This was definitely a surprising ranking for the San Antonio Spurs.

On paper, the San Antonio Spurs have one of the most talented young rosters in basketball. But the game isn't played on paper.

The Spurs won just 34 games last season and have not made the playoffs since 2019, so they have not exactly experienced a great deal of success in recent years.

So you would then think that San Antonio would receive, at best, a middle-of-the-pack placement when it comes to ranking all 30 NBA teams heading into the 2025-26 campaign.

Apparently, Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey feels otherwise, ranking the Spurs 11th in his NBA preseason power rankings.

"This may seem a little optimistic for the San Antonio Spurs, who haven't been above .500 since 2018-19 and whose best player is going into just his third NBA season," Bailey wrote. "Even last season, though, when Victor Wembanyama was on the floor, the Spurs had a point differential around that of a 47-win team. And most of those minutes were logged prior to the De'Aaron Fox trade. ... It feels like a year in which the Spurs could look way ahead of schedule."

Wembanyama was played in just 46 games last season before succumbing to a blood clot in his shoulder, but he seems 100 percent and ready to go for the new year.

San Antonio also added Dylan Harper via the NBA Draft, giving the Spurs an incredibly talented — yet still odd — backcourt rotation that also includes Fox and Stephon Castle. Plus, the Spurs signed big man Luke Kornet in free agency.

There is no question that San Antonio has an eye-catching roster, but whether or not the Spurs will be able to put it all together for Mitch Johnson in what will technically be his first full season as head coach remains to be seen.

It's also important to remember that San Antonio plays in the rugged Western Conference, which will make things harder than they should be for the youthful Spurs.

But perhaps Bailey is right. Maybe San Antonio will ultimately make a run, much like the Oklahoma City Thunder did two years ago before ultimately winning the championship this past season.

The Spurs definitely have a whole lot to prove, though.