The San Antonio Spurs have a chance to be one of the most competitive teams in the league for the better part of the next decade. Obviously, things haven’t gone too well this season, but with rookie Frenchman Victor Wembanyama leading the way, they have an elite franchise centerpiece moving forward.
Wembanyama is a transcendent talent on both ends of the court. He’s only in his rookie year, and he’s already leading the NBA in blocks per game. Add in his room for growth and improvement, and the Spurs’ top priority moving forward should be to add great talent around him.
The Oklahoma City Thunder were in town on Wednesday night, and head coach Gregg Popovich noted the similarities between the two teams, urging the Spurs to utilize the same patient approach that their opponent used to build an amazing team.
“It has been a good number of years to get where they are right now and that’s the cycle of things,” Popovich said via Tom Osborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “We were in that position [of playing playoff basketball] for three decades and now we’re starting over. And so we’ll have to have the same patience and make good decisions in the draft and that kind of thing.”
On Wednesday night, the Thunder ended up taking home a dominant 140-114 win over the Spurs, as they are in a much more competitive spot this season.
However, with the young talent on both of these teams, this could easily turn into a rivalry over the next few years.
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