The NBA Has a San Antonio Spurs Problem…

The NBA Has a San Antonio Spurs Problem…

San Antonio was not supposed to be this good this fast. The league was supposed to have a couple of seasons before Victor Webbyama and the Spurs truly begin to take over. But I think we’ve been gravely mistaken because they’re now sitting at 3-0 for the first time since 2019. And they haven’t just looked good. They’re announcing their arrival. This team looks ready for real competitive basketball right now. a 33point statement win on opening night against the Mavericks, a gritty overtime win in New Orleans, and a chaotic home opener against Brooklyn where they found a way to close with real poise down the stretch. But the thing that really stands out wasn’t just the winning, it’s that it actually feels like they have an identity and it’s built around their defensive system. In game one against the Mavericks, they held them to under 40% shooting. In game two in New Orleans, Wemi had nine blocks and they completely took the paint away from the Pelicans. And in game three against the Nets, when Brooklyn went on a 42 to11 run, San Antonio survived and closed the game out by tightening the screws defensively. Right now, the paint against San Antonio is basically a no-go zone. The rim protection, the rebounding, the physicality has all been so dominant. And it all starts with one guy, Victor Webeanama, who’s been flatout dominant to start this season. I mean, look at this play. Not once, but twice he denies the Nets at the rim, treating them like they’re his little brothers. Yes, that was Brooklyn, but this is Zion Williamson, and even he gets the same little brother treatment with the double block. On this play, Herb Jones is saying, “Please help me.” to anybody who can listen as he runs away, only having nowhere to pass the ball to. So, he tries to go up over WBY. And I mean, Victor made that look far too easy. This is unfair at this point. Castle goes perfectly vertical, allowing Victor to block the shot from behind, and then the Pelicans get the ball back, and WBY recovers to block it again. Here, the Pelicans had to try something. So here they try to get out in transition before he can get set and even that doesn’t work as Jordan Paul gets chased down. Now Dallas tried to do the same and it still isn’t happening as Flag gets swatted from behind. Even big men aren’t safe as here Claxton thinks he’s wide open but it turns out he wasn’t at all. Then on this play Derek Lively decides to give it a go and after that result he’s probably never going to try it again. At this point, when you’re playing the Spurs, the paint might as well have crime scene tape surrounding it because I seriously wouldn’t advise anybody to go in there. Victor is swatting everything. And it’s this defensive backbone that to me makes San Antonio feel really legit. As we all know, defense wins championships. You need to be good on that side of the floor to compete with the best. So far, the Spurs have been exactly that. through the first two games. Their defensive rating sits at 102.1, the best mark in the NBA with a plus 17.4 net rating. Now, after the Nets game, that net rating will dip slightly, but they still held Brooklyn to 107 in that game, as it’s safe to say that they’ll still be the best defense in the NBA through the first three games of the season. But here’s the thing. To actually beat the best teams in the league, you’re not able to just hang your hat on defense. You’ve got to be able to put the ball in the basket, too. And San Antonio has done a pretty good job of that so far as well. WBY is obviously a massive reason why. And it’s because of a few clear adjustments he made coming into this season. He’s not floating around on the perimeter anymore. He’s going inside punishing defenses and controlling the paint offensively the same way he does defensively. He’s basically a real life paint beast at this point. Against the Mavericks, Wemi dropped 40 points on 15 of 21 shooting. And the entire postgame conversation was about how he stopped settling for jumpers. Instead of hanging out behind the ark, he got into the paint early and often, using his size to bully guys like Anthony Davis and Derek Lively. You could see that Victor was playing with a real chip on his shoulder in the opening game. He was taking the shots that he wanted to take, not what the defense dictated, as he was just forcefully imposing his will on the Mavericks. And honestly, it appeared as if he ripped the heart out of that Dallas defense, making demoralizing shots after demoralizing shots. And keep in mind, this was against Anthony Davis and Derek Lively, some of the best defensive players in the NBA, especially for a matchup against Victor Weberyama. And none of that even mattered because Wemi simply did not care. Then in the second game against the Pelicans, he put up 29 points, 11 rebounds, and nine blocks on 56% shooting. In the first half, the offense looked a lot more like that classic Spurs ball movement. But coming out of halftime, the tone completely changed. Seven out of the first eight possessions ended with the ball in Wemby’s hands. It was a clear coaching adjustment to feature him far more aggressively. And that’s when he really started to find his rhythm. He was yet again getting deeper positioning, getting to his spots on the floor, and not settling for those tough fadeaways or pull-up jump shots that he was taking so consistently last season. Everything for WBY now is around the rim or in the mid paint where his touch and length completely overwhelmed the Pelicans defense. Then against the Brooklyn Nets, he followed that up with 31 points, 14 rebounds, six blocks, and three steals on 43% shooting. This time he scored at all three levels. He took just two threes in game one, three in game two, and then six attempts from outside against the Nets, which he made half of them. But even while showing the jumper, the foundation of his offensive game was still the inside dominance. That’s the biggest trend through these first games. He’s asserting himself inside and making defenses feel him. This is Victor Webyama’s true superpower, his ridiculous length, soft touch, and the way that he can get wherever he wants to in the paint at basically any given moment. And honestly, there’s a real conversation starting to build around whether or not he might actually be the best player in the NBA already. Defensively, I don’t think it’s even close right now. He’s clearly the best defensive player on the planet. So, the question becomes, just how good does he need to be offensively to outright claim the title as the best player in the world? Because so far, he’s opened up with a 40piece in game one, a near triple double with blocks in game two and a 31point showing in game three where he scored the ball from basically every level. It’s kind of wild to say it out loud. But right now, I think he’s already cemented himself as a top five player in the league. And the best part for San Antonio is how it’s not just him. The others around him are starting to step up as well. Coming into this season, my biggest question about San Antonio was, could everybody else keep up with the ridiculous leap that I believe Victor was about to make? And honestly, it’s starting to look like the answer might be yes. This doesn’t look like a WBY plus role players type team. It looks like a team with multiple guys who can win you stretches of games. Starting with the rookie Dylan Harper. Dylan Harper was the second overall pick of the draft class just gone. And so far he’s been so good for the Spurs. In his debut game against Dallas, he was a little shaky early on, but he quickly got it going in the second half, posting 15 points, five rebounds, and two assists on seven of 14 shooting. He attacked downhill with confidence and continued to make smart reads. As for me, it’s the simple stuff in Harper’s game that really stands out. Then in the second game against the Pelicans, he flashed even more as both a playmaker and actually a closer. In the fourth quarter, with the Spurs down by eight points, he and Harrison Barnes spearheaded a 14 to nothing run, combining for 12 out of those points. He made sharp reads out of the pick and roll, pushed the pace in transition, and attacked the gaps with patience. But crucially, after Victor fouled out early in overtime, Harper helped to close out the game with poise. Then in game three against Brooklyn, he put together his best showing yet. 20 points, eight assists, and six rebounds without a single turnover, becoming the youngest guard in NBA history to record a 25-5 game with no turnovers. Harper is giving the Spurs something they did not have last season. A composed playmaking guard who can control games without dominating them selfishly. He looks like a future star and Wemb’s potential ideal running mate. A guy who can get him the ball while also score it himself. Then you’ve got the reigning rookie of the year, Stfan Castle, who’s continuing to be great for this team on both ends of the floor. So far, he’s averaging 17 points per game, along with 6.3 assists, five rebounds, and a steal on 59% true shooting. The three-point shot is also falling at a better rate than it was last season. 31% from deep compared to 28% last season, but that is still certainly lower than ideal. Castle was fantastic in the first game against the Mavericks, posting 22 points, seven boards, and six assists while playing with maturity and control. What really stood out though was the Pelicans game. Even without a flashy box score, he delivered in the biggest moment, hitting the go-ahad three in the final seconds of regulation before the overtime period. That’s the kind of poise that is just so rare from a young guard. Then against the Nets, he took on more of a glue guy role, defending opposing guards, making smart passes, and helping to steady the Spurs after Brooklyn’s 42 to11 run. Once De’aran Fox returns, this is likely going to be the version of Castle. We will see in that starting five, a more defensive focused playmaker on offense while providing them with a steady presence. But San Antonio has also been getting quality minutes from Devin Vel who gives them efficient floor spacing while also being able to knock down the three ball which he made four of against the Nets. Kell Johnson has also embraced a roll off the bench being the hard-nosed energy guy who can attack the glass, play solid defense, and just do all of the little things. And the craziest part is how all of this is happening without their second best player, De’aran Fox. Fox doesn’t have an exact return date as he hasn’t seen any action yet as he’s dealing with a hamstring injury, but everybody knows what kind of talent he is. In the short term, Dylan Harper and Stefan Castle have really stepped into those minutes beautifully. But when Dearon does come back, coach Mitch Johnson is going to have to face some real rotation decisions. Somebody is going to have to come off the bench and see slightly fewer minutes. And it’ll likely be Harper shifting to a secondary creator or combo guard type role with Fox returning as the primary initiator and Castle fully sliding over into that glue guy connector role. And if they can make these adjustments work quickly, then San Antonio could potentially be even better. De’Aran Fox is still one of the better scoring guards in the NBA. And even though last season wasn’t close to his best, we all know what he can do at full strength. In 2024 with the Kings, he averaged 26.6 points per game, led the NBA in steals, and shot 37% from three. That three-point shot is going to be the swing factor. It’s clear that one of the Spurs biggest weaknesses is the floor spacing. If Fox comes back and shoots closer to 37% like he did in 2024, he’ll elevate the offense even more. But if it’s closer to the 31% that he shot last season, it could shrink the floor for Victor and make it far tougher on him to try and score inside. Coming into this season, everybody knew that Victor Webyama was going to be amazing. He was already great last year before the injury, but nobody expected the Spurs to be this good of a team this fast. And with how dominant Wemby has been so far, there’s no real reason to think that they won’t be a real playoff threat. Realistically, I think their ceiling is probably the second round. But with the way they defend, the upside of the core, and the return of De’aran Fox, I think that would make them a team that nobody would want to face in the first round. They have real upset potential, especially against teams that rely on attacking the basket because San Antonio can take that away better than basically anybody can right now. Matchups against sides like the Clippers, Nuggets, or even the Oklahoma City Thunder could be really difficult for their opponents. A Cinderella run to the conference finals isn’t that far out of the picture, but I still think the second round is going to be the ceiling this year. They might just be a year away from being a true contender. But best case scenario is the Yaron Fox comes back and elevates everybody and they could be ready now. They have the balance, the rim protection, and the superstar centerpiece to make life miserable for a higher seed in a sevengame series. And if you want to see how Luca Donich and the Lakers have a very similar ceiling, you can go ahead and check out that full breakdown video right now.

The NBA Has a San Antonio Spurs Problem…

The San Antonio Spurs wasn’t supposed to be this good this fast. The league was supposed to have a couple of years before the Victor Wembanyama Spurs really started to take over. But I think we’ve been gravely mistaken, because the San Antonio Spurs are sitting at 3 to 0 for the first time since 2019, and they haven’t just looked good, they’re announcing their arrival. This Spurs team lead by Victor Wembanyama team looks ready for real, competitive basketball right now. A 33 point statement win on opening night against Dallas, a gritty overtime win in New Orleans and a chaotic home opener against Brooklyn where they found a way to close with poise down the stretch. But the thing that really stands out isn’t just the wins. It’s that it already feels like they have an identity, and it’s built around their defense.
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