4 Increasingly fascinating storylines to monitor during the 2024-25 season

Game day is here, and as exciting as that is, tonight’s matchup with the Dallas Mavericks will be just the first step in a long journey filled with twists and turns all around the league. The NBA is rarely dull when you’re locked into all the details that impact the trajectory of your team, and the fun is just beginning.

There are storylines in-house and all around the league that will have short-term and long-term effects on the San Antonio Spurs. Here are a few of them:

4. Will Victor Wembanyama win DPOY?

Wembanyama was robbed last season. The fact of the matter is that the NBA hasn’t seen a defensive performance like what Wemby put on display in a very long time. The last time a player averaged 3.6 blocks for the season was Hassan Whiteside in the 2015-16 season.

When you look at the list of players who averaged that many blocks and tacked on a steal per game, you see names like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Robinson, and Hakeem Olajuwon. He took the Spurs' defense from the bottom 10 when on the bench to the top 10 when he was on the court.

That is a massive swing, and his accomplishments should not have been denied just because no rookie had ever won the award before. Whether we like it or not, politics plays a part in sports, so even though he’s the heavy-betting favorite to win the award, fans will be monitoring the conversation to see if the goalposts begin to shift on Victor.

3. How good/bad will the Clippers be?

For Spurs fans, one of the least surprising announcements of all time came when it was reported that Kawhi Leonard would miss the start of the new season. It’s no shock when a degenerative knee continues to degenerate over the span of many years of NBA basketball.

It’s unfortunate, but it was foreseeable as San Antonio’s medical staff called this years ago before being dragged through the mud by Leonard’s camp in a transparent attempt to extricate himself from Alamo City. His path to LA required a trade to acquire Paul George from Oklahoma City; George and Leonard are great friends, and the Klaw wanted PG with him.

In order to make that happen, the Clippers forked over an absurd number of unprotected draft picks, including a first-round selection in the coming 2025 draft featuring Cooper Flagg and several other high-level prospects.

Leonard is out indefinitely, and if the Clippers lose too many games, the Thunder will wind up with a lottery pick. That would spell bad news for San Antonio and everyone else in the Western Conference who are already struggling with the talent on the Thunder’s roster.

2. How good/bad will the Atlanta Hawks be?

This intrigue here is similar to the interest surrounding the Clippers but on the opposite end of the spectrum. The Spurs are the ones who stand to benefit from a bad Hawks team since Atlanta’s unprotected 2025 first-round draft pick belongs to San Antonio, but they won’t go gentle into that good night.

They just picked up Zaccharie Risacher with the first overall pick in the 2024 draft and couldn’t trade Trae Young during the offseason. They did move Dejounte Murray—the reason the Spurs have the Hawks' future in their hands—so they’ll likely be worse, but there will be a lot of bad teams in the league, with some losing purposely for a chance at a high draft pick.

They don’t have any incentive to tank their season, so they’ll win as many games as possible while developing their young core. They’ve already started out on the wrong path for the Silver and Black with a win over the Brooklyn Nets in their season opener.

However, there’s no need to panic yet. The Nets are projected to be a terrible team in their own right, but the more losses the Hawks can stack, the better.

1. Will Chris Paul stick around for the whole season?

Before the offseason began, there was speculation that San Antonio would be the perfect destination for CP3. Despite those whispers, when he signed, there were plenty of people confused by his decision. Paul is a notoriously fierce competitor and has been chasing an NBA title his entire career.

It’s no secret that the Spurs won’t be in the running for a championship this year, so his decision baffled many. When he was introduced as a member of the Silver and Black for the first time, Paul was asked about his decision, and he said his desire to play significant minutes was a major determining factor, as well as a wish to play with Victor Wembanyama.

But you can’t help but wonder if his tenure in San Antonio will be treated partially as an audition for a larger role on a contender. If the Point God is moved around the deadline to a team with championship aspirations, it wouldn’t be a shock.

By that time, Stephon Castle may be ready to take on a larger role as the lead point guard or as the leading playmaker off the bench, with Tre Jones sliding back into the starting position. Jones looked fantastic in the preseason and continues to improve his game.

It’s difficult to foresee what Coach Popovich and the front office are thinking, but experience says they’ll make moves based on how things are developing in-house and around the league. Nothing is set in stone, so anything can happen.