San Antonio Spurs: 3 big questions heading into 2019-20

Where does the team belong in the tough Western Conference?

There is a picture of the league that is starting to paint itself. Some tiers are becoming more and more defined. The Western Conference has stood above the Eastern Conference for the past few years.

Winning 50 games in the West makes you middle of the pack, in the East, 50 games is a fast track to home-court advantage. Now it is clear that you need a specific thing on your team in the west: a pair of superstars.

Superstars in the league are, in my definition, consistent All-Star level or Al-NBA talent. There are probably around 20 players that fit that description.

The Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers have duos that can make an unmatched impact in a game.

After that, you have the Denver Nuggets, who are getting close to that with Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. The Portland Trail Blazers have a solid team with talent spread around more.

Also, the Utah Jazz have a top-three defender, an exciting young player, they added Mike Conley and they have a competent coaching staff.

Those are seven teams that belong to the upper-echelon of the west. The San Antonio Spurs belong in the room with these teams, but they have to show something new to prove they can win seven-game series and handle the star power.

They took the Nuggets to seven games last year, proof that it becomes a whole new game in the playoffs. Can they reach the playoffs though?

That comes down to how they contend with Minnesota, Dallas and Sacramento. These are teams that will be hovering around the eighth seed. This is where the Spurs have the upper hand, I don’t see how they lose ground to any of these teams.

They all have things in common and the Spurs are the team that doesn’t really fit with them but also doesn’t fit with the teams above them. They will have to find their place in the West, it is either up or down.