Spurs are building nightmare matchup for the rest of the NBA

They should be one of the best defenses in the league.

Jahlil Williams

San Antonio Spurs v Portland Trail Blazers / Steph Chambers/GettyImages

The Spurs are carefully constructing an impenetrable fortress that will frustrate every offense in the NBA, no matter who is on your roster. Depending on who Mitch Johnson puts on the floor, San Antonio could have one of the best defensive units we've seen in a very long time.

Brian Wright made the defense a priority this offseason, going after players who can make an immediate impact on that side of the floor, whether they're a rookie or a veteran. They'll all be essential parts of making this thing work.

Spurs won't have a weak link defensively in the right lineups

Coach Johnson can deploy Stephon Castle, Carter Bryant, Jeremy Sochan, Victor Wembanyama, and Luke Kornet if they need to match size or if they just want to swallow their opponents whole. That's a pretty massive lineup with the shortest player being 6'6". You can run as many actions as you want to try to spring a guy open, but everyone can move their feet enough to be a problem for most players.

Because of the mass on the floor, there wouldn't even be many places to go, so if, for example, Kornet gets put on an island against a guard, he doesn't have as much ground to cover. As long as the defense is disciplined, they have the advantage. Castle and Wembanyama can handle the playmaking on the offensive end with this unit, but they should get plenty of easy transition opportunities because of the defense.

You don't have to go the Twin Tower route, though. The game may call for something a little lighter, so you sit the former Celtic champion and move the Alien back to the center position. Everyone else from the last lineup would move up a position; Sochan to power forward, Carter Bryant to small forward, Steph can play shooting guard, and Dylan Harper can hop in the mix at point guard.

Now, you have a quicker defensive unit on the floor, and the size would still be significant. With Harper stepping in at 6'5", he's now the smallest defender in silver and black. This unit would thrive at stifling the three-point shooting of any team, theoretically. It all falls apart if the effort and coaching aren't there.

Coach Johnson is going to be the key here. The pieces have been assembled, including stealing Sean Sweeney from the Dallas Mavericks' coaching staff. If he can get the most out of his team, there's no reason why they can't have the best defense in the NBA with the range of defenders they've put on this roster.

Jahlil Williams

Jahlil Williams is the Site Expert for Air Alamo, covering the San Antonio Spurs since 2023. His relentless drive and unique writing style propelled him from contributor to the leader of the Spurs-focused site in less than a year. With a Bachelor of Science in Sportscasting from the Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting at Full Sail University, Jahlil learned how to perform at a high level in every aspect of sports, from writing to production, with direction from industry professionals such as Dan Patrick and Gus Ramsey. He's added WNBA coverage to his resume in 2025, with heavy focus on the Dallas Wings as a credentialed media member.