The San Antonio Spurs are expected to hit the ground running next season.
Not only has their young core of Stephon Castle, Jeremy Sochan, Keldon Johnson, and Devin Vassell all gotten better, but they will start the year with a healthy Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox.
That's not to mention the offseason additions of Carter Bryant, Dylan Harper, Luke Kornet, and Kelly Olynyk.
For the first time since 2019, the Spurs are expected to make the playoffs, and there is no telling what their ceiling might be.
Of course, there's also no telling what their floor might be, and that should worry fans.
“It's time to really be a competitive team,” said ESPN's Tim MacMahon on an episode of The Hoops Collective podcast.
However, being "competitive" in the West doesn't necessarily mean they will make the playoffs.
“They might be a very competitive team that doesn't get a playoff spot," he continued. "That's possible, but you know, they definitely like they need to need to make a big stride forward to season for sure."
Let's run through the list. It's possible that the Spurs will finish behind the Thunder, Rockets, Lakers, Nuggets, Clippers, Timberwolves, Warriors, and Mavericks. That leaves them as the ninth seed. It's also possible that they shock the world, put the pieces together, and earn the fourth seed, although local fans have a tendency to get ahead of themselves, and somewhere in the middle, fighting to avoid the play-in tournament, seems realistic.
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