Unfortunate Tyrese Maxey injury hurts and helps San Antonio's long-term goals

San Antonio takes the court tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Spurs have had injury issues from the beginning of the season, and they'll extend all the way through the end of this year's campaign. The Sixers have been dealing with injury catastrophes from start to finish, costing them what should have been a much more competitive season.

Their most recent woes involve their star point guard, Tyrese Maxey. He's missed their last nine games with two ailments: a back and finger injury. Kelly Oubre will also be out for tonight's game, removing almost all of Philly's best players.

The good and bad news about Philly's injury problem

There's no way that the Spurs should lose the game against this ball club. The only team with a comparable situation is the Dallas Mavericks. They've played with the bare minimum of eight players required to participate in a basketball game. Although San Antonio did lose a game to the Mavs under those circumstances, let's act like that didn't happen for a moment.

They are dealing with issues of their own, but they still have the presumptive Rookie of the Year, Stephon Castle, and you never know which version of Devin Vassell is going to show up. The Sixers pretty much just have Guerschon Yabusele and not much else.

San Antonio needs to make a run at Yabusele in free agency, by the way, but that's neither here nor there right now.

Winning tonight is more than a double-edged sword, though. It's more like Negan's weapon, Lucille, from The Walking Dead—a bat wrapped in barbed wire. However, the recipient of the beating won't be on the floor at the Frost Bank Center. It will be the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Don't get me wrong; overall, OKC is doing just fine, but they still want their gambles to pay off. They're in possession of Philly's first-round pick in this summer's NBA draft. It's top-six protected, though. They currently have the highest chance to land at seven, but the continuous losing will improve their odds at a better draft pick, and that wouldn't be good news for the Thunder.

On the flip side, it would also increase the gap between the Spurs and the 76ers in the same draft. San Antonio currently has the best chance to receive the ninth pick in the draft, but there are still games left to lose to improve the odds of a higher selection. They probably won't get that loss tonight, though, as SA is favored by six points tonight.

The schedule gets tougher after Sunday's game against the Raptors, so there's still time to drop in the standings. When you look at the big picture, it's better to win this game tonight. The Silver and Black will have to deal with the Thunder for the next decade-plus, so anything they can do to negatively impact their rival, is a win.