As the Spurs get ready for their Paris games halfway through the season, it's the perfect time to take stock of the team and judge what we've seen thus far. After a fairly strong start—relatively speaking—San Antonio is playing their worst basketball of the season. While there have been several instances of adversity, like injuries and Coach Popovich's health scare, this team is seriously flawed.
There's an argument to be made that the front office didn't do enough to set the ball club up for success this season. They didn't add enough shooting to a team that desperately needed it, and that decision is showing up in the loss column as the Spurs face tougher competition.
January has been rough, and based on what we've seen from the start of the season to now, SA has more trouble coming their way.
San Antonio's next seven games could take them out of the playoff race
The Silver and Black were two games above .500 a few weeks ago. They've dropped three games below that mark with a 19-22 record and the games stand to get much more difficult. The guys are 3-6 against Eastern Conference teams and 10-18 vs. teams above .500. Four of the next seven are against the East, and every single team is above .500.
San Antonio's next seven games are against the Pacers twice, the LA Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, and Atlanta Hawks. Miami has the worst record of the bunch at 21-20, but we just watched them blow the Spurs' doors off. That game is on the second night of a back-to-back with the Bucks as the opening act. It helps that those games are at home, but it will still be tough.
The Hawks were defeated in overtime in the last game, but it took that to beat them. They're a good team. The Silver and Black destroyed the Clippers by almost 40 points the last time they played, so LA will be looking for revenge, and since they were on an 8-game win streak vs. the Spurs before that win, fans have to acknowledge how dangerous they are, especially now that Kawhi Leonard is back.
We've seen them win big games, but they've increasingly dropped them recently, and it's becoming concerning. Jeremy Sochan has been missed, and when he returns, it will help the team tremendously, but they won tough games without him earlier in the year. Their inability to function cohesively for 48 minutes now isn't just about Sochan. This team needs help that isn't on the roster.
If they end up losing four or five of their next seven, the season goes from encouraging and exciting to disappointing. They were on pace for about 41 wins when things were going well, but that's no longer the case. The Spurs are now on track to win 39 games, and that number will continue to dip if things spiral.
They have somewhat of a built-in excuse because of Coach Popovich's absence, but I'd encourage them not to lean on that. Moves need to be made to bring in more consistent players who Victor Wembanyama can rely on every night.
He doesn't have that right now, and based on how the year started, if the Spurs end up as a lottery team because the franchise stood pat at the deadline with so many players reportedly available and all the assets they have to spend, this season is a failure.