Instant Reaction: 3 ways the shocking NBA draft lottery results impact Nuggets future

#3.) Spurs add two more top 8 picks

Then there is the most vaunted young up-and-coming team in the league, the San Antonio Spurs led by their generational phenom Victor Wembanyama. Even as a rookie, surrounded by an uninspiring supporting cast, we saw the wonders of Wemby and how good he can be. He had some memorable battles with Jokic and the Nuggets, including what proved to be a massive win in the regular season’s penultimate game.

It was clear that Wemby was as good as advertised and already on the verge of being one of the best players in the league. The Spurs may have to slightly rethink their strategy as they may be good enough to win with Wemby sooner than anticipated. They’ve got some other solid young players like Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan, plus plenty of cap room and draft capital. The Spurs have a chance to push some chips in this offseason and try to contend as soon as next season.

That mission became even more achievable on Sunday as the Spurs got rewarded with more great lottery luck. Not only did their own pick move up one spot from 5th to 4th overall, but the Raptors saw their pick fall to 8th overall, which means it now belongs to the Spurs (the pick was top 6 protected).

So along with all the other recent good fortune in San Antonio, the Spurs are now armed with two top-8 picks in the draft. They have the ammo to retool this roster around Wemby in a major way. We may well be looking at some new West challengers to the Nuggets in very short order.