Scott Wachter-Imagn Images A young core is blossoming despite an NBA Cup loss. Social media can be awful these days. But every once in a while, in my scrolling, I find gold that is actually thought-provoking. This tweet (from a Steven Adams stat-based fan account? Man, I love the internet sometimes.) was almost serendipitous with a thought I’ve been having about the San Antonio Spurs. Comparison of the contend/tank/rebuild cycles for the Rockets, Thunder and Spurs (Net Rating by season, 2015-16 to today)… pic.twitter.com/PUlbDBt5Az— Steven Adams Stats (@funakistats) November 15, 2024 It tracks the net rating for the Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets. Three young Western Conference teams who hoarded assets and are building toward contention. It’s strange how their paths follow each other. While watching the logos dart across the screen, I didn’t expect the Spurs to keep pace. Even though they are behind, San Antonio is on the ascent. You are probably thinking, “Get to the point, Jacob. What does this have to do with the Spurs 120-115 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers?” Here it is: for the first time in the last 3 seasons, it looks like the Spurs really have a good young core. Not just some what-ifs that can develop into role players, but some REAL promising young guys that can become the future of this franchise. Victor Wembanyama doesn’t need an explanation. You can complain about his shot selection if you want, but as a second-year player, he’s making big time plays against one of the best big men in the league in a game that “matters” (more on that later). Having 28 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists in an NBA Cup game is All-Star level stuff from Wemby. The player that should be getting every Spurs fan excited is this year’s rookie, Stephon Castle. He was going against one of the best players to ever touch a basketball on national TV and he didn’t flinch – 22 points and 5 assists while making big play after big play down the stretch. Looking confident in the mid-range and knocking down more threes than a lot of people expected this year. Castle is big, athletic, he plays hard and he has a winning pedigree. It’s early, and I don’t want to overreact, but it seems like the Spurs may have found a gem in a “weak” draft class. Then add in Devin Vassell, whose shot making kept the Spurs in the game during several Laker runs. Don’t forget about Jeremy Sochan, who was having the best season of his career before his thumb injury. Those four guys are something you can build around. That’s a real promising young core. Winning would be great, but just being in that game feels like a step forward for the Spurs. Sure it “means more” because it’s an NBA Cup game, but... will anyone remember a close NBA Cup loss in even a year’s time? Maybe this is too optimistic of a take after losing to the Lakers, but Spurs fans should come out of this one excited about the future of this group. Takeaways: The Lakers crushed San Antonio in transition. Quick, long shots led to long boards and Los Angeles beat the Spurs back every. single. time. The Lakers had 23 fast break points, and that’s not counting the secondary break buckets where a shooter would get wide open as the Spurs scrambled to figure out who they were guarding. Those are the sloppy mistakes a young team has to clean up. Keldon Johnson struggled mightily on the defensive end. He was caught out of position several times, including an Austin Reaves three-pointer to give the Lakers a lead late in the game. Offensively he’s still an impact player, as he made clear with his energized run in the fourth quarter. Yet, some of his decision making is perplexing. Mitch Johnson must believe in him, though, as KJ has closed out games for the Spurs routinely while Johnson fills in for Gregg Popovich. Johnson wasn’t the only bench player to struggle. Blake Wesley, Malaki Branham and Sandro Mamukelashvili didn’t give the Spurs hardly anything in their limited minutes. That force Mitch Johnson to shrink the rotation. Zach Collins had a tough matchup against Anthony Davis, and was outmatched at times. Once the Spurs get Tre Jones and Sochan back, expect this bench unit to play better. As exciting as the young core is, the veteran additions of Harrison Barnes and Chris Paul have really elevated them. Paul controlled the game with another double-double, scoring 11 points and 11 assists. He’s been a good pick and roll partner with Wembanyama. Barnes held his own defensively against LeBron James and chipped in offensively with 8 points. The Vassell-Wembanyama two-man game is back. The Spurs ran some great sets to get these two rolling. Vassell set flex screens for Wembanyama to get him into the paint, and then open himself up for three when the defense collapsed on the big man. San Antonio ran some fun elbow dribble handoff action to get Vassell the ball going toward the hoop, once resulting in a mid-range jumper and the other a lob for Wembanyama. This should become a staple of the Spurs offense throughout the rest of the season. The NBA Cup would be 100x better without these stupid courts. I understand you need to call attention to the fact that it’s an NBA Cup game. But what about, I don’t know, A GIANT TROPHY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COURT? It makes the Cup feel like a gimmick and not something we should really be taking seriously. I’ll stand by this take forever. Change the courts!