Blazers and Spurs Walking a Tightrope of Risk Versus Reward

Philippe was a high-wire artist who famously strolled across a razor-thin wire stretched between the Twin Towers in New York City on August 7, 1974. Had Petit imperfectly shifted an ounce of his weight one direction or the other, and he would have most certainly plummeted the 1,350-feet to an untimely death. He knew the risks. But he also knew the reward. Petit well understood the requirements to get the job done. It took tools, talent, and iron-clad guts to do what he did. But more than anything, it took balance.

The Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs find themselves in a similar situation. Like Petit, they have a long and treacherous walk ahead of them. They both know that one misstep will end in certain doom. But the lure of what lies at the end of their rope — a shot an NBA championship — is too hard to pass up.

Pounding the Rock, the San Antonio’s SB Nation affiliate, recently published an article with this headline: The Spurs aren’t the win-now team they’re acting like… yet. Here author Jeje Gomez discusses the delicate balance of win-now verses win-later:

The Spurs are half a game back from the play-in and two games back from the sixth seed. If the goal is to make the postseason at all costs, then it’s smart to play your best guys and whoever is hot, while limiting the minutes of your inexperienced or ineffective guys.

But is that the Spurs’ goal…?

Do you see the dilemma?

Acting fast and trying hard to earn wins now may be enticing, especially when it’s within reach, but may also result in stunting the growth of your up-and-coming players. Stunt their growth and you risk long-term success.

The Spurs find themselves in a similar predicament as the Blazers. Should they slow down and lose more leading them to land a high lottery pick in 2025 and thus raise the team’s ceiling? Or should they push hard and win now, but risk lowering their ceiling and being doomed to live in mediocrity until their next rebuild?

San Antonio is a .500 team at 15-15 this season. They have a generational talent and bona fide superstar in Victor Wembenyama. In only his second season in the league, Wemby is averaging 25.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks — that’s a crazy stat line for a twenty-year-old! In addition, the Spurs have hall-of-fame point guard Chris Paul. As of this writing Paul is second all-time with 12,144 career assist and the only player in NBA history to earn 20,000 career points and 12,000 career dimes.

Meanwhile Portland is 10-20 this year. Scoot Henderson, drafted No. 3 overall in the 2022 lottery, was highly anticipated to be the Blazers next big star. So far, that hasn’t transpired. Time will tell if it ever will. But they still have several shiny pennies who tease stardom. Toumani Camara, a throw-in from the Phoenix Suns in the Damian Lillard trade, has proven to be a defensive ace at only 24 years old. Shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe has the makings of a future All-Star in only his third season. Sharpe is currently netting 17.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, while shooting a solid 45.6-percent from the floor. Add to that mix Donovan Clingan (5.8ppg, 6.3rpg), this year’s seventh overall draft selection, and recently acquired do-it-all wing Deni Avdija (13.0ppg, 5.8rpg, 3.2apg) and you have a gut of promising youngsters.

Management of both San Antonio and Portland have a difficult decision ahead. Should they go all-in right now, reaching for the playoffs and risk missing out on adding one more talented piece from this year’s stacked NBA draft (Here’s looking at you, Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper)? Or should they embrace growth (and subsequently losing) in order to keep one’s eye firmly fixed on distant future success?

Philippe Petit found it. He found the balance between risk and reward. It paid dividends for him. He made it to the end of his tight-rope wire, achieved his goal, and made history in the process. Will the same be said of the Spurs? More importantly, will the same be said of the Blazers? Like Petit, they are walking their own tight rope. One wrong move in either direction will end in tragedy. They have many of the tools. They have much of the talent. But do they have the guts? And perhaps more importantly, do they have the proper balance?

Only time will tell.