While I am by no means a sports journalist, I love talking about basketball and the Spurs, and I have some thoughts I must spill about last night’s sportsball match.
It was the semifinal for the NBA Cup — the Spurs (17–7) vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder (24–1). The Thunder are the reigning NBA champions and, as their record shows, are scorching the league. Their presence in this game is no surprise. The Spurs, on the other hand, are… definitely notable. By their record, they’re no slouches either. But they’re a young team, needing to beat veteran teams, and at no point until this very night had all their core pieces in place.
They started the season without their lead guard, De’Aaron Fox. Then, along the way, the other up-and-coming stars of the backcourt — Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper — both missed time. Key center Luke Kornet sat out some games. And, most importantly, for the last 12 games they were without Victor Wembanyama — no less than the single most consequential player on the hardwood this side of 2009 LeBron James. But tonight, everyone was suited up and ready.
The Spurs started the game with Wembanyama on the bench. While it wasn’t the easiest first quarter to watch, I was encouraged. The Thunder looked in control, but we were getting good looks from the three-point line. They just weren’t falling. You’re telling me multiple open looks for Harrison Barnes from the corner is a bad thing? We finished the quarter only down 10, and statistically those looks are going to start turning into points.
It already started happening to open the second, but a few minutes in, it finally happened: Wembanyama took the floor and the game transformed. All of a sudden, the game looked easier. The baskets were going in, everyone had more room to make things happen, and the Thunder weren’t getting the looks they wanted — not on the first try, and not on the second. It was like the scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation where Beverly D’Angelo flips the switch in the garage and suddenly Clark’s elaborate light decoration ignites and blinds the neighbors. Suddenly, the Spurs were up. In just five brief minutes, Wembanyama went back to the bench, and the rest of the Spurs scrapped together the next stretch.
That was basically the story of the game. Wembanyama on the floor turns the Spurs into a top-echelon team that can — and did — beat the reigning champions and most dominant team in the league right now. The Spurs without Wembanyama, though, hung tight with the Thunder, and they showed it in the run-up to this game.
Two humongous obstacles leading up to this opportunity were the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers (sorry — that sound was me keeping down the vomit). Here are two recent champion teams with veteran squads and MVP stars: Jokic, Luka, LeBron. We played them without Wemby and won against both. In the Lakers case, we stomped ’em. We are not exactly the aimless 2020 Spurs without our big star.
This is the deepest, most versatile backcourt a San Antonio team has ever had. Even going back to Parker and Ginóbili, even going back to the “Beautiful Game” squads — it was only Parker or Ginóbili who would make anything happen. Fox, Castle, Harper, Vassell — all can make it happen, and can be trusted to do so. With Champagnie spotting up, and Barnes and Keldon Johnson acting as Swiss Army knives, who has a deeper backcourt than the Spurs right now?
This game shows what I think anyone following the Spurs knows to be true: we don’t need to be trading for Giannis or any other “star.” Because then what? Hamper our depth and versatility to centralize our game plan (and cap space) around someone else who could have a bad night, be in foul trouble, or be on the bench — and leave the squad wallowing? When we’ve shown we can withstand that with what we have? No thanks. Keep your Anthony Davis trade-machine ideas in drafts.
If we do make a trade, it needs to be for stout role players. Look at the Thunder. SGA was already MVP-caliber. Jalen Williams already proved to be a stud. The moves that put the Thunder over the top — and in their own tier right now — were getting Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein. Whenever I see these guys in Thunder uniforms, my stomach twists in knots. How could the rest of the league allow the Thunder to get these guys? These are exactly the kind of guys you plug into a talent-rich team and turn them into champions.
The Spurs have one of these guys in Harrison Barnes, and Luke Kornet looks like he could be one of these too. We have plenty of talent. It wouldn’t hurt to bring in another steady, reliable guy to round things out.
It was the first game with real stakes for this squad, and it’s nice to have it in December rather than May. Castle and Wembanyama made some mistakes they can learn from. We saw Harper react to the lights much more smoothly than his first game. I was a little surprised we didn’t see the French Vanilla lineup out there when it was close in the fourth. Maybe that’s what we’re saving for May.
Next up: a ’99 Finals rematch. Let’s do this.