The San Antonio Spurs have a top-five offense and defense while dominating the other top seeds in the brutal Western Conference. The defending champs in Oklahoma City have looked inferior to the Victor Webamyama-led Spurs.
If the Spurs are even a bad matchup for the champs, what is stopping them from being true contenders and winning it all? One could point to experience, and that is valid, but we've never seen anything like Wemby paired with a solid supporting cast.
The Spurs have not only dominated the Thunder (4-1 record) this year. The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers are both 1-3 vs the Spurs. The Denver Nuggets are 0-1 with two games down the stretch vs. San Antonio.
The Timberwolves have a better head-to-head record, but San Antonio has the second-best SRS (strength-of-schedule adjusted point differential) in basketball. Experience is critical, but there are always exceptions to every rule. There's a world where Wemby isnt as dominant as a scorer in the postseason, but his co-stars are legit, and his defensive impact is a cheatcode.
The Spurs are true contenders today
Styles make fights in boxing, and basketball is no different. The scary thing about San Antonio is that they're a great team overall and a nightmare matchup for anyone.
Before one has to solve the Wemby puzzle in the paint, they must fight with the rugged Stephon Castle. Castle is an explosive athlete who channels his gifts defensively. A lot of wings and guards with his build are content with scoring and dropping dimes. Castle does that too while putting opponents in metaphorical hell.
Stephon Castle defense on Cade Cunningham during the Spurs win over the Pistons
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) February 24, 2026
(h/t @MrBuckBuckNBA)pic.twitter.com/4B5kblpddQ
Cade Cunningham has been one of the best players, but even he couldn’t escape Castle in the recent Spurs-Detroit Pistons games. Castle is allowed to floor it at all times with Wemby behind him. That’s a dangerous combination.
Castle and Wemby are huge contributors to the Spurs’ No. 3-ranked defense. OKC and Detroit are better defensively by the metrics, but teams might elect to face those tremendous defenses over Wemby and company.
The paint is off limits with Wemby around. He’s like a lockdown corner who takes away the whole right side of the field. Who wants to deal with that?
The Thunder are a dominant drive and kick team, but drives are partly eliminated from the equation with Wemby lurking in the paint. The same goes for the other contenders in the Western Conference. If you cannot force Wemby to leave the paint with consistent shooting, then good luck cracking that code.
Wemby's paint deterrence will sway a playoff series, no matter how old or experienced Wemby and his teammates are.
Rules are meant to be broken
Teams usually go through playoff heartbreaks before breaking through. The Thunder lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round two years ago as the No. 1 seed. Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets had several trials before their breakthrough in 2023. This is just how it goes in the NBA.
While these Spurs haven't made the postseason to take their lumps, they are still different. Wemby is a game breaker like no other defensively. That's a factor that youthful teams in the past haven't had at their disposal.
De'Aaron Fox is not a playoff veteran, but he's been there before and was effective. His 27 points per game in the 2023 playoffs are something he could do again by Wemby's side. Fox's value will be illuminated in a setting where scoring off the bounce becomes more valuable. Teams will key in on Wemby, who's finding his scoring stride again, only for Fox to burn them as the second option.
The Spurs haven't been here before, but the playoffs have never seen Wemby. He's been dubbed one of the greatest prospects of all time. The other players with that designation accomplished things that went against historical precedent. With Wemby's dominant paint presence, his potential to explode as a scorer, and a deep supporting cast, we cannot rule out the Spurs doing the "impossible."