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NBA Title Betting Odds: How Long Until Spurs Climb Ladder Again?
The San Antonio Spurs have been such a consistent model of NBA excellence over the last 25 years that it's hard to envision them completely bottoming out and going into a full-blown rebuild.
Even after missing the playoffs over the last three seasons, the Spurs have avoided hitting the bottom by being just good enough. While that's admirable and speaks to what future Hall-of-Fame coach Gregg Popovich instills in his players, it's not really an effective way to make sure you make it out of NBA purgatory. However, bottoming out could finally be in the cards for the Spurs in the 2022-23 season.
According to a handful of Las Vegas sportsbooks, including DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and PointsBet, the Spurs have the second-worst NBA championship odds (+100,000) for next season, behind only the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets, who are tied for the worst odds (+200,000). The Spurs also have the second-worst Western Conference odds (+60,000) as well, behind only the Rockets (+100,000).
This insinuates that a lot of people believe the Spurs will finally slide down from the middle-of-the-pack tier to the bottom-dweller tier. As miserable as that might sound for Spurs fans, it's likely for the best when it comes to the future of San Antonio basketball. As a recent example of how taking a considerable step back can improve your team for many years to come, the Spurs should look no further than their Southwest Division rivals, the Dallas Mavericks.
After making the playoffs in 15 out of 16 seasons from 2000-2016, the Mavs were in a similar position as the Spurs are in now. They weren't good enough to make the playoffs during the 2016-17 season, but they won enough games (33) to keep them from getting a franchise-altering star player. However, during the 2017-18 season, the Mavs only won 24 games, netting them the fifth pick in the 2018 draft, which, in turn, enabled them to trade up to draft Luka Doncic with the third pick.
Climbing the NBA ladder can be a tough, grueling experience, especially when you've experienced so much success in more than two decades ... but as bad as it hurts, the Spurs must focus on falling off the ladder all together before starting to climb it effectively again.
You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg
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