The Spurs are the league's new young core with expectations
Former players like Jeff Teague and national talking heads like Zach Lowe have said the Spurs are a team likely to go from playing for lottery odds to playoff seeding. San Antonio's win total has been set at 43.5 by most sports books. Last season, 43 wins would earn a Western Conference team the 9th seed and a spot in the Play-In Tournament. The hype is on the Spurs' side.
We've seen this before. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, and Memphis Grizzlies, in recent memory, went from plucky young squad to a playoff team written in Sharpie by the national media. Those teams all had multiple young stars and an exciting young core. San Antonio follows in those footsteps with Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox leading the way, backed up by a young core of Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan.
But are the Spurs ready to make that leap? They were just 5 games out of the play-in last season, and you could argue that had Wembanyama and Fox not experienced season-ending injuries, San Antonio was in line to earn a play-in spot. A full season with their stars, a second-year leap from Castle, and contributions from new additions like Harper, Luke Kornet, and Kelly Olynyk, even in a tough Western Conference, could be enough to help them live up to the hype.
It'll be a make-or-break season for a lot of Spurs, and those expectations could help them sink or swim. Harrison Barnes is entering a contract year and is no stranger to playing on contending teams. Sochan has yet to sign his contract extension. If he doesn't, he's slated for restricted free agency in the summer of 2026, and just ask Josh Giddey and Jonathan Kuminga how that has turned out for them. He needs to have a big season if he wants leverage in contract disputes next year. Even Vassell, who is locked into a solid contract, could feel pressure to keep his spot in the starting lineup, and could face harsher scrutiny if he goes on a cold streak.
Expectations for young teams bring about criticism. With Wembanyama, the Spurs will be under the magnifying glass of the national media all season long. With 22 nationally televised games, the team will be under the critical eye of fans who don't watch the team night in and night out. This team has the talent to handle it. They wouldn't be identified as the young team to watch if they didn't. This Spurs squad has officially moved out of the intriguing young core, to a legit playoff contender in the West.
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