Analysis Brian Windhorst: “Spurs are a playoff contender”

[TDomination]

The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most exciting teams entering the new season.

Victor Wembanyama will be going into his third year as the expectations for him continue to grow.

Wembanyama got his co-star when the Spurs traded for De’Aaron Fox at last season’s trade deadline.

Now, the Spurs appear to have a good enough roster that they can take a giant step forward in the West this season and perhaps even push for a playoff spot.

The Spurs are loaded with young talent.

Not only do they have one of the best players in the game in Wembanyama, but they have a pair of young guards who have endless potential.

The Spurs have Stephon Castle, who won the Rookie of the Year last season, and they have the No. 2 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft Dylan Harper, who appears to be San Antonio’s point guard of the future.

Harper was a star at Rutgers and he possesses the kind of skill set that could one day make him an All-Star in the league.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst spoke about the Spurs‘ situation on Instagram Threads. He mentioned that the Spurs are a playoff contender, but he questions the team playing their young guards like Harper a lot of minutes.


Link

 

[dastexan]

Are the Spurs trading Devin Vassell or something to make this a reality?

 

[TDomination]

Are the Spurs trading Devin Vassell or something to make this a reality?

I’ll give Vassell one more season, with new coach, higher expectations. Lets see if he can play a smarter brand of basketball.

He’s talented but simply makes way too many low bball IQ decisions that become a big reason as to why we do not win games

 

[pope]

Give Vassell a chance to settle into a full time role player mode this season before judging

 

[tim_duncan_fan]

Let's hope Windy is right!

 

[LakerHater]

is this dude still a thing?

 

[RC_Drunkford]

I’ll give Vassell one more season, with new coach, higher expectations. Lets see if he can play a smarter brand of basketball.

He’s talented but simply makes way too many low bball IQ decisions that become a big reason as to why we do not win games

Fox should unlock Devin. Keyword "should", but we should give it a chance.

 

[Dex]

Give Vassell a chance to settle into a full time role player mode this season before judging

Agreed. Spurs were forced to lean on him to be the 2nd option behind Wemby, and he ain't that guy. He's spent most of his career playing with a bunch of young guys and it's like they just told him "go out there and score".

Now that teams have to focus on other threats like Fox, Castle, etc...hopefully that will open things up for him and he can focus on a reduced role.

Or he could just continue to dribble into tough, contested mid-range jumpers to try to pretend like he is Kobe.

 

[jeebus]

Fox should unlock Devin. Keyword "should", but we should give it a chance.

He just needs to realize he's not a first, second, or even a third option. He had his chance, couldn't make the jump, and now he's a pre fat Jaren Jackson

 

[timtonymanu]

I’m no Vassell fan but I’m confident he will look better under the new system and his role. I want him to do well because it means he figured things out or he will be a more valuable trade piece for the team.

 

[Shmurs]

Devin isn’t going to gain 20 IQ points in one offseason. His problem is real-time processing and that’s always going to compromise his place in the league.

As far as windy goes, this is the standard brain dead National media take. None of them watch this team. Like how everyone says “I like Sochan” and then don’t describe any reason why…because it’s 100% about his hair and the 5 times he had some viral troll moment or got a lob from Vic.

This team has absolutely no bench and is one injury away from winning 35 games. Sure, they’ll make the play in because Fox and Wemby are that good. But the 3rd most effective player on this team is Harrison Barnes. Thats a very very bad sentence.

The 2nd unit will be better because of Kornet but there’s negative wing depth and our guards can’t shoot. Smells like an 8-10 seed to me.

 

[Dex]

Devin isn’t going to gain 20 IQ points in one offseason. His problem is real-time processing and that’s always going to compromise his place in the league.

As far as windy goes, this is the standard brain dead National media take. None of them watch this team. Like how everyone says “I like Sochan” and then don’t describe any reason why…because it’s 100% about his hair and the 5 times he had some viral troll moment or got a lob from Vic.

This team has absolutely no bench and is one injury away from winning 35 games. Sure, they’ll make the play in because Fox and Wemby are that good. But the 3rd most effective player on this team is Harrison Barnes. Thats a very very bad sentence.

The 2nd unit will be better because of Kornet but there’s negative wing depth and our guards can’t shoot. Smells like an 8-10 seed to me.

I'll give Windy credit that he is one of the few talking heads on ESPN who actually follows and hypes the Spurs, and is a big Wemby fan.

 

[SpursFan86]

Honestly if we're mostly healthy then it'll be a pretty damning sign if we're not at least a play-in team.

Think we can all agree Wemby should be a top 5-10 player in the league this year (obviously potential to be top 3 but being conservative here). Fox is another borderline all-star top-30ish type guy. Just surrounding those 2 alone with competent role players should be enough to make the play-in.

If we're only winning 30-35 games this year while healthy, it likely means Fox is nowhere near the player we hoped he'd be and/or a majority of our other main rotation guys (Castle/Sochan/Vassell being the big ones) are dramatically underperforming expectations.

 

[John B]

Devin was thrown in as the 1st option with scrubs. The earlier he realized that he is now a role player the better for him. I’d take Champ as starting 3-and-D over Devin.

 

[scott]

Devin’s reading all these posts about thriving in a new role where there isn’t as much expected of him:

“This is my time”

I believe this is the BaselineBums debut of the meme

 

[Neuromancer]

Not really a hot take to call them a playoff contender tbh. Wemby is projected to be a top 5ish player next season, we have a top 30ish all-star level PG now, the reigning ROY, and made some solid roster updates during the offseason along with some important coaching changes. This team should be in the play in at minimum next season imho, anything less is an abject failure (barring injury ofc)

 

[TDomination]

It’ll be interesting to see what Vegas sets for our regular season win total—they’re usually pretty accurate.

That said, I want to see articles like this because it’s important to establish clear expectations for this team. If those expectations aren’t being met, then a midseason trade should be on the table.

The mindset of playing just to improve, regardless of wins or losses, has to end this year. It’s time to show progress through results. If the team isn’t winning, then changes need to happen to make sure we start heading in the right direction.

 

[LeBowen]

As I wrote before on ST, we'll have a big regular season advantage due to having a young roster.
Inexperience will most likely be the end of us in the playoffs, but as we've seen from OKC in 23-24 and Houston in 24-25, having a young, athletic roster that plays every game at their best is a huge advantage and easily adds at least 5 wins.

Outside of top guys, we have quite a few players are mediocre, but maybe it will be the spark they need because they won't have as many guaranteed minutes. Hopefully we won't see Keldon/Jeremy/Devin disappearing on any given night and still playing 20+ minutes. Now we have other guys that can come in and do better. They got too comfortable over the past few seasons because there was noone who could step in to replace them.

If Castle can continue on his trajectory and Harper is a real deal, we'll have three elite paint penetrators, can stagger them so two are always on the floor. It's a really tiring style of play to defend against.
Kornet will be the biggest upgrade because our roster stopped being functional whenever Wemby sat due to lack of a backup rim protector.
Now we won't be dead in the water even when Wemby doesn't suit up and Olynyk can also enable some big lineups with his shooting ability.

Obviously the downsides are that nothing is a guarantee other that Fox who will do his thing.
Sweeney and Williamson might just be the most important figures after Fox and Wemby. Our defense was awful and if they can make it work, we'll easily go over .500 assuming Wemby stays healthy.

 

[koriwhat]

You can't get a better role player than Vassell, that is if he accepts that role entirely. Dude is a baller, could upgrade his defense, but still knows how to get buckets and coming off the bench would be a spark other teams can't compete with regularly. Again, it's all up to Vassell buying all in on his new role and not be expected to be a #2 or #3 option. I'm hoping for the best because Vassell is a talented bballer but too much pressure on him in the past has exposed his many flaws. Same with Keldon but I do believe Vassell is more important to this team. I'm a big body fan but if one has to go I'd rather keep the offensive beast; both lack defense.

 

[TDomination]

As I wrote before on ST, we'll have a big regular season advantage due to having a young roster.
Inexperience will most likely be the end of us in the playoffs, but as we've seen from OKC in 23-24 and Houston in 24-25, having a young, athletic roster that plays every game at their best is a huge advantage and easily adds at least 5 wins.

Outside of top guys, we have quite a few players are mediocre, but maybe it will be the spark they need because they won't have as many guaranteed minutes. Hopefully we won't see Keldon/Jeremy/Devin disappearing on any given night and still playing 20+ minutes. Now we have other guys that can come in and do better. They got too comfortable over the past few seasons because there was noone who could step in to replace them.

If Castle can continue on his trajectory and Harper is a real deal, we'll have three elite paint penetrators, can stagger them so two are always on the floor. It's a really tiring style of play to defend against.
Kornet will be the biggest upgrade because our roster stopped being functional whenever Wemby sat due to lack of a backup rim protector.
Now we won't be dead in the water even when Wemby doesn't suit up and Olynyk can also enable some big lineups with his shooting ability.

Obviously the downsides are that nothing is a guarantee other that Fox who will do his thing.
Sweeney and Williamson might just be the most important figures after Fox and Wemby. Our defense was awful and if they can make it work, we'll easily go over .500 assuming Wemby stays healthy.

Yes, we’ll pray that this team stays relatively healthy to be able to get a good indication of how good we are.

Worst thing that could happen is major injuries that don’t allow players to play their primary roles causing the coaches to roll the dice and go with the same group again next year in hopes that it was only because of injuries that prevented the team from excelling.

 

[KobesAchilles]

Yeah we have no chance of making the playoffs. Anyone expecting us to make the playoffs is in for a big disappointment.

You don’t hire within a losing franchise to coach a team. It just shouldn’t happen. How many people are poaching assistant coaches from losing teams to hire as their head coach. Nobody. And yet that’s essentially what the Spurs did.

Also to those expecting a better season from Devin are also going to be disappointed. First off, his offense is irrelevant. He won’t even be our third option since we have Castle and at best will be the 4th option. Who gives a flip about the offense of a 4th option. Just hit the open 3 kid and cut on offense instead of standing still.

it’s defensively that Devin is going to prove he is not made for the team. He’s too small for SF and I’m not talking height. He doesn’t really fight for boards which we need our SF to do. He watches the ball too much on defense and doesn’t pay attention at all to the person he is defending which leads to open 3s and lay ups. He is constantly out of position on defense and doesn’t really process plays at all. Dude has never taken a charge in a game bc he’s never engaged or ahead on defense. And he’s hurt all the time. Once Harper becomes dominant I expect Vassell to be a bench player. Harper is going to eat him alive in every practice from here on out

 

[Neuromancer]

No chance? That's pretty hyperbolic

 

[Shmurs]

Yeah we have no chance of making the playoffs. Anyone expecting us to make the playoffs is in for a big disappointment.

You don’t hire within a losing franchise to coach a team. It just shouldn’t happen. How many people are poaching assistant coaches from losing teams to hire as their head coach. Nobody. And yet that’s essentially what the Spurs did.

Also to those expecting a better season from Devin are also going to be disappointed. First off, his offense is irrelevant. He won’t even be our third option since we have Castle and at best will be the 4th option. Who gives a flip about the offense of a 4th option. Just hit the open 3 kid and cut on offense instead of standing still.

it’s defensively that Devin is going to prove he is not made for the team. He’s too small for SF and I’m not talking height. He doesn’t really fight for boards which we need our SF to do. He watches the ball too much on defense and doesn’t pay attention at all to the person he is defending which leads to open 3s and lay ups. He is constantly out of position on defense and doesn’t really process plays at all. Dude has never taken a charge in a game bc he’s never engaged or ahead on defense. And he’s hurt all the time. Once Harper becomes dominant I expect Vassell to be a bench player. Harper is going to eat him alive in every practice from here on out

Could have had the most recent head coach to win a chip with a point center. Chose a puppet for the FO instead.

Seems obvious that the franchise is being held hostage by Pop. What team hires a loser assistant? The same team that makes an elderly person recovering from a stroke the president of the franchise.

Wright and the rest are just trying to do absolutely nothing risky because that’s literally the only way this team could fire any of them. They’ll be allowed to play grab ass as long as they want with El Jeffe going to bed at 8pm every night.

 

[SpursFan86]

Yeah we have no chance of making the playoffs. Anyone expecting us to make the playoffs is in for a big disappointment.

You don’t hire within a losing franchise to coach a team. It just shouldn’t happen. How many people are poaching assistant coaches from losing teams to hire as their head coach. Nobody. And yet that’s essentially what the Spurs did.

Also to those expecting a better season from Devin are also going to be disappointed. First off, his offense is irrelevant. He won’t even be our third option since we have Castle and at best will be the 4th option. Who gives a flip about the offense of a 4th option. Just hit the open 3 kid and cut on offense instead of standing still.

it’s defensively that Devin is going to prove he is not made for the team. He’s too small for SF and I’m not talking height. He doesn’t really fight for boards which we need our SF to do. He watches the ball too much on defense and doesn’t pay attention at all to the person he is defending which leads to open 3s and lay ups. He is constantly out of position on defense and doesn’t really process plays at all. Dude has never taken a charge in a game bc he’s never engaged or ahead on defense. And he’s hurt all the time. Once Harper becomes dominant I expect Vassell to be a bench player. Harper is going to eat him alive in every practice from here on out

We were 21-25 in games where Wemby played last year...so call it a ~37ish win pace over 82 games. Even if Devin doesn't change whatsoever, we have:

- Wemby/Castle/Sochan all being another year older and at the age where they could take a step forward
- Addition of a fully healthy Fox
- Addition of a very promising rookie in Harper
- Shoring up our bench big rotation with Kornet/Olynyk

Obviously all of the above won't pan out all at once...but it's pretty insane to act like there's "no chance" of us making the playoffs If even 2 or 3 of the above turn out to be the case we're almost certainly going to at least be in the play-in (assuming health of course).

 

[LeBowen]

Let's take a look at the rest of the conference.
*Every prediction is based on no major injuries happening.

OKC - top contender
DEN - top contender
HOU - contender
MIN - contender

I think those 4 teams surely won't drop out of top6.

In the running for top6:
LAL - Luka looks like he's on a mission, but the rest of the roster is subpar.
MEM - Can they finally stay healthy and out of trouble? Good regular season team because of their depth.
DAL - Dould be a good season for them despite Kyrie's injury if Flagg is the real deal. Will be an ugly team to watch, but physicall dominant.
GSW - Retirement home past it's expiry date, horrible supporting cast.
LAC - Even if nephew thing didn't happen, they're another veteran team on borrowed time, play-in guaranteed.

Hoping to make the play-in:
POR - On the rise, but they don't have their franchise player yet.
PHO - Delaying the inevitable blow-up.
SAC - Kangz, enough said.
NOP - Joe Dumars is on two phones.

And there's obviously Ainge who's firing up another tank as we speak.
I'll be really disappointed if any of the teams in third category finish ahead of us, it would honestly be a disaster.

Leaving us with 4 teams that should be better than us, maybe Minnesota excluded, they should probably go into second tier.
All those 5 teams we should be fighting for top6 against have huge question marks.
Warriors and Clippers are geriatric, Lakers depend on Lebron because Luka can't do it all by himself.
Mavs and Grizzlies are a shitshow organizationally and something always goes wrong.
Spurs only major concern is Wemby's health.

Obviously not all of those 5 teams will implode, but there's no way at least a couple don't have a bad season because of the obvious issues.
Play-in is the most likely outcome for us, then we'll see how it goes.