The San Antonio Spurs were one of the clear winners of the NBA offseason, joined by only one other team who didn't make it as far as they did.
The San Antonio Spurs are the clear winners of the NBA offseason. Not only are their three best players--Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper--all young enough that the Spurs can bank on improvement, but they also didn't really lose anything.
Mason Plumlee, Bismack Biyombo, Harrison Ingram, Riley Minix, Kelly Olynyk, Mason Plumlee, and Lindy Waters III were their only offseason losses, and all of those players were either garbage time guys or two-way players.
The Spurs picked up two first-round picks and signed Tobias Harris, all without losing any real talent. As far as playoff teams go, only one other team can say the same.
Two Teams Won the NBA Offseason
Thanks to the play-in tournament, only six teams from each conference make the playoffs outright. Of the 12 total teams, 10 of them saw at least one key contributor leave. The OKC Thunder lost Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins. The Knicks lost Mitchell Robinson. The Raptors are about to lose Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick, although adding Kawhi Leonard is a clear upgrade. Still, though, chemistry is lost.
The Boston Celtics added Mitchell Robinson and will get a fully healthy Jayson Tatum back, but they lost Jaylen Brown. It remains to be seen if Tatum alone can carry the Celtics in the same way Brown carried them last season.
The Houston Rockets, meanwhile, don't have the same positive vibes the Spurs enjoy, in large part thanks to Kevin Durant, but their fifth-place roster didn't lose anyone major.
Between San Antonio and Houston, the Spurs are pretty clearly the best. Harris is expected to bring some very real size to the frontcourt, and Julian Champagnie is expected to adapt nicely to the bench.
Rookies Tarris Reed and Jayden Quaintance should start their careers with smaller roles, but there's a path for them to take over. By every measure, while other teams made tough choices, the Spurs got better.
San Antonio is expected to make the NBA Finals for the second year in a row. With a healthy roster and thanks to internal improvements, their moves (or lack thereof) put them ahead of Houston pretty easily.
