LeBron James’ decision to join the Philadelphia 76ers could end up changing the path for the San Antonio Spurs in a way that works in their favor.
At first glance, the move looks like a blow to San Antonio’s championship chances. But the bigger picture points the other way. The Western Conference was the stronger side even though it fell short in the NBA Finals, and now the East may finally have enough firepower to make life harder for whoever comes out of that conference.
With LeBron and Jaylen Brown in Philadelphia, the Sixers could become the team to beat in the East. That would leave the New York Knicks, even as defending champions, looking more like the second-best team in the conference.
That matters because the Spurs’ road last season was a brutal one, while the Knicks had a much easier climb to the NBA Finals. If the East gets loaded up now, the balance shifts. San Antonio’s eventual Finals opponent would have to survive the same kind of grind the Spurs faced.
The Spurs still have plenty to prove before any of that becomes real. There’s no guarantee they get back to the NBA Finals at all. But they do look like the best team in the West after several solid offseason moves, even if the gap between them and the Oklahoma City Thunder remains small enough that anything could happen.
The other major wrinkle is that the Knicks may not be standing alone at the top of the East anymore. The Sixers could be right there with them, and possibly even beat them in a seven-game series.
Whether San Antonio would rather see the Sixers or the Knicks in the NBA Finals is still an open question. What LeBron’s move does guarantee is that New York no longer gets to enjoy a relative cakewalk to the title round.
In Other News...
Victor Wembanyama Just Became Even Scarier For The Spurs
Victor Wembanyama spent last season looking more and more comfortable where the game is tightest, at the rim, and the results showed up in both volume and efficiency. Bigger, better-connected teammates helped make that possible, and Stephon Castle emerged as a particularly useful passer in that mix, feeding Wembanyama on lobs and helping turn more possessions into easy finishes instead of forced looks.
The next step for San Antonio is less about asking Wembanyama to do more and more about making sure he does the right mix of things. He trimmed back his three-point attempts to lean into inside scoring, but the Spurs will want that balance to keep evolving so defenses cannot simply load up on one area of the floor. If he keeps punishing teams at the rim while finding a more natural rhythm from outside, the matchup problem he already is gets even harder to solve. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Starter Just Made A Powerful Statement About His Future
Keldon Johnsons new three-year extension gives the Spurs another layer of stability around a player who has already become much more than a fill-in starter. Since landing in San Antonio after his brief stop with Philadelphia, Johnson has carved out a real role, turning himself into a dependable presence and one of the most productive perimeter shooters in the franchises recent history.
The deal also reflects how strongly Johnson has embraced San Antonio off the court, where he has repeatedly pointed to his connection with the community. After setting Spurs records for threes in a season and in a single game, he is now locked in financially for the next stretch, and the only real question left is how deep this relationship can go. [Read more 🡒]
Victor Wembanyama Is Already Setting A New Spurs Standard
Victor Wembanyama has spent the Spurs offseason doing more than just getting ready for year three. He was seen working out with Tobias Harris, a notable sign of how quickly San Antonios franchise centerpiece is trying to build chemistry with a new teammate while also pushing his own game forward. For a team still shaping its identity around Wembanyama, those kinds of offseason habits matter almost as much as what happens when the games start.
Harris brings the kind of veteran experience that can be useful for a player already operating on a different level physically and creatively. The fit also hints at a chance for Wembanyama to keep refining the parts of his scoring that will matter most as defenses keep adjusting to him, including how he creates his own shot and finds efficient ways to score. For the Spurs, it is another reminder that their standard is being set by the player who is already acting like the one everyone else has to follow. [Read more 🡒]