The San Antonio Spurs have been handed another major vote of confidence heading into the 2026-27 NBA season, with the latest power rankings placing them comfortably above the Minnesota Timberwolves despite Minnesota making one of the summer’s biggest moves.

Bleacher Report has kept San Antonio at No. 2 in its latest NBA power rankings, while the Timberwolves sit three places lower at No. 5.

That ranking is particularly interesting considering everything that has happened in Minnesota this offseason.

The Timberwolves landed Jonathan Kuminga on a two-year contract on August 26, beating out competition from the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers. The agreement also includes a player option for the 2027-28 season.

Minnesota is reportedly viewing Kuminga as a starter alongside Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert, giving the team a dramatically different look heading into the new campaign.

Yet despite the arrival of Kuminga and a series of other major changes, the Timberwolves have not been able to leapfrog the Spurs in the latest rankings.

And there is a very clear reason why.

San Antonio enters the new season with something Minnesota simply cannot match: continuity around a young superstar who has already established himself as one of the league’s most dominant two-way forces.

The Spurs finished last season with an incredible 62-20 record, reached the NBA Finals and eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game Western Conference Finals thriller after initially falling behind 3-2.

Although New York ultimately captured the championship in five games, San Antonio’s run confirmed that this is no longer simply a promising young team.

The Spurs are legitimate contenders.

Spurs’ biggest advantage could be their chemistry

One of the most important reasons San Antonio remains so highly regarded is that the core responsible for its remarkable regular-season success remains intact.

A lineup featuring Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie went an extraordinary 21-3 when playing together during the regular season.

Even more impressive, that group outscored opponents by 18.5 points per 100 possessions, the second-best figure among NBA lineups.

All five players are under contract for the upcoming campaign.

That continuity could prove decisive.

Wembanyama, meanwhile, enters the season as the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and has already secured his long-term future in San Antonio after signing a five-year rookie-scale maximum extension in July.

The extension is projected to be worth approximately $252 million, beginning with the 2027-28 season, although potential escalators could have pushed its value close to $303 million.

San Antonio also made another important financial commitment to Champagnie, declining his $3 million team option before handing him a fully guaranteed three-year, $45 million extension.

Then there is Tobias Harris.

The veteran forward signed a two-year, $31 million contract after averaging 13.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists for Detroit last season.

His experience could give San Antonio another reliable piece as the franchise attempts to take the final step from contender to champion.

Minnesota has made huge changes

The Timberwolves certainly haven’t stood still.

Their offseason included the acquisition of LaMelo Ball, while Julius Randle was sent to Brooklyn and Naz Reid was traded to Charlotte.

Kuminga now becomes another significant addition to a roster already led by Edwards and Gobert.

But the question is whether all those changes will immediately translate into better results.

Minnesota finished last season 49-33 before being eliminated in the conference semifinals.

San Antonio, by contrast, went all the way to the Finals.

That difference appears to be driving the latest power-ranking decision.

There is also an argument that the Spurs didn’t actually need to make many major moves this summer.

Bleacher Report’s assessment was that San Antonio entered the offseason with “few (if any) needs,” meaning internal development alone could have been enough to make the team even better.

The arrival of Harris adds another layer of veteran quality, while the continued development of Wembanyama, Castle and Dylan Harper could potentially make the Spurs even more dangerous.

Harper, in particular, has already prompted discussion about whether he could eventually force his way into the starting lineup.

The real pressure is now on San Antonio

Being ranked second brings its own expectations.

After reaching the NBA Finals last season, the Spurs are no longer operating under the radar. Opposing teams know what Wembanyama can do, and expectations around San Antonio have risen dramatically.

The franchise is also operating above the $165 million salary cap, although it remains below the $209 million first apron and retains its $5.1 million bi-annual exception.

In other words, this is a team preparing to compete now.

The Timberwolves, meanwhile, have plenty of reasons to believe their revamped roster can surprise people.

But the latest rankings suggest NBA analysts still believe San Antonio is further along in its development.

And if Wembanyama takes another leap, that gap could become even more difficult for Minnesota and the rest of the Western Conference to close.

The Spurs open their 2026-27 campaign on October 20 against Oklahoma City.

By then, the rankings will no longer matter.

San Antonio will have to prove on the court whether it deserves to be considered one of the NBA’s biggest championship threats — and after what happened last season, expectations could hardly be higher.