Well, that didn't take long. The NBA released their list of power rankings before the season started and placed San Antonio 15th in the league and 10th in the Western Conference. Just three games into the league's 80th campaign, they've had a significant change of heart. After just one update, the Spurs are now eighth in the league and fifth in the West. That's a start.
The other teams from the conference sitting above the Silver and Black are the Thunder, Warriors, Lakers, and Timberwolves. I can't say that I don't understand why they placed those teams in front of a Victor Wembanyama-led force of nature, but are we sure this is the case? San Antonio has been a revelation, and their early success has been achieved without their second-best player.
When De'Aaron Fox returns, the Spurs will have everything they need to go toe-to-toe with the league's best teams, and they have something nobody else does: an advanced creature from outer space.
Wembanyama can elevate the Spurs faster than expected
I'm not sure there's an analyst or writer on the planet who predicted a 30-point-per-game season for the third-year superstar. It's too early to say that he'll maintain these numbers for the entire season, but it's looked so easy for him that we can't rule it out. They're about to add a career 23-point, six-assist speedster to an already talented team.
Normalcy demands the Spurs' growth come much more gradually, but there's nothing normal about Wembanyama. His production on both sides of the floor is unlike anything we've seen before, as he impacts nearly every single possession of the game, no matter who has the ball. If he maintains his play, he's undoubtedly a top-three player in the NBA, and when you have that guy, anything is possible.
The key will be playing like it when the playoffs roll around. Some guys elevate, some shrink under the pressure, but there's another option—staying the exact same. That can be good enough for someone like Vic, depending on what the guys on the other team are doing. Jimmy Butler has never been a top-three player in this league, but he got Miami to the NBA Finals a few years ago because he played like one in the postseason.
So far, Wembanyama has understood how to recognize moments, and he usually steps up in the big ones. He's shown us that in more than a few clutch situations, and fans will never forget how he performed in the Gold Medal game of the 2024 Summer Olympics in France. If he brings that mindset to the playoffs this year, there's no telling how far the Spurs can go.