The Spurs head into next season with the kind of target that comes with being the reigning Western Conference champions. They’ve won enough, and won big enough, that every matchup against the teams chasing them now carries extra heat.
Some of those showdowns already feel loaded; others are just getting started. Either way, San Antonio’s slate is full of games that should matter.
At the top of the list sits Oklahoma City, and that’s no surprise. The Spurs and Thunder already know how to turn a season into a battleground, having faced each other five times in the regular season and seven times in the playoffs, with San Antonio winning 8 of the 12 meetings.
Next season brings a new layer to it. OKC wants to regain control of the Western Conference, while the Spurs are dealing with the noise that followed their Finals loss.
The Thunder will be healthier, and San Antonio won’t be the sneaky upstart anymore. They’re established now, and that changes the feel of everything between these two teams.
The Knicks come in at No. 2, and this one has real baggage attached to it. San Antonio lost to New York in the NBA Cup and the Finals, which gives the Spurs plenty of reason to circle the two matchups they’ll have in the 2026-27 season.
Victor Wembanyama also gets a chance to answer a specific question here: how does he attack a Knicks defense that showed the most against him? The source of the problem was clear in the Finals, and now the young superstar gets another shot to show how much his offense has grown.
Minnesota checks in at No. 3, and this rivalry already has some bite to it. The Timberwolves won the regular-season series 2-1 last season, but the Spurs got the bigger payoff by beating them in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Now Minnesota is changing the shape of the matchup. Anthony Edwards finally has an All-Star-caliber backcourt partner in LaMelo Ball, whose playmaking and three-point shooting could force San Antonio to defend this group differently than it has before.
Houston lands at No. 4, and that one has all the ingredients of a division fight that gets nastier fast. The Spurs handled the Rockets 3-1 in the regular season, but Houston added Marcus Smart on a two-year deal, and that matters. He joins Amen Thompson and Fred VanVleet in what should be a tougher perimeter defense, while the Rockets also bring a strong interior front that ought to make for a fun test against San Antonio’s own bigs.
Dallas rounds out the top five, and even though the Spurs swept the regular-season series, this is the kind of rivalry that can flip quickly. The Mavericks look much deeper now, with Kyrie Irving set to be back and healthy and a roster that has more substance on the wing and inside.
Still, the most intriguing part is the matchup at the center of it all: Cooper Flagg versus Victor Wembanyama. They’re two of the best under-25 players in the league, with Wemby finishing top three in MVP voting and Flagg winning Rookie of the Year last season.
They’ll see plenty of each other in the 2026-27 campaign, and those battles should deliver every time.
For San Antonio, this is what progress looks like. When a team climbs, the rest of the league sharpens with it.
The Spurs’ biggest rivals are getting better too, and that means these games won’t just be about wins and losses. They’ll help shape the story of what comes next.
In Other News...
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Foxs recent playoff showing and the shape of his contract have only sharpened the discussion about where this all goes next. The Spurs have reason to be patient, but they also have to balance development, cap planning and roster fit, which makes Fox one of the most interesting names on the roster even without an active trade market. [Read more 🡒]
Harrison Barnes Just Became Crucial To The Spurs Next Step
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Barnes is expected to be one of the steadying presences in that mix, giving the team a veteran voice as it balances development with the push to keep improving. For a Spurs group still building toward long-term success, his role is no longer just about filling minutes - it is about helping connect a promising roster and showing what the next step is supposed to look like. [Read more 🡒]