The Rockets and Spurs finished on even terms last season. They tied for the worst record in the Western Conference at 22-60 apiece.
San Antonio’s plunge in the standings proved worthwhile in the long run as they landed the top pick in the draft. Generational talent Victor Wembanyama has instantly energized and revived the franchise and he’ll be the most closely watched rookie in many years.
The Spurs had one of the worst defenses in league history last season, as they gave up an average of 123.1 points and allowed opponents to shoot 50.7 percent. The 7’5”’ Wembanyama still needs to fill out physically but he’ll provide a fearsome shot-blocking and shot-altering presence. He’ll be developed by Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich.
San Antonio returns its starters at every other position, led by leading scorer Keldon Johnson (22 points per game). Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell and Tre Jones fill out the rest of the lineup. The Spurs used their cap space to acquire a number of quality reserves in trades, including Cameron Payne, Reggie Bullock and Cedi Osman.
The Rockets slipped to the No. 4 in the draft and selected guard Amen Thompson. That didn’t stop them from making arguably the biggest splash on the free agent market, handing Fred VanVleet a three-year, $128.5MM contract. The former Raptors point man will become the floor leader, while controversial veteran Dillon Brooks also got a chunk of money in free agency to fortify the team’s small forward spot.
They join an otherwise young but intriguing roster, including Jalen Green, Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun. Smith and rookie Cam Whitmore were two of the biggest standouts in the Summer League.
Houston also hired Ime Udoka as head coach and he’ll look to make the team more accountable on the defensive end. The Rockets had the second-to-worst defense in the West.
That leads us to our questions of the day: Which of the Texas teams that finished at the bottom of the Western Conference standings last season — the Spurs or Rockets — will win more games next season?
Please share your thoughts on this topic in the comments section. We look forward to your input.
Spurs
Spurs for certain. Better coach in touch with the crap of the league and our society
Quit saying 7’5. He is 7’3 1/2
He’s easily 7’5” – check photos of him standing with David Robinson and Tim Duncan. He’s nearly a head taller than both.
You’re both right! He’s 7′ 3 1/2″ barefooted and 7’5″ in shoes. Take your pick.
Trade Keldon Johnson and Osman to the Cavs for Bates and Caris L. Trade Johnson to grizzlies for Zhaire Williams and something. Trade Keldon to wizards for victors French Friend. Trade Keldon Johnson and Tre Jones with a pick for T Maxey, Furkan, House,Springer, Dedmon and bumba. Give Johnson a chance like Murray. They need to keep making moves. Need a elite young SF and PG
Keldon Johnson is the one player from the 2023 Spurs tank squad worth keeping in San Antonio. Imagine how often Johnson will score with opposing defenses triple teaming VW. The VW bus will get the Spurs where they are going.
Then waive Payne, Osman and Bullock so they can have a future career somewhere. Find more diamond in the ruff like Champaign. Tank for one year more year and start over. Finish rebuilding while pop is here
Spurs. They hover around last team in this year.
Who will win more games? Spurs, 30-35; Rockets, 25-30. Don’t like Houston’s ownership/front office at all; *I do* respect Popovich, & his accomplishments, a lot
Tillman has been a trash owner. He is disliked in Houston for other reasons, though.
Probably the Spurs, though I like the Rockets longer-term.
Rockets will be in the play in. Spurs are trash
Who cares about this year. Spurs – as always – are doing it the right way for the long term. Nothing against Van Fleet but he doesn’t make you a playoff team and Brooks will be just what you saw in the playoffs.
The question which team is in the Western Conference finals in 5 years…
Rockets, easily. Name 3 teams in the West that could outrun the young horses on that Rockets team.
Fortunately the NBA isn’t a track meet, it’s still basketball.
The S.A. Spurs should win more games … at this time, the Spurs are returning four(4) starters and adding Victor Wembanyama.
SAS. If Wemby is the prospect he’s been touted as, then the Spurs should be at least a play-in team. True generational talents make an immediate impact in the W/L column. HOU is a mess.
How exactly are the Rockets a mess? They seem to be building the right way without being handed the lottery like the spurs
Their backcourt depth chart looks overcrowded, and the rest of their roster is similarly discombobulated. Too many mouths to feed. They’re also coming off two seasons of not having a system. I like the Rockets players, but the team has a lot to prove this year.
Eon, so their problem is they have too much talent?? I always wonder why you comment about basketball when you clearly know so little.
It’s not talent that’s the problem, it’s that there aren’t enough touches to go around. Houston has the pure talent to stack up with most teams; honestly I’d rate their total talent above the Spurs. But unlike OKC, they haven’t done a good job of diversifying the skillsets on their roster or building towards and end goal. The last two seasons have been a disaster from a development perspective. This is the first season of their rebuild where they look like they have a direction, but they’re still cleaning up the mess they already made.
Also, why are you always so rude? My post already stated that I like the *players*, but they aren’t a *team* yet. At least talk sense if you’re going to be a jerk.
So many people out there say the Spurs had been handed the #1draftpick. Let’s see who has been so called handed the #1draftpick the most then since 1980. All of them are in alphabetical order.
Phila 76ers 1996, 2016, 2017
Chi Bulls 1999, 2008
Mil Bucks 1994, 2005
Cle Cavs 1986, 2003, 2011, 2013, 2014
LA Clippers 1988, 1998, 2009
Cha Hornets 1991
Sac Kings 1989
NY Knicks 1985
LA Lakers 1982
Orl Magic 1992, 1993, 2004, 2022
Dal Mavericks 1981
NJN/Bro Nets 1990, 2000
NO Pelicans 2012, 2019
Det Pistons 2021
Tor Raptors 2006
Hou Rockets 1983, 1984, 2002
SA Spurs 1987, 1997, 2023
Pho Suns 2018
Minn Timberwolves 2015, 2020
Por Trailblazers 2007
GS Warriors 1980, 1995
Was Wizards 2001, 2010
So after looking at who has the most #1draftpicks it is definitely not the Spurs who has been so called handed the #1 picks.
Cle 5
Orl 4
4way tie with 3 (76ers, LAC, Hou, and SAS)
7way tie with 2
9way tie with 1
All info has been pulled from link to en.m.wikipedia.org
It’s not about the number of wins, but the number of wins per times they’ve been in the lottery, and even more so about WHEN they’ve won it. They’ve only been in the lottery 7 times in their history. Yet, they’ve won 3. Not just any 3, but 3 of the consensus best 6 lotteries to win the 1st overall (they weren’t in the other 3). Probably just the kind of outlier luck normally associated with the other lotteries, but this time it did seem a bit on cue.
You may believe that they’re building the right way, but I don’t, and history would say I’m right. I think the sea change by the FO this off season is also an acknowledgment of it. If their approach the past 3 seasons (bring in 3 or 4 rookies a year and throwing them out on the court, devoid of any structure or winning purpose) has been so good the last 3 years, why not stay with it. The multi-year tanking has gifted them talent (it always does). Now that it appears they’re going to try and be a serious basketball team, let’s see if the most talented of their draftees can overcome the things that 3 years of hapless losing inevitably causes, and start to develop as winning players.
Your being too kind here imo DXC
Hou has been an unmitigated disaster the last 3 years. A “How to Not’ book for dummies
This should send up alarm bells for future pro tank advisors but I don’t see that happening.
For reasons I’ll never understand Hou will get lauded by the masses and a team like Indy (who I love currently ) will be labeled as stuck in the middle and directionless.
Cap, who would you say has handled their rebuild correctly? Should the rockets be more like the spurs in your opinion?
That’s a real open sandwich of a Q Danny
I’m not going to pretend I know “the secret” or that there is only one way to skin the cat here but I do think (purposefully) collecting losses for ping pong balls is not the right answer in any circumstance in the NBA
It seems all too easy on a keyboard but on the hardwood it just never works out….at least not yet, and we have over 20 years to digest there
I think progression is the word Id look for year in year out. It takes a team in the middle (like Mil Den 5 years ago) time to reach the top of the mountain. Your seeing the Knicks right now slowly climb that mountain …..your seeing Indy at least on the bottom of the hill..Hou hasn’t even bought a camelback and some power bars yet for the trip
As for your Q…Neither really tbh, Sas lucked out and that’s cool but neither model excited me- Id prefer a model such as what Indy just went thru the last couple years or the slow methodical climb the Knicks have taken. It’s boring, it won’t excite the kids but at the end of the day your most likely to get to the desired destination quicker while also not having to put your fanbase thru 3 29 win seasons in a row
The pacers, like the rockets, have had 3 straight losing seasons. However the rockets were the far better team before having to rebuild. The kicks have had 2 winning seasons in the last 10 years. The spurs have had 6 straight losing seasons, and while they lucked out to get Wemby, I don’t think they have near the collection of talent as the Rockets do, and have been rebuilding twice as long. This is the 3rd year into the rockets rebuild and the first offseason they had available cap space. I say all this because there’s a lot of dummies who talk about how the Rockets are a garbage organization in shambles, yet they’ve done far better in their rebuild than most teams that people think have done/are doing well. Like any time you’re forced to blow up a team during the season because of a cry baby superstar, the best strategy is to tear it down to the studs and rebuild (unless you are a destination city like LA, NY, Miami), or you will be stuck in the play in game range for the next decade. Rockets did that, have accumulated a ton of young talent, draft picks, and just brought in a great coaching staff and some good vets to take this team to the next level. That’s why when idiots say they’ve been a disaster, I know they don’t know basketball.
I’d say the Rockets win more games this year, neither make the playoffs, and the Spurs reach the Western Conference Finals before the Rockets.
Both teams actually return 4 starters. Rockets return KPJ, Green, Smith, and Sengun. Difference is the Rockets added veterans that have experience and can play defense…..along with two of the best players in the draft.
While the starting line-ups are fairly comparable, I like the Rockets bench of Thompson, Porter Jr, Whitmore, Eason, Jeff Green, and Lansdale better than the Spurs bench. I also like that the Rockets have some veteran leadership now. It won’t be enough to get them in the playoffs, but I do think the depth and experience will help them win more games than the Spurs.
I find the idea that the Rockets added leadership interesting. Who exactly was that vet? Brooks lol yeah sure. Vanvleet? The one that clashed with the young players on the Raptors last year and whose solution to that was to shoot them out of games by playing hero ball?
Rockets
Adding Fred Van Vleet and Dillon Brooks and drafting Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore they’ve done more to improve than the spurs have.
Wembanyama is a great talent but can’t carry a squad by himself. Payne Osman and Bullock don’t really move the needle as much.
Ngl, if the Rockets don’t well together, I could see them trying to trade VanVleet and Brooks. Spitballing here, but maybe the Nets would explore a trade of Simmons, Dinwiddie and some kinda picks for VanVleet and Brooks and some picks.
That would pave the way for Amen to get more minutes starting, with a lineup of Amen, Jalen, Jabari, Ben, and Sengun.
Conversely, adding VanVleet to the Nets would help out their need for a primary ball handler to fit with their wings. VanVleet, Brooks, Cam, Mikal, and Claxton, with Royce and DFS off the bench would be insane defensively.
Wemby is not ready to dominate. He needs yrs. Spurs will be better. Rockets will win more games. They need a starting center. Not sure Landale fits that. They should pick another one up. They can win 36 gms. A real PG and a real Center makes this team legit. This yr Green steps up and Smith should also have a decent yr.
“Spurs will be better. Rockets will win more games.”
It’s gotta be tough being you.
I know it’s hard for you. Try understanding instead of hating. If you must read.
At this point. It’s really a sickness you have. You don’t have to read anything I write. I never once think your SFA. Yet I’m in your head constantly ……. Get A Life
Spurs will be better than last year ……
Rockets will win more games than Spurs.
We are comparing both on this thread right. I’ll try to make it easier for you. I promise.
Rockets added higher quality veterans to their starting line-up.
Spurs will probably lose 50+ games, Rockets will be a play-in contender.
Houston is a mess . Paying Desmond Brooks 84 million to play Small Forward when you already have Eason is stupidity. Eason not only plays great defense but is a microwave scorer who can be a franchise player wherever he winds up. Brooks will shoot bricks while amassing technical fouls. Worse they will use Whitmore and Thompson to back Brooks moving Eason to a backup 4 spot where he’s out of position . The Spurs will take time to turn their VW bus into a juggernaut but should be in the play in mix immediately. They have the NBA’s best coach and a 7’5″ Guard who is still growing at age 19. When he fills out he will be unstoppable. If handled right both teams should be elite rivals in 3 to 5 years.
Demond Brooks isn’t real he can’t hurt you.
Dillion Bane sounds like a badass tho from a Marvel movie
As a Spurs fan, I would be surprised if the Spurs were better than the Rockets this season. Impossible? No. But they didn’t do anything beyond Wemby, so as much as improved depth and “health” should lead to a jump I don’t think it’s going to beat out the FA additions and general talent under a much more competent head coach. Hope I’m wrong obviously.
Long-term I easily take the Spurs, though. Not a huge fan of the Rockets recent picks or that front office despite the love it has gotten from pundits. I know most will disagree there and I’m fine with that. Meanwhile, the Spurs seem to have a clear long-term vision in place and are executing it perfectly (with a little help from the draft gods, of course)
The best way to build is thru the draft. You can’t really mess up top 5 picks. I mean no team should.
Getting a top 3-5 pick two or three yrs in a row. Should at worst give you two solid starters. Really at least 1 future star. Rockets have Smith, Green. Amen who will be future stars imo. Then Cam, Sengun, Eason have a chance to be starters also. At worst rotation players. But these players are 18-19 yrs old coming in. Stop putting expectations on children. It’s just not an educated analysis. You have to develop them right. They have to be coach able. You have to grow with them. It takes time and work. I guess most here never bounced a ball. Not every team can do it. NBA is only sport where one or two players make a big difference. You draft Curry and Clay. Then you draft Wiseman and Kuminga ……. you getting it now. Scouting is REAL talent ……