Crazy stat reveals just how much work Spurs must do this offseason

It's time to have a talk about San Antonio's defense. It has obviously been bad, but I didn't quite realize how porous the team has been playing on that side of the floor. NBA.com released their weekly power rankings and in the breakdown written for our squad's 23rd ranking, it was brought to my attention that they've been dead last since the All-Star Break. That's completely unacceptable.

Victor Wembanyama may have been the linchpin that takes the Spurs to another level, but as longtime observers of the league, fans know that much of playing good defense is effort. There hasn't been enough of it, and that should be embarrassing for a franchise once known for its defensive identity.

The Spurs should question most of the roster in the offseason

San Antonio ranked 13th in defensive rating from the start of the season to the end of 2024. When the calendar turned to 2025, a shift happened. The schedule got tougher in January, and it's almost like losing so often after being a .500 team for the first quarter of the season affected their confidence or something because they haven't been the same since.

By the All-Star Break, they had dropped to the 19th-ranked defense, and now they're sitting at 25th on the season. It's a catastrophic collapse on that side of the ball. The frustrating part is that it came just as they began playing much better on the offensive end. The Silver and Black are also ranked 8th in offensive rating since the All-Star Break.

This isn't about winning games; this is about pride and improvement. The Spurs need to show some fight and backbone to end the season, but they aren't really doing that outside of Jeremy Sochan's altercation (if you could call it that) with Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt. That doesn't really do much for the production during the game, though.

Having the worst defense in the entire league over the last month means that they have a worse defense than the Dallas Mavericks, who can only put eight players total on the court on any given night. Some of the guys they have playing probably won't even be on an NBA roster next season because that's what happens when you're riddled with injuries; you call up extras for help.

The fans may want the team to tank, but perception matters to players. Their money, jobs, and, therefore, their living situations are tied to it. They allowed that shorthanded Mavs team to drop 133 points. If this is all they're going to be able to muster for the rest of the season, the front office may need to take an even harder look at the roster than we originally thought.