The San Antonio Spurs missed the playoffs once again last season with a 34-48 record. San Antonio has not made it to the playoffs since the 2018-19 season.
The Spurs could potentially be ready to be a playoff team soon with Victor Wembanyama leading the way. San Antonio has drafted well over the last couple of years. Does this team have the core to be a playoff team this year or is Wembanyama just that good?
San Antonio Spurs Ranked 3 In Young Cores Despite Having Victor Wembanyama
Grant Hughes of bleacherreport.com ranked his top five young cores in the NBA entering the 2025-26 season. He has the Spurs ranked number three behind the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. San Antonio being ranked right behind Houston and Oklahoma City is a good sign for this franchise.
It means that the Spurs are potentially close to being a contender in the Western Conference. A lot of it has to do with the potential of Wembanyama becoming a top five player in the league sooner rather than later. Hughes said,
"The Spurs might have landed here if its entire core was Wembanyama. Analyzing him is like taking on a dare to see how hyperbolic you're willing to get; no projection seems too outlandish in the wake of what he's done to this point in his career.
Wemby will be the league's best defensive player for the foreseeable future, and he's arguably held that status from the moment he entered the league. Everything about his profile is much harder to forecast—in a good way.
Don't rule out a scoring average north of 30.0 points per game as he adds strength and craft while improving his shot diet and, potentially, leading the league in three-point attempts. Considering Wemby has averaged over 3.7 assists per game in each of his two seasons, he's also a terrific bet to rate behind Nikola Jokić in the big-man passing hierarchy.
All-NBA nods are a given, as are multiple DPOY honors. As soon as this season, it might even rate as a disappointment if Wembanyama finishes outside the top five in MVP voting."
He is only 21 years old. Some of the other young core pieces on this roster are Stephon Castle (21), Dylan Harper (19), and Devin Vassell (25). Wembanyama played in 46 games last season. He averaged 24.3 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 3.7 APG, 3.8 BPG, and 1.1 SPG. He also shot 47.6% from the field. A blood clot kept him out after the all-star break for the remainder of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Wembanyama no doubt is going to be one of the best defensive players in the NBA for the next decade. It would not be a surprise if he did win defensive player of the year in 2025-26. He also has a chance to win a couple of MVP awards as well. Wembanyama could potentially be so good that he gets this team to the playoffs in 2025-26.
The Spurs could potentially be a title contender soon. It will all depend on his health and how he plays on the court.
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