San Antonio Spurs Possibly Playoff-Bound As Soon As This Season

According to most major sportsbooks, the San Antonio Spurs have an expected win total of 36.5 this season, which would have placed them as the 12th seed last season, still missing out on the playoffs. However, the Spurs have more question marks surrounding them than any other team in the league.

How good will Victor Wembanyama be? Will Chris Paul be the ideal running mate for him? Can Devin Vassell break out as a legitimate second option on a good team? Can Jeremy Sochan add some offense? Will Stephon Castle impact winning in his rookie season?

There really is no limit to how good Wembanyama can be, and if he is in the MVP race throughout the season, it will likely be because the Spurs are winning and Paul is finding him in all the right places. If Vassell and Sochan can take a leap , the Spurs will have a competitive starting five. Their bench, while not perfect , has improved from last season as Julian Champagnie and Tre Jones slot in with the second unit.

The only thing standing in the way of the Spurs' playoff bid is the better, more established teams, but they might not be as scary as initially thought.

For starters, the Houston Rockets are wildly inconsistent. Jalen Green and Reed Sheppard are yet to prove themselves on a big scale, and Wembanyama seems to have Jabari Smith Jr's number. The Golden State Warriors, who are still hanging on, took a massive loss in the offseason and Draymond Green might single-handily keep them out of contention.

The Los Angeles Clippers lost Paul George and might be looking to trade Kawhi Leonard, ending their run. Finally, the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers are holding onto aging cores, so the dominoes are set to fall in the Spurs' favor.

Related: Outlining the Path for Stephon Castle to Start for the San Antonio Spurs

While San Antonio can sit back and hope as the rest of the West implodes, realistically a massive season from Wembanyama will be the tipping point. If he can follow up his all-time rookie season with an all-time individual season on both ends of the floor, the Spurs, who won only 22 games last season, might have a fighting chance.