Spurs navigate the youth that cost them NBA Finals in 2026 offseason

San Antonio Spurs free agent addition Tobias Harris has already spent some time working out with his new teammates, including veterans De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes. Victor Wembanyama has taken part in these sessions as well.

They’re practices that not only show some of the team’s best players are focused on improving upon a year that far exceeded expectations, they also represent the need to improve an aspect that plagued the Spurs in the NBA Finals. In falling to the New York Knicks, the Spurs showed the youth many said would plague them ahead of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, especially considering Wemby is 22 years old while star guards Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are 21 and 20 years old respectively.

But, what’s gotten lost in that narrative is the Silver and Black’s run to the Finals.

Youth didn’t doom the San Antonio Spurs in the West Playoffs

In the second round of the postseason San Antonio beat a Minnesota Timberwolves squad that was gunning for a third straight trip to the Western Conference Finals. A blowout victory on the road in the decisive Game 6 helped curb any thought that a fully healthy Anthony Edwards (he still played in every game of the series unlike in the first round vs. the Denver Nuggets) would’ve led the T’Wolves to victory.

Then there was the West’s title series. The young Spurs staggered the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the opener. After OKC responded, San Antonio avoided a 3-1 series deficit before later staving off elimination in Game 6 vs. the defending champions. Then came Game 7.

The young Spurs controlled the tempo from the tip. Without Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell, who both missed the final game among several others throughout the matchup, the Thunder struggled to keep up with the Silver and Black blow for blow. A fourth quarter in which the Spurs looked anything but inexperienced featured big shot after big shot and late-game execution against the defending champion who had again finished with the NBA’s best record.

The hard truth about the Spurs letdown

So, were the Knicks better than the Thunder? Even the most loyal New Yorker probably won’t admit as much. How, then were they able to beat Wemby and company in five?

It’s a topic now former assistant coach Sean Sweeney addressed in a recent interview.

“You don’t do what you did, and then all of a sudden become young,” the new Orlando Magic head coach said during The Ryen Russillo Show.

Indeed.

Factor in that the Spurs had double-digit leads in every game they lost and though one may have to look closely, it becomes more apparent that the magnitude of the NBA Finals proved more than a core in the early 20’s could handle. To be sure, there were other specifics. Fox struggled. Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson, Luke Kornet and Barnes didn’t contribute at near the same rate as the regular season. Coach Mitch Johnson could have been better.

Give the Knicks credit. They were able to do what the best in the West couldn’t. They took center stage. A stage the Spurs weren’t ready for.

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