NBA Power Rankings: Spurs Tank Job Taking a Detour?
There weren't many, if any, NBA bingo cards that had a 5-2 start for the San Antonio Spurs. But here we are.
After being pegged as one of the league's worst teams during the preseason, the Spurs have shocked the basketball world by winning five of its first seven games. Their early season success has them moving up five spots in The Athletic's power rankings from 26 to 21.
"Johnson has been spectacular, and the Spurs are playing at a ridiculous pace compared to most Gregg Popovich teams," The Athletic writes. "These young guys get out and run to create some havoc, which is probably what you want to do to utilize their youth and athleticism. The Spurs’ offense is humming, and Johnson has become the new star of what they’re doing."
In this power ranking, teams are divided into tiers. The Spurs top Tier 6, the "Victor Wembanyama Watch" group. If the Spurs continue to win like this, they will knock themselves out of the Wembanyama sweepstakes. It's a double-edged sword because you want to win games, but at the same time, if you've got the chance at landing a generational talent like Wembanyama who can catapult the franchise back to the top of the league, you want to take it.
By trading Dejounte Murray this summer for future draft capital, the Spurs signaled to the rest of the league that it is looking towards the future. So the Spurs aren't quite executing their plan very well if that's their mission.
"They moved three key players over the last year to start the rebuild," The Athletic writes. "Nothing starts a rebuild like Victor Wembanyama. I know some people hate tanking culture and the embrace of it. I get it. I totally do. But you can’t sell me on the NBA being against tanking culture when the NBA app is featuring Wembanyama highlights every time you open it."
The placement at No. 21 despite being one of the top four teams in the Western Conference shows that the Spurs aren't being taken seriously as a contender yet. But if the Spurs continue along this path, it still may be awhile before San Antonio is taken seriously as a non-tanking team this season.
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