Ranking NBA teams by tiers for the 2017-18 season
The Would-Be Contenders: San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics
On a similar note, there are two teams that are going to be “disrespected” because they’re technically contenders…without actually being threats to win a championship. Those teams are the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics.
Tuning out the sound of every person in San Antonio raising a pitchfork, there are legitimate reasons for leaving the Spurs outside of the NBA’s elite. Most fans will look to the double-digit lead their beloved Spurs built over the mighty Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, but three-quarters of one game with a healthy Kawhi Leonard did not mean that seven-game series was in the bag, let alone one against an even better Dubs team in 2018.
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While the Dubs got better this summer, the Spurs arguably got worse. They lost Jonathon Simmons, Dewayne Dedmon and David Lee to free agency, Tony Parker won’t be back for months due to injury and Manu Ginobili and Pau Gasol are both a year older.
Kawhi and Dejounte Murray are only going to get better, but after watching LaMarcus Aldridge flounder in the playoffs, almost every other player on the roster is either going to stagnate or get worse in 2017-18. With the Dubs and Rockets taking a step up over the summer, the Spurs were unable to keep pace in their offseason moves.
The Kyrie Irving trade makes the Celtics younger and more stable for the long-term, but it doesn’t necessarily make them better for the upcoming season — at least not in respect to the Cavs, who just added a similar score-first point guard in Isaiah Thomas and a versatile wing in Jae Crowder.
Signing Gordon Hayward is another great step forward, but Boston didn’t address some of its biggest weaknesses — rebounding and defense — this summer. The Celtics are well-built to be a contender once LeBron James finally abdicates his throne, but for now, they remain on the outside looking in.