Draymond Green doesn't believe the Spurs are contenders yet. That's okay, and he's completely right. Five games and a preseason are hardly enough proof to get mad at someone for not buying in on a team that hasn't made the playoffs in over half a decade. At the same time, you can't fault San Antonio fans for believing anything is possible when you watch a cosmic being play basketball every game.
So, this is a both-things-can-be-true kind of scenario. You can be as bullish on the Silver and Black as you want, especially when we just saw a young team win a title last season. But you also have a right to have doubts if you need to see more first. What I do have a problem with is Green putting the Lakers and Clippers on his list.
Draymond Green says the Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, and Thunder are the only real contenders in the West 👀
(🎥 @DraymondShow / h/t @NBA__Courtside )
pic.twitter.com/eqDHrzNvRt
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 28, 2025
Los Angeles isn't sniffing the title this year
I'm sorry, but you're just not going to convince me that a team relying on a 41-year-old to be their second-best player is a contender. LeBron James isn't playing right now due to sciatica in his right side. That's a nerve issue that causes numbness and pain. He's expected back in mid-November, but again, he's on the other side of 40.
You just can't count on consistent high-level play from Bron anymore. If you believe he's going to help you beat OKC or Denver in a seven-game series, I have a swamp in New York City to sell you. Luka Doncic is going to be fantastic, but everyone knows it will take more than that. And don't tell me it will be Austin Reaves. He has to prove it in the postseason after how poorly he performed in the Timberwolves series six months ago.
The Clippers have been a punchline for as long as I can remember, and although they distanced themselves from being the non-serious franchise for a decade or so, they've found their way back with all of these accusations of cap circumvention.
How is anyone supposed to take them seriously when Ty Lue is telling the media that their recent struggles were due to the absence of Bradley Beal? If you're relying heavily on Beal to take your team to the next level in 2025, you're not a contender. They also have to hope that Kawhi Leonard will be healthy. That's not a guarantee either. And when he was last season, the returns were lackluster.
The Spurs have at least as much of a chance as those teams if we're being honest.