After a Finals collapse, the San Antonio Spurs chose the steadier path this offseason. They didn’t go hunting for a headline-grabbing overhaul. They leaned into continuity, added size, and trusted the group already in place around Victor Wembanyama.
That approach brought in veteran forward Tobias Harris, a rookie class led by first-round picks Jayden Quaintance and Tarris reed Jr., and retained key role players Harrison Barnes and Jordan McLaughlin. The Spurs also locked up Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie with long-term extensions. On top of that, they’re heading into next season expecting to be in full health.
It was enough to put them at No. 14 in David Aldridge of The Athletic’s 2026 NBA offseason rankings. That placement is defensible on some level, but it still feels low when you look at the teams ahead of San Antonio.
Chicago came in at No. 13 after adding Caleb Wilson and Norman Powell and hiring Tiago Splitter. The Bulls may have improved more than the Spurs this summer, but the situations weren’t comparable. San Antonio entered the offseason in a much better place.
The Celtics at No. 12 are the ranking that really raises an eyebrow.
Boston was certainly more aggressive than San Antonio, but not all aggression is equal. The Celtics addressed their Jaylen Brown situation, though the return package drew plenty of criticism, and then moved on to bring back a past-his-prime Paul George. They also signed a 38-year-old Mike Conley.
Boston deserves credit for stealing Mitchell Robinson away from the Knicks, but the rest of the summer doesn’t add up to a stronger offseason than San Antonio’s. The Celtics also reportedly missed on Giannis Antetokounmpo because they weren’t willing to part with Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman.
For the Spurs, the assignment was simpler. They didn’t need to tear anything down or chase a reinvention.
They needed more toughness, more depth, and more experience around Wembanyama. By signing Harris and using draft-night swings on two of the strongest players in college basketball, they addressed exactly those needs.
San Antonio may not have made the loudest moves of the summer, but it did what it set out to do. That’s why No. 14 feels a little too low, especially with the teams above them.
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For the Spurs, the move fits neatly into a summer built around sorting through young players and filling out the back end of the roster. San Antonio still has openings on its offseason roster, which gives Peter a straightforward path into camp and a chance to compete alongside other recent additions, while the real question is how he fits into the mix once the evaluation period gets underway. [Read more 🡒]
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Jeremy Sochan is the latest name to tie the two organizations together, but he is hardly the first. Portland has also cycled through former Spurs like Drew Eubanks, Blake Wesley and Sidy Sissoko in recent years, which makes the overlap feel more than accidental and raises the question of how much of this is philosophy, and how much is a team trying to copy a model it believes can still be dangerous. [Read more 🡒]