The NBA has made its position on the Spurs pretty clear: this is not a team to hide off the national schedule anymore.
San Antonio is set for 34 nationally televised games next season, its highest total in years, and that alone tells you how far the franchise has come. The Spurs are no longer being treated like a young team simply trying to work its way up the Western Conference ladder. They’re being slotted among the league’s biggest draws.
That kind of exposure didn’t used to exist for San Antonio. In both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, the Spurs had just one nationally televised game. The number climbed some after Victor Wembanyama arrived, but nothing close to what’s coming now.
The change reflects how quickly this group has become appointment viewing. With Wembanyama, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle continuing to develop, the Spurs have the kind of mix that gets attention fast: youth, talent, and the kind of upside that makes people tune in whether they root for them or not.
It’s a sharp turn from where the franchise stood after the trade of Kawhi Leonard, when San Antonio was searching for a way back to relevance. Drafting Wemby in 2023 gave the rebuild its spark, and the results have already moved ahead of schedule.
The schedule now gives the Spurs something more than spotlight. It gives them a runway.
Playing that many high-profile games against contenders and playoff-level opponents should help them get ready for another serious postseason push. Regular-season nights like these are exactly the kind of tests a team needs if it wants to be prepared for the spring.
It also gives San Antonio a chance to answer the noise that followed them into the summer. Several Spurs players drew heavy criticism, and this is the cleanest stage they could ask for to show what they’ve added.
De'Aaron Fox has a chance to show he deserves to remain the starting point guard after a rough postseason. Victor Wembanyama can keep building his case as a shot creator and all-around scorer. For a few of the Spurs’ most important players, this is a chance to let their play do the talking.
The league has put the spotlight on San Antonio. Now the Spurs get to prove they belong in it.
In Other News...
Spurs Rookie Could Force A Tough Change Behind Victor Wembanyama
Victor Wembanyama is set atop the Spurs frontcourt hierarchy, but the real intrigue may come behind him, where the battle for backup center minutes is already taking shape. Rookie Tarris Reed Jr. has entered the mix alongside veteran Luke Kornet, and San Antonio has reason to view the competition as a healthy one, especially with the roster looking deeper and more functional in the paint than it has in recent seasons.
Reed brings the kind of size and physical presence that can change the tone of a second unit on both ends of the floor, and that gives this race a little more weight than a routine camp fight for minutes. Kornet still has experience on his side, but the Spurs could be forced into a tougher decision if Reeds impact shows up quickly, because the frontcourt rotation may be one of the more important places for San Antonio to gain an edge this season. [Read more 🡒]
Keldon Johnson Faces A Spurs Role Shift That Could Define Camp
Keldon Johnson heads into Spurs training camp with a different kind of responsibility hanging over him. After years of being asked to do plenty with the ball, his place in the rotation is set to look more streamlined as San Antonio sorts through roster changes and tries to clarify where everyone fits. Even after a rough postseason stretch, Johnson is still in the mix, and the larger question is how his game meshes with a group that is trying to sharpen its identity.
For Johnson, the shift points toward a more specialized role than the one he has carried before, one built less around creation and more around doing the dirty work that helps the lineup function. How well that translates alongside the teams newer pieces and the players pushing for bigger on-ball opportunities will be one of camps more interesting storylines, because the Spurs are clearly treating this as more than a minor tweak. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Are Becoming A Matchup Nightmare Defenses Can't Solve
The Spurs are starting to look like the kind of team defenses have to solve in layers, and that is a problem when Victor Wembanyama is already forcing one set of adjustments. Add De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, two guards with very different ways of putting pressure on the floor, and San Antonio suddenly has multiple ways to tilt a possession before the defense even gets settled.
What makes the group even trickier is how the supporting cast fits around those headliners. Dylan Harper gives the Spurs another downhill presence to keep the offense moving, while Tobias Harris adds a veteran option who can fit into different matchups and make opponents choose their compromises carefully. For teams trying to game-plan a night in San Antonio, the challenge is not just stopping one star, but figuring out which version of the Spurs is coming at them next. [Read more 🡒]