The Spurs are NOT making the playoffs next year

[KobesAchilles]

A lot of youngings in Spurstalk who only remember the Duncan days and not the Red McCombs era. This offseason is extremely important and we already butchered it. The last time the Spurs were this badly run was when we hired Lucas as our coach bc “he is the cheapest coach in the league.”

Imagine any other team in the league that has lost 7 years in a row and then hired their next coach internally instead of doing ANY other interviews. Everyone here would be laughing at that team and say how stupid and badly run of an organization they are. And we have become that team! There’s no way to justify this move. None. And even if you wanted to hire Mitch, why not even interview any other candidate?

The Spurs have officially announced to the world that they are fine with the status quos and have no interest in winning. I don’t even care who we draft anymore or who we sign in the offseason. We are a joke of an organization.

[RC_Drunkford]

yeah I don't see it either. We might go 41-41 and then they gonna say how Mitch has improved the team every year and we have to keep pouding the cock

[exstatic]

I’ll do an sig bet with you on this,KA. I have references that I honor these bets.

BTW, bringing up the McCombs era when discussing whether the team will or won’t make the playoffs is hardly a cautionary tale. From DRob’s arrival to the 96-97 season, when the Spurs set a then record for player games missed, they made the playoffs for 7 consecutive years.

[spursistan]

Assuming health (Wemby/Fox playing 70 games), that would be a complete fiasco if you look at the landscape of the West.


This.


Tiers of the West going into 2025-26 season. IMO.


Top Seed (The juggernaut, Spurs have no chance against):




- OKC




(2-5) seeds (project to be better than the Spurs, but we can compete against):




- Houston (will add KD or Giannis)
- Lakers (will address depth + fitter Luka)
- Nuggets (best player ITW)
- Wolves (too deep with a star player hitting his prime)




6th Seed contenders (Spurs tier):


- Memphis (overrated star players)
- Warriors + Clippers (a year older and one-injury away from lottery)




Play-in Hopefuls (Spurs should ABSOLUTELY be better than those teams):


- Kings (Bulls West)
- Phoenix (dumpster fire and Booker not a number 1 guy)
- Mavs (no Kyrie and 33 year-old AD as your best player? Good luck with that)
- Pelicans (will be better but not good enough)


Lottery Lock:


- Blazers
- Jazz

[Obstructed_View]

With the talent on the team there is no excuse for failing to make the playoffs.

[tonight...you]

If Wemby and Fox are healthy throughout... they make it.

[Splits]

Interesting how OP "knows" that no other candidates were interviewed. Must be a front office mole.

[KobesAchilles]

I’ll do an sig bet with you on this,KA. I have references that I honor these bets.

BTW, bringing up the McCombs era when discussing whether the team will or won’t make the playoffs is hardly a cautionary tale. From DRob’s arrival to the 96-97 season, when the Spurs set a then record for player games missed, they made the playoffs for 7 consecutive years.
What would you like me to change mine into?

[KobesAchilles]

Interesting how OP "knows" that no other candidates were interviewed. Must be a front office mole.
Pretty damn sure it would’ve been reported if we interviewed Mike Malone or any assistant coaches around the league. Or literally anybody. Wemby is a big deal buddy. The Spurs choosing his next coach would’ve been reported

[rankingtear]

Your underrating the impact of a true lead guard on this team with a training camp. They anchored this team by starving it in that position for years to get young talent and now they have their engine.

[itzsoweezee]

I’ll do an sig bet with you on this,KA. I have references that I honor these bets.

BTW, bringing up the McCombs era when discussing whether the team will or won’t make the playoffs is hardly a cautionary tale. From DRob’s arrival to the 96-97 season, when the Spurs set a then record for player games missed, they made the playoffs for 7 consecutive years.

Because David Robinson was that fucking good. A competent organization would’ve done better

[Chillen]

If Wemby and Fox are healthy throughout... they make it.

This. Plus I am already used to Mitch Johnson as the Spurs head coach.

[LeBowen]

I'm also really disappointed with Mitch getting the job, but we should have enough talent to easily win 45 games if everyone's healthy.
Would've been close to .500 this season if Wemby stayed healthy.

Unless Mitch turns out to be horrible, we should be fine to treadmill around. But if we're to win playoff series, we need him to be an actual coach and not Pop's yes man.

[Ice009]

I already brought it up in another thread. Who's to say the Spurs didn't interview anyone else? Who's the say if they did want someone else that, that person/candidate didn't turn them down? You never know, the expectations and also maybe not having total control with Pop in the front office, that might have turned some candidates away. It could also be a money thing. Maybe a coach or two was set to take the job and the Spurs' salary offer was underwhelming?

I also mentioned that I don't think Bud was ever a possibility as they'd have to pay him $10M a year, and there's no way the Spurs would pay him that much while also playing for Pop at the same time. Bud's not going to throw away all that Phoenix money to come here for $5M or less. As far as I was told, if he signed with another team, he'd lose all the money the Phoenix still owes him. Apparently Monty Williams is coaching his son's team for free as he's still getting paid by Detroit. I don't think many people would give up that amount of money. These guys aren't players where they can make it up again on their next contract.

[rjv]

damn, the off-season is over already?

[Manu&Duncan fan]

You underestimated Fox, the development of Castle and the 3rd-year alien.

These big-3 alone will take us to top 8.

Plus, we have two solid drafts and at least 2 to 3 new signings.

We will be top 5 team next year. Book it!

[dbestpro]

Pop is no a thorn in the side of the Spurs. Mitch Johnson is a bottom feeder coach at best. Do not look for additional vets to improve the team cause Pop won’t allow it. The possibility of Wemby moving on sooner then later just went way up statistically.

[CorrectCrusader]

I do not see how we miss the playoffs with a healthy Fox & Wemby.

[scott]

I don’t know if the Spurs wil make the playoffs (they should)… but I do know that if we DON’T Make the playoffs then every single member of the front office from RC to the Coyote’s fluffer should be fired. RC and Wright put their own jobs on the line with this hire, IMO, and there should be no escaping the consequences (or flowers)

[Splits]

Pretty damn sure it would’ve been reported if we interviewed Mike Malone or any assistant coaches around the league. Or literally anybody. Wemby is a big deal buddy. The Spurs choosing his next coach would’ve been reported

Wrong. Wemby won't even talk about his recovery process. You think the org is going to announce their HC interviews or hiring process so randos like you are placated?

[Blizzardwizard]

I don’t know if the Spurs wil make the playoffs (they should)… but I do know that if we DON’T Make the playoffs then every single member of the front office from RC to the Coyote’s fluffer should be fired. RC and Wright put their own jobs on the line with this hire, IMO, and there should be no escaping the consequences (or flowers)


If they miss the playoffs next year nobody will be fired.


We don't want that to be true but we all know it will be.


That's not how The Famil​y operate. There will *always* be an excuse to give everyone involved "just one more year to see what we have" ad infinitum.

[mystargtr34]

If our forward rotation is Barnes-Sochan-Champ-Keldon then I agree the Spurs won’t make the playoffs.

The Spurs need to upgrade the rebounding and defense first and foremost and the best way to do that is the forward positions.

[KobesAchilles]

Wrong. Wemby won't even talk about his recovery process. You think the org is going to announce their HC interviews or hiring process so randos like you are placated?
Yet his actual injury was reported. Again, I’m not saying that we are going to get word for word what was said in an interview. But I do know that an interview happening would have been reported or leaked by the agent at least. They want their peoples names out and about as head coaching candidates. The fact that you think otherwise is pretty weird considering teams leak all the time who they interview.

[tonight...you]

I don’t know if the Spurs wil make the playoffs (they should)… but I do know that if we DON’T Make the playoffs then every single member of the front office from RC to the Coyote’s fluffer should be fired. RC and Wright put their own jobs on the line with this hire, IMO, and there should be no escaping the consequences (or flowers)
Woof! Lol.
Break out the eye coverings and the rifles.
It's on.
Toss a grenade to make sure.
You know, in case one of them is some sort of Solomon Grundy.

[spursgu]

ZZZZZ op is always such a whiny retard. don't show your face when we start winning games again. clearly wemby is good with this decision. I'll take the opinion of him over some fat losers on here like op.

[Silverheart80]

A lot of youngings in Spurstalk who only remember the Duncan days and not the Red McCombs era. This offseason is extremely important and we already butchered it. The last time the Spurs were this badly run was when we hired Lucas as our coach bc “he is the cheapest coach in the league.”

Imagine any other team in the league that has lost 7 years in a row and then hired their next coach internally instead of doing ANY other interviews. Everyone here would be laughing at that team and say how stupid and badly run of an organization they are. And we have become that team! There’s no way to justify this move. None. And even if you wanted to hire Mitch, why not even interview any other candidate?

The Spurs have officially announced to the world that they are fine with the status quos and have no interest in winning. I don’t even care who we draft anymore or who we sign in the offseason. We are a joke of an organization.

Until this afternoon, I thought the Spurs were working on a long-term plan to win championships with Victor as the centerpiece. Now that Mitch is the coach, amidst a sea of better-qualified candidates, any talk of winning is fraud. We're not developing talent. We're not worried whether Victor stays here or not.

Victor will be gone in two years, for a fat package of draft assets. San Antonio will lose the Spurs within 10.

Nothing personal. Just business.

[Silverheart80]

I don’t know if the Spurs wil make the playoffs (they should)… but I do know that if we DON’T Make the playoffs then every single member of the front office from RC to the Coyote’s fluffer should be fired. RC and Wright put their own jobs on the line with this hire, IMO, and there should be no escaping the consequences (or flowers)

We're not making the playoffs anytime soon. And when we don't, no front office personnel will be fired. Back to the lottery. Again and again.

Fans will be disgusted. Fans will complain. Victor might be disgusted. But his opinion doesn't matter because he'll be traded for draft capital in a couple of years. Next year, Devin will be a sixth-year vet. Honks will still say he's a "rising star" -- that "we need to be patient with him because there are no shortcuts." Same with the whole team.

No need to fire. Winning isn't the goal. Trust the process -- the process of lowering costs and shipping the team out of town.

[Obstructed_View]

Pop should have left with Timmy like he promised. Every passing failure just cements Timmy's reputation as the most consequential NBA player of all time.

[Jordan Jackson]

Meh. Mitch is fine. It was always going to be him. Steve Kerr and Ime are not available. They were never going to bring in an “outside” guy.

If they don’t make the playoffs it will be because of the dead weight still on this roster. They can’t shoot, terrible defenders, low BBIQ.

NBA roster are too small to carry so many negative players.

[Atl Spur]

Sighhh! Mitch is in year 1 not 5, relax. We’ll make moves in the summer and make the playoffs easily ( barring injuries to key players ). Sunny days ahead :) Go Spurs Go

[Raven]

There's no reason for this team not to be a top 4 team in the west, next year. Other than coaching and perhaps injuries. If we want to adjust expectations because we're doing an awful job and watch podziemski and prost (post? proost? who knows) compete, well then fine.

[Raven]

Sighhh! Mitch is in year 1 not 5, relax. We’ll make moves in the summer and make the playoffs easily ( barring injuries to key players ). Sunny days ahead :) Go Spurs Go

we need to trade for kawhi, butler and giannis so mitch can make the playoffs

[RC_Drunkford]

this team ain't going nowhere by playing defensive schemes from the year 2000

[LeBowen]

Trying to find some positives, Mitch did manage to set up a functional offense without Fox and Wemby.
Spurs scored 117ppg in March and April, 25 games. Would be good for 6th best offense.
Defense was awful, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until we see the roster for the upcoming season.
Some of it is on coaching, but if you're an NBA player who doesn't box out at all, there's only so much a coach can do.

He surely knows basketball and I'm not that worried about theoretical part of it.
As per usual, it's about if he's got the authority to make tough decisions players won't like.
Next season we'll surely be past Wemby having the green light do do whatever he pleases, but will Mitch be able to tell him to stop fucking around with isos that lead to turnovers?

As said many times, Pop's influence is the biggest worry. Yeah, he can still be a great mentor, but if Mitch is going into this with an "what would Pop do" approach, then we're fucked.

[SupremeGuy]

Reverse jinx is still a jinx, bitch lol

[Joseph Kony]

not really a hot take tbh but with Fox/Wemby and internal improvement from Castle + whatever FA we sign and big we draft (hopefully), spurs should at least be in the play in hunt at minimum. Our FO is questionable but Victor is just so damn good and in year 3 we'll probably see him take it up a notch and players of his caliber can usually drag a bunch of scrubs to the playoffs alone. just gotta hope he stays healthy

[TekXX]

It usually takes a while into the offseason for people to have unreasonable positive expectations about how good this team is but some of ya'll have already decided we're making the playoffs? No doubt a healthy Wemby and Fox might get us close but outside them this team is really bad. Yes it's really possible, mostly likely, we don't make the playoffs. Get off your old ass Mr. president Pop and improve the team, help us out.

[Ice009]

It's not going to be easy, but if out main three guys a healthy, then the Spurs will have a good chance to make the playoffs.

[bigzak25]

A lot of youngings in Spurstalk who only remember the Duncan days and not the Red McCombs era. This offseason is extremely important and we already butchered it. The last time the Spurs were this badly run was when we hired Lucas as our coach bc “he is the cheapest coach in the league.”

Imagine any other team in the league that has lost 7 years in a row and then hired their next coach internally instead of doing ANY other interviews. Everyone here would be laughing at that team and say how stupid and badly run of an organization they are. And we have become that team! There’s no way to justify this move. None. And even if you wanted to hire Mitch, why not even interview any other candidate?

The Spurs have officially announced to the world that they are fine with the status quos and have no interest in winning. I don’t even care who we draft anymore or who we sign in the offseason. We are a joke of an organization.

Mitch deserves a shot with a healthy squad and maybe Giannis in the fold if we're lucky. As a matter of fact, I'm sure the coaching hire was passed through Giannis team first to make sure he was OK with it.

[bigzak25]

It's not going to be easy, but if out main three guys a healthy, then the Spurs will have a good chance to make the playoffs.

Contenders next season, but Champs the year after that...and we'll see how many in a row...

Go Spurs Go!

[dbestpro]

Will we ever be free of the Pop curse?

[GAustex]

^ the putrid popabitch stank lingers throughout the once great organization

[Chomag]

Will Mitch demand his team box out and hold them accountable for lazy plays on both offense and defence? Is he willing to get into a players face no matter who they are to wake them up and demand excellence when needed? If this is so than what has he been waiting for ???

These are the things a winning coach must be willing to do just as prime Pop did and yeah I'm just not seeing in him it but I'll happily be wrong.

[LeBowen]

Early look at the 25-26 West, a lot can change, but some things are obvious.

Contenders:
OKC - top tier contender.
MIN - Some huge decisions have to be due to their cap situation, still a contender.
DEN - Better as long as Jokic is there.

Playoff teams with serious question marks:
HOU - They'll surely make some moves, probably still ahead of the Spurs.
LAL - Implosion risk, but still better than the Spurs.
LAC - Star players are getting really old, Lue will get them into the playoffs, worse than this season, but probably still ahead of the Spurs.
GSW - They have one more year in them, but they'll be ancient with very little room to improve and will have a difficult time grinding the season out.
MEM - Coaching change, not in a good position due to Ja's issues of every kind, JJJ's extension and overall happiness of the team.

Bad teams:
SAC - On their way back to the bottom, Spurs would've already been better if not for Wemby's injury.
DAL - Dead franchise, someone just needs to pull the plug.
PHO - They're either going to be awful with an expensive roster or blow it up and be awful with their picks returned.
POR - Trending upwards, but they need a franchise player.
NOP - Their roster actually looks good, but something always goes wrong.
UTA - One more year of tanking even if they get Flagg.

Imo, there's no way that at least a couple of those playoff teams with question marks don't implode.
Three old teams close to their expiry date and two young teams that lack identity. Some will obviously be good, but not all.
If Spurs aren't ahead of at least a couple of them next season, it's going to be a failure, at least for me. If everyone stays healthy, that is.

Out of those bad teams, POR and NOP can trend upwards, others won't be a threat next season. But Spurs being worse than those two teams next season would be a sign to burn everything down and start over. Front office and coaching staff wise, that is.

[HankChinaski]

The Draft and free agency will be telling if they don't resolve defense and shooting each at some compacity what to expect next season easily.

Spurs jettison offensive and defensive dead wait and bring in some improvement on each then they should be a playoff team atleast if everyone is healthy. They almost have the roster to make it happen if they can just bring a bit of reliability of both mentioned

[spurraider21]

Unless mitch was dramatically handcuffed last year and actually has it in him to modernize our defensive schemes, im very concerned

[daslicer]

The 8th seed Grizzlies won 48 games this year which shows how hard the West is. I just want the Spurs to improve next year to be at least a .500 team. If they can get 41 wins then that would be improvement for them to build on.

[exstatic]

The 8th seed Grizzlies won 48 games this year which shows how hard the West is. I just want the Spurs to improve next year to be at least a .500 team. If they can get 41 wins then that would be improvement for them to build on.

This might be the most even I’ve ever seen the West playoff field, outside of OKC. Four games separated #2 and #8. I consider HOU to be a very weak #2, more of a health edge than a basketball edge. If the field scatters a bit, you might get a couple of 55 to 60 win teams, with a corresponding drop to 40-45 win teams in the last two slots, instead of 7 teams between 48 and 52 wins, more of a natural bell curve.

[Pauleta14]

If Wemby is healthy all season it's impossible to miss the POs bc he's such a cheat code +Castle will pass another step and Fox will be acclimated.

The real problems will be for the POs where Mitch will obviously do rookie mistakes he has to, to learn, and the team will pay the price for it.

[vy65]

Unless mitch was dramatically handcuffed last year and actually has it in him to modernize our defensive schemes, im very concerned

I don't understand the "pop held mitch back" narrative. I mean, the dude we saw today has had 6 months of post-stroke therapy and looks rough. Was he really puppeteering mitch in the weeks and months that immediately followed his stroke? I find that pretty hard to believe, but its all speculation.

[KobesAchilles]

If Wemby is healthy all season it's impossible to miss the POs bc he's such a cheat code +Castle will pass another step and Fox will be acclimated.

The real problems will be for the POs where Mitch will obviously do rookie mistakes he has to, to learn, and the team will pay the price for it.
Honestly if I’m wrong and we do make the playoffs, o don’t mind Mitch making coaching mistakes in the playoffs. Well so long as he learns from them :lol

But I remember Pop playing Purdue, Robinson, and Duncan at the same time vs Phoenix which we won so it wasn’t a “mistake” I guess but I remember thinking wtf. Like I got that Phx had a plethora of guards to throw at us but Will Purdue?? :lol

[lefty20]

Yr 3 Wemby + yr 2 Castle + an acclimated Fox = missed playoffs, huh?

Not even gonna mention the impending offseason additions, like the lotto pick.

Yeah, Imma need OP to pass me some of that good shit that he is clearly smoking, tbh.

[KobesAchilles]

Yr 3 Wemby + yr 2 Castle + an acclimated Fox = missed playoffs, huh?

Not even gonna mention the impending offseason additions, like the lotto pick.

Yeah, Imma need OP to pass me some of that good shit that he is clearly smoking, tbh.
Pop finished it all right before he hired Mitch tbh

[spurraider21]

I don't understand the "pop held mitch back" narrative. I mean, the dude we saw today has had 6 months of post-stroke therapy and looks rough. Was he really puppeteering mitch in the weeks and months that immediately followed his stroke? I find that pretty hard to believe, but its all speculation.
well sometimes its also a matter of not being able to install a completely new defense when you havent had summer/camp/preseason to work it in, so you kind of have to run what you have with some modifications and tweaks

its like when an NFL offensive coordinator gets canned midseason, they are still more or less limited to the playbook the players are familiar with and have rehearsed in the offseason

im not saying thats necessarily whats happened with Mitch, but i certainly hope that was the case

[SpursGenius]

Watched Mitch IV. Pretty smart guy. Stanford guy. Hope he can learn fast on the job.

[Ice009]

Watched Mitch IV. Pretty smart guy. Stanford guy. Hope he can learn fast on the job.

What's IV?

[SpursGenius]

What's IV?
mean press conference