No one manages the regular season quite as well as Gregg Popovich does. He knows that his San Antonio Spurs are going to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, and he knows that they're going to be outmanned when he gets into the second season by star power.
That said, would you bet against this team at this point, even at the twilight of the careers for Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker?
NBA FUTURES ODDS, SEASON WIN TOTAL
Odds To Win the NBA Championship: +390
Regular Season Win Total: 56.5
Coached by other men, the Spurs could have a regular season win total of 60 on their side. However, Popovich knows that punting a few games here and there isn't going to hurt his club in the long run so long as it's ready to go in May.
That's why, in spite of the fact that the Southwest Division is going to be the toughest in the NBA to ultimately win, the Spurs are the second favorites to win the NBA title at just under 4 to 1.
COMING AND GOING
It's all about who's coming in for the Spurs. LaMarcus Aldridge fled Portland to come to one of the best-run franchises in all of sports. David West did the same, the latter of which turned away millions of dollars for a shot at an elusive ring.
Immediately, this is the deepest team in the NBA, if it wasn't already. Sure, Marco Belinelli, Tiago Splitter and Cory Joseph were all casualties due to the newcomers coming in, but there isn't an NBA fan in the world who won't recognize that the silver and black are in much better shape due to a successful offseason.
STAR TO WATCH
It isn't often the Spurs go to the well to sign a free agent. In fact, never before have they given free agent dollars of this size to anyone who wasn't already on their roster. That's why there's a lot of pressure on Aldridge to perform.
Aldridge's presence is going to make it so Duncan doesn't have to play as much, even in the games in which he's a full go. After four straight years of being the alpha-male in the Portland offense though, will Aldridge be able to fit into his role as a man who likely won't score more than about 15 points per game for the Spurs?
That's going to be the real question. Popovich is going to want to use Aldridge as a big threat on the outside to create matchup nightmares, something he did effectively last season for the Blazers.
IN 2015-16, THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS WILL WIN…
53 games.
We're being conservative here with the Spurs because we think it's going to take a little while to get used to not having some of the former role players around.
San Antonio is flat out overrated right now. Yes, this is one of the best teams in the NBA, and yes, it is going to be one of the toughest teams to take out of the playoffs. That said, the West is tough, and no matter who you are, you're going to have to go through a war just to get to the NBA Finals.
The Spurs are going to lose some games here in the Southwest Division this year, and we don't think that Popovich cares all that much.
We buy into San Antonio being a contender this year, but we're selling both the price on its head right now as a bigger favorite than Golden State to win the West, and we're certainly selling this season win total of 56.5 games, knowing that it has only gone beyond 56 wins three times in the last eight seasons.
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