ESPN Power Rankings: Spurs 8th best team in the West, 13th overall in the NBA

[Uriel]

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/sa.png?w=110&h=110
13. San Antonio Spurs (https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/sa/san-antonio-spurs)
2018-19 record: 48-34
2020 title odds: 40-1
Previous rank: No. 15

The Spurs were snakebitten by Marcus Morris (https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6462/marcus-morris) changing course and signing with the Knicks, because they not only lost him but also traded Davis Bertans (https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6426/davis-bertans) to clear the way. They made a few minor moves, but getting Dejounte Murray (http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3907497/dejounte-murray) healthy has been the primary offseason objective. The Spurs are the Spurs, so therefore they will be good, but as the West reloaded, nothing sizable enough changed that will boost San Antonio up the standings. -- Young

Key additions: DeMarre Carroll (http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3970/demarre-carroll), Trey Lyles (https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3136196/trey-lyles)
Key subtractions: Davis Bertans

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27189056/nba-power-rankings-league-best-teams-now

[slick'81]

Gotta be up to white/murray/walker to get outta that 7/8th seed

[TheRemix]

Sounds about right. Would be very surprised if spurs are 6th seed or higher

[J_Paco]

Sounds about right. Would be very surprised if spurs are 6th seed or higher

The Spurs can easily land the 5th or 6th seed, man. They didn't make any earth shaking moves, but with good health, improvement from the younger players and better depth at 3/4 they'll have a shot.

[daslicer]

As the old saying goes let the chips fall where they may.

[sananspursfan21]

That’s not bad. With a relatively unproven backcourt, main media has no idea what our guys will do. We don’t either but based on what we know, I believe this team will take a few by surprise.

[GreekSpursfan]

If what we are seeing from Murray mix tapes and Walker summer league hype doesn't translate to real NBA game performances we are closer to not making the playoffs than people think. If the Warriors make the playoffs we're out, its as simple as that imo.

[Mr. Body]

A stronger guard corps will mean a much better slot than 8th. But it's ESPN. Fuck ESPN.

[ZeusWillJudge]

If the Spurs have the 8th best overall talent in the West, they'll finish higher than the 8th seed. I don't know how you quantify that. A lot rides on whether the young guys improve year on year. The Spurs have some players with potential to be just as good as some much bigger name players.

Nobody knows if White was a fluke, and nobody knows how Murray will come back from the injury. One piece that's not even mentioned in the article is Poeltl. Centers almost always take several years to find their footing in the league. We've seen lots of C's who were not very impressive for several years, suddenly mature and start kicking ass. Poeltl is just about at the point where he'll show one way or the other.

Everybody is worried about how this team or that team is going to shot the 3 or run the floor. Sports writers almost never think about defense - maybe in the playoffs, but usually not even then. The Spurs could easily be a damn solid defensive team that will be much better than 8th in the West.

[DC23]

Looking at the way this list is constructed I would place the Spurs at #10 (above the Raptors, Warriors, and Nets) rather than #13. I wouldn't be surprised if the Nets finish only a few games above .500 and I think Curry's minutes will be heavily managed. Not sold on the Rockets either.

Assuming everyone stays healthy the Clippers, Lakers, Nuggets, Jazz, and Blazers are the only for sure teams finishing above the Spurs. I think Spurs can finish anywhere between 5-8.

Btw Pacers at #15? I could argue they are a top 10 team. This list is pretty meh

[paperboy77]

Perfect

[LCM]

Notice the 'Young' ... bet that is Royce Young who also covers OKC. Michael C. Wright's contract must be almost done with ESPN. Looking forward to where he works next!

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Last year we were predicted to miss the playoffs so this is an improvement in a year with a deeper conference.

[cjw]

Notice the 'Young' ... bet that is Royce Young who also covers OKC. Michael C. Wright's contract must be almost done with ESPN. Looking forward to where he works next!

Yeah, I think Wright wasn’t renewed as ESPN continues cost cutting. Was solid compared to a lot of the other guys they still have (maybe they’re gone too as soon as they’re off contract). ESPN will never be as bad as Sinclair (who bought Fox Sports and all the RSNs) on cost cutting, but it’s gotten bad.

[Mr. Body]

Looking at the way this list is constructed I would place the Spurs at #10 (above the Raptors, Warriors, and Nets) rather than #13. I wouldn't be surprised if the Nets finish only a few games above .500 and I think Curry's minutes will be heavily managed. Not sold on the Rockets either.

Assuming everyone stays healthy the Clippers, Lakers, Nuggets, Jazz, and Blazers are the only for sure teams finishing above the Spurs. I think Spurs can finish anywhere between 5-8.

Btw Pacers at #15? I could argue they are a top 10 team. This list is pretty meh

Spurs really weren't far from the top of the bracket last year. Just a few more wins. I don't see how the Nuggets, Jazz, or Blazers are clearly better than the Spurs, provided improvement from the three guards. I certainly don't know if the Lakers are better.

[DC23]

Spurs really weren't far from the top of the bracket last year. Just a few more wins. I don't see how the Nuggets, Jazz, or Blazers are clearly better than the Spurs, provided improvement from the three guards. I certainly don't know if the Lakers are better.
On paper the Nuggets, Jazz, and Blazers are all better teams than the Spurs. It's limiting when neither of our top 2 players can shoot outside of 18 feet. We'll see. I do agree with you on the Lakers comment. As mentioned, my assumption is based on everyone staying healthy, so LBJ and AD each have to play 75+ games, which is highly unlikely.

[Mr. Body]

Eh, the Spurs were five games back of Denver and I see the Spurs winning more games next year. Maybe I'm projecting too much from White/Dejounte/Lonnie, but I think they'll each have a significant impact. White I think is close to low level stardom.

[random21]

Eh, the Spurs were five games back of Denver and I see the Spurs winning more games next year. Maybe I'm projecting too much from White/Dejounte/Lonnie, but I think they'll each have a significant impact. White I think is close to low level stardom.

Yep, people overvalue Denver. You add Dejounte and Walker, minus the mins of Patty and Belli. I say Spurs in 6, if they had another playoff matchup this year.

[phxspurfan]

They have the Kangs/TPups too low, should be above the Pelicans and Mavs. But Spurs at 7/8 along with Dubs seems right. No way are we better than Jazz/Blazers, Not better than Rockettes/Lakers, and certainly not in the league with the Nuggz/Clips

[TimDunkem]

The Spurs can easily land the 5th or 6th seed, man. They didn't make any earth shaking moves, but with good health, improvement from the younger players and better depth at 3/4 they'll have a shot.

Meh. That's what everyone said last year and they ended up as a 7th seed and lost in the first round.

[TimDunkem]

Almost every other playoff team in the West improved much more than the Spurs did while the Spurs are mostly banking on internal improvement that might not even happen. Still floating around as a lower seed is the likeliest outcome.

[Uriel]

Meh. That's what everyone said last year and they ended up as a 7th seed and lost in the first round.
That was before Murray tore his ACL.

[SupremeGuy]

Gotta be up to white/murray/walker to get outta that 7/8th seedWalker? LMAO That dude is ready to disappoint everyone. Hope he proves me wrong.

This is all Murray and White. Curious to see how they play together.

[Fireball]

surprised they expect the Spurs to make the playoffs ... I just wanna watch our guard squad and Poeltl ... sad that Davis is gone

[monty4329]

If the Spurs have the 8th best overall talent in the West, they'll finish higher than the 8th seed. I don't know how you quantify that. A lot rides on whether the young guys improve year on year. The Spurs have some players with potential to be just as good as some much bigger name players.

Nobody knows if White was a fluke, and nobody knows how Murray will come back from the injury. One piece that's not even mentioned in the article is Poeltl. Centers almost always take several years to find their footing in the league. We've seen lots of C's who were not very impressive for several years, suddenly mature and start kicking ass. Poeltl is just about at the point where he'll show one way or the other.

Everybody is worried about how this team or that team is going to shot the 3 or run the floor. Sports writers almost never think about defense - maybe in the playoffs, but usually not even then. The Spurs could easily be a damn solid defensive team that will be much better than 8th in the West.

Spurs were already a decent defensive team, the improvement if any will be marginal.
But we lost the only pure shooter (as it seems Beli will go or be out of the rotation, according to most) and didn't add any 3pt threat.

Unless the league somehow changes radically I don't see how this team will be better than last year (it might be, just a 10% more physicality allowed on defense will change the game completely).

Murray so far is a phoenix, I'll believe it when I see him make multiple shots in the last quarter of a close game.

BTW we still didn't hire an experienced and competent assistant coach (I know, Becky bla bla bla metoo bla bla bla...)

[weebo]

Spurs are winning 50+. It’s a done deal.

[TimDunkem]

That was before Murray tore his ACL.

Great. Another guy in the lineup that defenders can sag off of.

[KobesAchilles]

So they have us making the playoffs? That’s a surprise.

[J_Paco]

Meh. That's what everyone said last year and they ended up as a 7th seed and lost in the first round.

Maybe because Murray missed the entire season, Walker IV barely played and White/Gay missed a combined 28 games.

That is four rotation caliber players that missed either entire or significant amounts of time, while the team had terrible depth at the 3/4. This year they'll have a lot better depth and hopefully better luck with health.

Again, no way do they slide that far down the standings (barring serious injuries) even with all the improvement (to some teams) out west.