The groups for the second edition of the NBA Cup have been announced and the Oklahoma City Thunder are in West Group B. The group contains several other strong conference opponents, including the San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz.
Although it is certainly not an easy group, the Thunder seem to have gotten a favorable draw and were able to avoid many other competitors.
With that in mind, here are the power rankings of each team currently competing in Group B of the Western Conference.
The San Antonio Spurs are in the midst of a rebuild, but they definitely started in the right place. The team is led by the once-in-a-lifetime talent Victor Wembanyama, and he has lived up to expectations since entering the league.
His blocking skills are already unmatched, and with improved offensive power, he will quickly establish himself as one of the most effective two-way players, not just in the league, but of all time. However, his roster is young, inexperienced, and underdeveloped.
Devin Vassell is a great second option and offers the Spurs fantastic shooting on the wing and excellent scoring, averaging just under 20 points per game in 2023-24. Other exciting additions to the Spurs include Stephon Castle, the number four overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, and most importantly, veteran point guard Chris Paul.
Paul and San Antonio are a match made in heaven.
The basketball intelligence and IQ that CP3 and Gregg Popovich bring to the locker room is unmatched, and absorbing and listening to as much as possible from the experienced minds will be extremely important to the development of the young Spurs.
This team is quite capable of pulling off upsets and gaining momentum, and the Thunder experienced that first-hand last season—on March 1, Wembanyama led the Spurs to a 132-118 victory with 28 points and 5 blocks.
Also, there is no doubt that Victor Wembanyama has OKC marked on his calendar for every matchup as the tension and rivalry between him and Chet Holmgren increases. In their short NBA careers, Wembanyama has won the one-on-one battles so far, but Holmgren has a 2-1 record against him.
Spurs are still the weakest team in this group and it would be surprising to see them advance to the knockout stages. They simply don’t have the depth or talent to compete with the other teams in this group and they would probably need to win at least three of their games.
Wembanyama will make a splash this season, but the talent around him is not quite up to his quality yet.
