If the Spurs get to the 2027 NBA Finals, the path to the Larry O’Brien Trophy still won’t be clean. San Antonio is expected to be the preseason favorite in the West, but the East has enough firepower to make life difficult once the Finals arrive. Three teams stand out as the toughest possible matchups: Toronto, Boston and New York.
Toronto may be the one that gives San Antonio the most trouble on the defensive end, especially if the Kawhi Leonard trade is eventually approved. If Leonard does return to Toronto, the Raptors suddenly become a serious dark horse.
That’s because the defense already has a strong foundation. Toronto finished fifth in defensive rating in 2025-26, and there’s reason to think that number can climb with more growth from young players like Collin Murray-Boyles and Jamal Shead. Scottie Barnes sits at the center of it all, and he’s arguably the best non-big stopper in the league.
The offense was the weak spot last season, but Leonard’s arrival and a healthy Immanuel Quickley for the playoffs would change that picture. Add in Toronto’s size across the roster, the top-end talent and the energy of a young group, and the matchup starts to look uncomfortable for San Antonio. The Raptors may not be the first East contender people mention, but they’re not a team the Spurs would want to take lightly.
Boston brings a different kind of problem: shooting. The Celtics aren’t the exact same team that won it all in 2024, but they’ve still got the structure of a contender. Jayson Tatum’s return helps, but the biggest reason Boston stays dangerous is Joe Mazzulla and the system he’s built.
Mazzulla has turned the Celtics into a team that can survive just about any lineup combination. Their perimeter-heavy style and defensive versatility hold up whether the roster is full strength or not. They won plenty in 2025-26 with Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman playing major minutes, and they can still do real damage with Tatum and Paul George leading the way.
San Antonio would have one clear edge inside. Boston’s frontcourt of Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson doesn’t measure up to Victor Wembanyama. But the Celtics can make up for that with a barrage of perimeter shots, and the Spurs still haven’t shown they can consistently outscore teams that way.
Then there’s New York, the obvious one. The Knicks are still there, still looming, and still the team that sent San Antonio home in the Finals this past June. They’re bringing back the same roster for 2026-27, which keeps that matchup very much alive.
A rematch doesn’t look especially likely based on recent trends, but neither side appears ready to slide. If the Spurs and Knicks end up meeting again in 2027, San Antonio will have to turn the lessons from the first series into something better the second time around.
Even with those challenges, the Spurs should still be favored against Toronto, Boston and New York. Their biggest threats are in the West. But if any of these Eastern teams shows up in the Finals, San Antonio won’t be getting an easy series.
In Other News...
Spurs Have A Real Reason To Watch OKCs Latest Power Play
Oklahoma Citys latest roster move has a ripple effect that reaches well beyond its own depth chart. By handing out a two-year, $12 million offer sheet to restricted free agent Spencer Jones, the Thunder added another layer to a summer spent pressuring the Western Conferences established teams, and Denver already felt the squeeze as its luxury-tax situation got even tighter in the process.
For San Antonio, the intrigue is less about Jones himself and more about what Oklahoma City keeps doing around the margins. The Thunder also have future first-round picks from Denver, including the 2025 and 2029 selections, and their dealings with Atlanta remain worth monitoring because of how they could influence the Spurs own draft outlook through a swap on the Hawks 2026 pick. In a conference where every asset matters, the Thunder keep finding ways to make their moves matter for other teams, too. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Rookies Bring One Immediate Frontcourt Question Into Focus
The Spurs used their two first-round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft to add more size up front, bringing in Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr. as part of a frontcourt that already includes Victor Wembanyama, Luke Kornet and Tobias Harris. After a recent run to the NBA Finals, the move fits a clear goal: deepen a group that was already one of the most closely watched on the roster.
Even with the new arrivals, the early read on how San Antonios front line will come together is still complicated. Quaintance is working through an injury that will keep him out to open his rookie season, while Reed is the one the Spurs can count on sooner, which makes his role worth tracking as the team tries to sort out how all that size fits together. [Read more 🡒]
Wembanyama May Have Already Given Spurs Their Next Offensive Breakthrough
Victor Wembanyamas postseason usage already offered a glimpse of where the Spurs can push their offense next. San Antonio experimented with putting the 7-foot-4 star in pick-and-roll situations as the ball handler, and the results were hard to ignore, giving him cleaner scoring chances and a more varied path to the basket than the usual big-man menu.
For a team still trying to define the best way to maximize its franchise centerpiece, that matters. Wembanyamas combination of ball screens, three-point shooting and downhill drives could become the Spurs most dangerous offensive lane if they lean into it more often, especially with his post-up game proving less reliable than the rest of his skill set. [Read more 🡒]