The Spurs And Thunder Exposed Why Giannis Is The Wrong Move For Minnesota

The gap between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder and the rest of the NBA, including the Minnesota Timberwolves, is far wider than anyone imagined.

Speed. Size. Strength. Depth. The Spurs and Thunder have it in spades, and they both showed it off in a double overtime instant classic in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night.

From Victor Wembanyama's 28-foot three-pointer to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's driving dunk and Chet Holmgren's block on Wemby to force a second overtime, the game was loaded with incredible moments. Stephon Castle's two-handed flush and stare over SGA, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, and Alex Caruso nailing critical threes, and Devin Vassell's game-sealing block on Holmgren represented the highest level of basketball the world can offer.

Jamming it all into one game between two teams should be a wake-up call for 28 other teams. Nobody has been awakened by the nightmare more violently than a Minnesota franchise that has been walloped by the Thunder and Spurs in the playoffs the past two seasons.

What the Wolves have built is not good enough to compete with the league's two best teams. Minnesota knows it. The Spurs know it. The Thunder know it. The entire league knows it. It should have 28 teams panicking about how they can rebuild their rosters to contend, because the Spurs and Thunder are built to dominate for the next 5-10 years — and in a very unique way.

Wemby is an anomaly who takes San Antonio to a level that no one can match, but the Spurs and Thunder separate from everyone else with a surplus of terrific guards and wings. Take a look at the top guards and small forwards for each team compared to Minnesota.

Spurs	Thunder	Wolves
De'Aaron Fox 6'3''	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 6'6''	Anthony Edwards 6'4''
Stephon Castle 6'6''	Lu Dort 6'4''	Jaden McDaniels 6'9''
Dylan Harper 6'5''	Alex Caruso 6'5''	Ayo Dosunmu 6'4''
Devin Vassell 6'4''	Jalen Williams 6'5''	Donte DiVincenzo 6'4''
Julian Champagnie 6'7''	Cason Wallace 6'3''	Mike Conley 6'1''
Keldon Johnson 6'5''	Ajay Mitchell 6'4''	Terrence Shannon Jr. 6'6''
Carter Bryant 6'6''	Jared McCain 6'3''	Bones Hyland 6'2''
	Aaron Wiggins 6'5''	Jaylen Clark 6'5''

Every player listed above for San Antonio is under contract through at least the 2026-27 season, although Johnson has a club option. The same goes for every Thunder player mentioned above, except Wallace, who is a restricted free agent and could easily return (Minnesota should put the pedal to the metal to sign him).

For Minnesota, Dosunmu is a free agent, DiVincenzo will miss most of next season rehabbing an Achilles tear, Conley is on his last leg and is a major liability on defense, Hyland is a free agent, and Clark provides very little offensive juice. Oh, and McDaniels is 6'9'' and not a traditional guard/forward like the smaller, faster Spurs and Thunder are loaded with.

That's why re-signing Dosunmu and giving Shannon a bigger role next season are musts. But that's just the first order of business. Minnesota also has to move on from Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert. It was fun while it lasted, but them being on the court gives the Spurs and Thunder huge matchup advantages.

It's a simple fact: You don't beat the Spurs and Thunder by getting bigger. You have to match them with speed and precision, ball-handling, and shot-making. That's why Minnesota trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo would be a mistake of epic proportions.

Trading Randle or Gobert isn't a big deal, but losing Shannon, Naz Reid, or McDaniels — and two or three future first-round picks — would be catastrophic. If the answer to beating the Spurs or Thunder is matching them with speed and great guard play, then what sense is there in getting even bigger with Giannis?

Wemby is one of a kind. Teams can't focus on eliminating him from the game plan. They have to match up with everyone else on the roster. That's what makes OKC the perfect opponent, because they have the guard infrastructure to match the Spurs, and a 7-footer in Holmgren who might have as good a chance as any big in the league keeping up with Wemby.

Game 1 was the prime example of why getting bigger is a bad idea.

The Spurs played their starters — Fox, Castle, Harper, Vassell, and Wemby — between 44 and 51 minutes in Game 1. The two guys with more than nine minutes off the bench were Johnson (22 minutes) and Bryant (14 minutes). In other words, they let Wemby handle the big stuff while matching OKC's incredible guard and wing depth.

For OKC, Isaiah Hartenstein was essentially benched, playing only 12 minutes despite starting as a 7-footer next to Holmgren. But Holmgren stretches the floor and defends, whereas Hartenstein is a true big man who excels in the paint. As the Wolves found out with Rudy Gobert, that doesn't work against Wemby.

The Thunder quickly found that out and adjusted, using all of the guards and wings mentioned above to trade haymakers with the Spurs. The result was an incredible basketball game, with both teams walking away with confidence that they're good enough to win the West and then eat the Knicks or Cavs like a dessert in the NBA Finals.

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