The San Antonio Spurs came out of the NBA offseason looking like the cleanest winner of the bunch, and they were not alone. The Houston Rockets also handled their business well enough to stay in the conversation, but San Antonio’s path stood out in a bigger way.
What makes the Spurs’ case so strong is how little they had to give up while still adding to the roster. Their top three players - Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper - are all young enough that the franchise can reasonably count on growth. At the same time, the Spurs didn’t really sacrifice anything meaningful to make their moves.
Their offseason departures were Mason Plumlee, Bismack Biyombo, Harrison Ingram, Riley Minix, Kelly Olynyk, Mason Plumlee, and Lindy Waters III. Those were mostly garbage time players or two-way guys, so the roster’s core stayed intact. On top of that, San Antonio added two first-round picks and signed Tobias Harris without subtracting real talent.
That kind of stability matters, especially when you look around the league and see how many playoff teams lost important pieces. Thanks to the play-in tournament, only six teams in each conference make the playoffs outright, and 10 of the 12 total playoff teams saw at least one key contributor walk out the door.
The Oklahoma City Thunder lost Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins. The Knicks lost Mitchell Robinson.
The Raptors are about to lose Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick, even though bringing in Kawhi Leonard is clearly an upgrade. Still, chemistry gets shaken up either way.
The Boston Celtics added Mitchell Robinson and will get a fully healthy Jayson Tatum back, but they also lost Jaylen Brown. Whether Tatum can carry the Celtics the way Brown carried them last season is still an open question.
Houston did well too, but the Rockets don’t get the same glowing treatment as San Antonio, in large part because of Kevin Durant. Even so, their fifth-place roster didn’t lose anyone major, which puts them in a strong spot.
Still, the Spurs sit at the top of this offseason class. Harris is expected to add real size to the frontcourt, and Julian Champagnie is expected to settle in nicely with the bench.
With a healthy roster and the promise of internal improvement, San Antonio’s moves - and non-moves - have them positioned ahead of Houston. The Spurs are expected to make the NBA Finals for the second year in a row.
In Other News...
Julian Champagnie May Be More Important To The Spurs Than Fans Realize
Julian Champagnie spent last season looking like the kind of complementary forward every good roster needs, the sort who doesnt always grab headlines but keeps lineups balanced when hes on the floor. His overall impact showed up in the Spurs on/off numbers, and that kind of quiet value matters on a team still sorting out which role players can reliably fit around its young core. He has already shown he can handle that supporting job effectively, which is part of why he keeps coming up as someone the Spurs may need more than casual observers realize.
The next step is less about flash and more about tightening the edges of his game. Better shooting consistency, more physical play and stronger rebounding would make his minutes even harder to take away, especially with his fit alongside the teams key pieces already pointing in the right direction. If those pieces fall into place, Champagnie could move from useful to indispensable, which is exactly the kind of leap that can quietly reshape a rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Stephon Castle Is Earning Praise For What Could Set Him Apart
Stephon Castles second NBA season gave the Spurs more evidence that his value goes well beyond the box score. He finished the year averaging 16.7 points and 7.4 assists, but the attention around him has increasingly centered on what he can do on the other end, where his defensive versatility has already started to separate him from a lot of young guards.
Castles trainer, Olin Simplis, has been among the loudest voices pointing to that side of his game, praising his ability to handle multiple positions and turn defense into a calling card. It is the kind of trait that can make a player stand out in a league filled with scorers, and it helps explain why some around the Spurs see a different kind of ceiling for Castle even as comparisons to bigger-name wings continue to swirl. [Read more 🡒]
Carter Bryant Has One Big Step Left In Spurs Core Build
Carter Bryants early run with the Spurs has already given the organization something it values deeply: a young wing who can make life hard on opposing scorers. His defensive profile has stood out from the start, giving San Antonio reason to believe it has another long, versatile piece to work with as the roster keeps taking shape around its next core.
The bigger question is how far Bryant can go on the other end. His development as a three-point shooter and a more reliable scorer will go a long way toward determining whether he becomes a useful stopper or a true two-way difference-maker, and for a Spurs team still building toward title-level expectations, that kind of offensive jump could end up being the final piece they are waiting on. [Read more 🡒]