The Western Conference is ripe for a Spurs takeover if Bleacher Report is right

Winning a championship isn't strictly about skill. Sometimes, you need a little good fortune, and having a weaker field to go through falls into that category. During the offseason, several teams in the West have made moves that, on the surface, look to have weakened them. The folks at Bleacher Report seem to agree after releasing a list of teams who either got better or worse this summer.

According to Greg Swartz, the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Lakers, and Warriors all got worse this offseason, and I can't say that I disagree. He left OKC off the list, but there's no reasonable way to make an argument that they improved after losing three rotational players.

To be fair, to the West, the Grizzlies and Jazz made it as teams we should expect more from, but how much more is the question. Enough to be real threats to the Spurs? Unlikely. So, what does that mean for the Silver and Black? Well, if Greg's and my instincts are right about the rest of the conference, it means SA's path to another epic playoff run is as clear as it's going to get.

The Spurs must take advantage of a weakened West

Nobody ever brings up LeBron James' path to eight straight NBA Finals from 2011 to 2018. They just laud him for pulling it off. The Eastern Conference was pretty weak compared to the West during that run, but again, it's never a talking point because it doesn't really matter. You play who is in front of you, and if you're good enough, you take advantage of the lesser competition.

Unfortunately for Bron, he repeatedly ran into juggernauts out west who stopped him from running up his ring count to absurd heights. There is no such heavyweight for the Spurs to deal with in the opposite conference. While the East has gotten much better, nobody stands out as unbeatable by any means.

The 76ers have a star-studded cast, but Joel Embiid's health is as reliable as superhero insurance in the MCU. Without him at an all-star level, there's no reason to fear Philly. They'll have to prove they're worth that kind of respect first.

As for the rest of the East, the Spurs match up well with all of them. As long as they bring the appropriate fear and don't shoot themselves in the foot, they should be favored against any of them in a seven-game series.

But they don't need to worry about the East quite yet. First, they get to deal with a Western Conference that appears to have gotten weaker around them. If Bleacher Report is right, San Antonio has been handed exactly what every championship contender should want: a clearer path. Now it's on the Spurs to take it.

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