs wanted to take the next step. But nobody expected how big a step they actually took in the last main round. The franchise from Texas played a fabulous season, winning 62 games and thus being the second-best team behind defending champions Oklahoma City, who won 64 games. The five-time NBA champions thus qualified for the playoffs for the first time in seven years and will definitely enjoy home court in the first two rounds if they make it past Round 1.
It is more or less a run with a delay that San Antonio put together last year. That’s because the Texans traded De’Aaron Fox from Sacramento in February 2025, giving superstar Victor Wembanyama a point guard at the absolute top level. But instead of picking up speed, the Frenchman was diagnosed with a venous thrombosis shortly after this switch and Fox also suffered an injury, which is why the Texans began to tank and only finished the season in 13th place.
Wembanyama a force offensively and defensively
However, both recovered in the offseason and started their first full season together. In addition to the two top players Fox and Wembanyama, the Spurs’ squad is extremely promising and features a lot of young, talented players. Of course there were question marks, but it was easy to see that this team from Texas is almost certainly the future.
And it looks like the future is already here. San Antonio was not expected to have a season like this. There are many reasons for this, one of the most obvious being that the Texans have one of the best players in the league in Wembanyama. The long Frenchman has been throttled for minutes at times, but was naturally the lynchpin of the five-time champions during his time on the floor. He led the team offensively with an average of 25 points (plus 11.5 rebounds), but also impressed with his outstanding defense, which was underpinned by an average of 3.1 blocks (by far the best in the league).
San Antonio Spurs: The youngsters deliver
But of course, Wembanyama alone could not have produced such a stellar season. Fox also got going, the teamwork with the superstar from France worked flawlessly and the point guard himself impressed with an average of 18.6 points and 6.2 assists.
The balance of the Spurs’ squad is also shown by the fact that, in addition to the two top stars, five other players averaged twice as many points. The youngsters have had an outstanding year so far. Stephon Castle (21) took the next step, rookie Dylan Harper (20) immediately found his feet in the NBA. The slightly older but still new guard Devin Vassell (25), Keldon Johnson (26) and Julian Champagnie (24) also did their job and fulfilled their designated roles. What emerged was a well-oiled San Antonio machine that racked up a whopping 14 wins from the final 16 games of the season.
San Antonio Spurs: The experience is missing
The form, the season, the run, everything speaks in favor of the Spurs in the postseason. However, the team lacks experience in the playoffs. For many players – including top star Wembanyama – these are the first playoffs of their careers. The same goes for Castle, Vassell, Johnson, Harper and Champagnie. Point guard Fox has played seven games with the Kings in the postseason. He is joined in the rotation by experienced warriors Harrison Barnes and Kelly Olynyk. Barnes has already won the NBA title with the Warriors (2015), while Olynyk reached the finals with Miami (2020).
It will therefore be exciting to see how this young team performs in the playoffs. After the impressions of the last few months, however, Spurs fans can have high hopes. In the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers, Johnson’s team is definitely the clear favorite.
Conclusion: After a strong regular season, the Spurs’ chances in the playoffs are also good and the conference finals should definitely be in the cards. They could then face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team led by Shai Gilgious-Alexander will be a real yardstick. OKC is likely to be one step ahead and has the experience of last year’s title win. It could be a close duel, with the winner having the best chance of winning the title in the finals.