The Spurs have guaranteed a spot in the playoffs for the first time this year since the 2018-19 season. They are 55-18 so far with nine games left in the regular season.
This young roster, led by the likes of Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and Stephon Castle, will have the home-court advantage over whoever wins the play-in tournament battle of the seventh and eighth seeds.
Nick Young, the former NBA champion, compared their situation to what the Rockets went through last season. A 52-30 regular season record for a second seed finish, only to lose in seven games of the first round against the Warriors.
In his recent appearance on the Gil’s Arena show, Young predicted that they would suffer a first-round exit, just like Houston did last year.
“Don’t worry about the f——-g Spurs,” said Young while discussing the potential matchup for the Timberwolves if they finish in the seventh seed. This began a heated debate between him, Rashad McCants, and Brandon Jennings on the show. Here’s a transcript of their brief discussion.
McCants: “You better be worried about the f——-g Spurs.”
Young: “They’re the Houston Rockets of last year. Number two, young, same thing, Houston Rockets.”
Jennings: “The Spurs have been battle-tested.”
McCants: “Who did the Rockets have last year? They didn’t have Victor Wembanyama.”
The heated discussion escalated into McCant and Jennings emphasizing that the Rockets did not have players equivalent to Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and Stephon Castle.
Young asked to pull up the statistics of the Rockets last season and claimed that Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green were in a similar position to the Spurs with Fred VanVleet.
Young: “It’s the same thing. They’re young, stupid, and they’re going to get their a– whooped. You’re acting like Victor averaged 30; he still averaged 24 points.”
Jennings and McCants still insisted that Wembanyama is the difference maker, and the quality of the supporting cast on the Spurs is much better than what the Rockets had last season.
Nick Young says the Spurs are the Houston Rockets of last year:
“They are number 2, young they are the same thing as Houston last year. They young and stupid, they going to get their a** whipped. Acting like Victor Wembanyama is averaging 30, he average 24 points. They are not… pic.twitter.com/2tlOHxzg9E
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) March 26, 2026
I think Young’s point, although valid, has lost significance due to the team he compared the Spurs to. The Rockets were fully young, and the only player in their rotation at the time with real experience of winning in the playoffs was Fred VanVleet.
Brooks had been to the playoffs but never made it past the second round. Therefore, in terms of players with playoff experience on the roster, the Spurs are at a similar level.
The only two players with real playoff experience on the Spurs are Harrison Barnes, a former NBA champion, and De’Aaron Fox, who made it to the first round with the Kings in 2023.
Therefore, purely in terms of player experience, Young had a reasonable point. However, in terms of the player skill comparison, the Rockets’ key players like Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks were nowhere close to what Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox can do.
Moreover, Wembanyma is already a bigger threat than Alperen Sengun on both ends of the floor. Thus, in terms of purely a skill comparison of the key players, the Spurs are currently much stronger than the Rockets were last season.
I still agree with Young to the extent that any team other than the Suns would be a real test for the Spurs in a seven-game series. However, I wouldn’t go as far as to say they will get their “a– whooped.”
