The San Antonio Spurs were not supposed to be this good. The rebuild was meant to take time, but the San Antonio Spurs have become a true top contender for this season’s championship team. Many think that this sudden burst is simply too early.

Last season, the Spurs won 34 games, nearly the bottom of the NBA and nowhere near the levels that the team used to be at. This season, the San Antonio Spurs are a 62-win team, suddenly turning into real championship threats, not soon, not eventually, right now.

Victor Wembanyama Breaks Normal Basketball Logic

Victor Wembanyama is the core reason why the Spurs are where they are, and it is all thanks to his generational skills. As an elite rim protector, averaging over 3 Blocks per game in his last 3 seasons, he has elevated San Antonio to a top 3 defense, something not seen since the Tim Duncan era.

Regardless of his height, Victor Wembanyama opens up scoring opportunities for the Spurs across the floor, spacing the floor with his surprisingly accurate 3 Point shot, while still being able to run the transition and play as a guard as a half-court mismatch for any opponent.

In the playoffs, his impact has become even louder, averaging 19 Points, 10 Rebounds, and 5.6 Blocks per game, showing that there just is not a clear answer for defenses or offenses to control him, and the scary part is, this is not even Wemby at his peak.

Their Defense Travels

The Spurs have learned that with great defense, they can control the game. San Antonio demonstrates top-tier rim protection perfectly, ranking 1st in the NBA in Opponent Field Goal %, allowing only 40.2% of shots to fall.

Their switchable perimeter defenders and lengthy players on the roster are the whole reason why San Antonio has been so elite this season. They can make elite offenses uncomfortable for an entire series, and they are doing so right now.

The Supporting Cast Actually Fits

There might not be any true superstars on the San Antonio Spurs outside of Victor Wembanyama, but the Spurs have still managed to build a perfect supporting cast behind their star. Let’s start with De’Aaron Fox. Fox was brought in at the trade deadline last season and has fit perfectly into their system since.

Fox brings in the pace, late-game control, and playoff experience that the Spurs so desperately needed, him alongside all the elite youth, and, with the Spurs having picked up from the draft in recent years, this is no longer just a 1 layer rebuild.

The San Antonio Spurs are ahead of schedule, but they deserve to be here. They defend at elite levels, they rotate help, they recover on the break, and most importantly, play as a team, something rarer than you would expect from such a young team.

Now, this team by no means is perfect. The Spurs shot 36.1% from 3 in the 2025-26 regular season, making only 13.5 3’s a game, 15th in the NBA. Their half-court execution relies heavily on plays, and of course, Victor Wembanyama, and they do not defend well vs the 3-ball.

The most obvious concern that many have is the lack of true playoff experience this young roster has. How will they be able to handle such a physical playoff environment? But so far, this roster seems to have the maturity and skill levels of a seasoned contender, once again rare for such a young team.

The scariest part of this all is that the San Antonio Spurs are nowhere near done, and this is just the start of a new empire forming in Texas. This is the start of something new, the unpolished version, and yet they still look magical.

If this core keeps developing and improving at this speed, the league may already be entering into a new dynasty, and the new face of the NBA may already be Victor Wembanyama.

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