NBA Insider Zach Lowe Says the Spurs Are Expected to Rebuild 'Sooner Than Later'

Brace yourselves, Spurs fans. After 22 consecutive NBA playoff appearances, it appears that the franchise's streak will be coming to an end.

And once it does, the organization's philosophy will temporarily shift.

In NBA insider Zach Lowe's opinion, San Antonio's move into a complete rebuilding phrase should come "sooner than later," and he's right, unless Gregg Popovich is somehow able to rejuvenate his players and lead them to a bottom seed.

The Spurs are 10-15 and sit 11th in an increasingly competitive Western Conference. They're still right on the bubble of a playoff spot, but come April, they might not have enough steam to hang on to a spot.

The good news for San Antonio is that they have a decent group of core players to build around, including Lonnie Walker IV and Dejounte Murray. However, their six highest-paid players are all 30 or older, with all but Marco Belinelli on the books until after the 2021 season.

They'll most likely be forced to trade DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge away in order to create some cap space while receiving draft picks and fringe-rotation players, best-case scenario. And that's just the beginning of it all.

Every run has to inevitably come to an end at some point. It could be happening to the Patriots right now in the NFL (could be!), and it's going to happen to the Spurs as soon as this offseason.

The fact that San Antonio was able to sustain a playoff-bound team for this long speaks to the culture of longevity that Coach Pop and general manager R.C. Buford instilled within the Spurs locker room. If this is truly it, they had one hell of a run.

Let the tanking wars begin.