Spurs are waiting to unleash biggest weapon for the NBA playoffs

Just 10 games remain in the San Antonio Spurs' regular season, and they've already clinched their first postseason appearance in six seasons. However, they are still waiting to see how the standings shake out to figure out who they'll play in the first round.

They will likely finish second in the West and project to have a reasonable path to the Conference Finals. However, given the strength of the Western Conference, they will not have any easy series.

That's why they may be waiting to unleash their secret weapon. San Antonio has used the French Vanilla pairing of star Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet sparingly of late.

Instead, the team has experimented more with playing centerless lineups. That maybe was strategic, with San Antonio saving their double big man lineup for the playoffs. This is especially true for larger teams like the Denver Nuggets.

The Spurs are waiting to unleash French Vanilla for the playoffs

The Silver and Black have yet to play the Nuggets at full strength this season and could unleash that double big lineup against superstar Nikola Jokic.

Coach Mitch Johnson would probably prefer that Wembanyama didn't spend a lot of time guarding Jokic. That is mainly due to concerns of him getting into foul trouble and also wanting to keep Wembanyama as close to the rim as possible.

That's where Kornet may come into play. With Wemby likely to play more minutes, Kornet's role as a backup center may decrease unless the Spurs go with a two-big lineup. Kornet has been too valuable to only play 12 minutes per game in the playoffs.

That leads me to believe that they may close halves against certain playoff matchups with both big men. In a hypothetical matchup against the Nuggets, having him spend even 10 minutes guarding Jokic could keep Wemby out of foul trouble.

Luke Kornet may have a bigger playoff role than expected

It would also allow Wemby to defend a lesser offensive threat such as Christian Braun. San Antonio employed a similar strategy against the Oklahoma City Thunder by having him guard Lu Dort or Alex Caruso instead of Chet Holmgren.

Doing so against the Nuggets could disrupt their offense and make it harder to score in the paint with Wembanyama lurking nearby, ready to help Kornet.

The Spurs can also use the French Vanilla pairing against other potential playoff matchups in five-minute spurts to shut down the paint. When those two play together, there is practically a lid on the rim for other teams.

In fact, French Vanilla lineups boast a 104.1 defensive rating, a mark that would rank number one in NBA by a wide margin.

Offensively, the Silver and Black still manage to score at a solid rate. It may not be something they use 20 minutes every game come playoff time, but it's something they can use in short bursts to potentially help swing a close game.

Considering it's something they only use sparingly now, teams may not be fully prepared for a Wembanyama and Kornet French Vanilla pairing, thus making it their secret weapon for the playoffs.