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No. 2: San Antonio Spurs
Last Season: 55-27
T-5th place in West; Lost 4-3 to the Clippers in Round 1
The San Antonio Spurs had accomplished pretty much everything a franchise can during the Tim Duncan era ... except signing a marquee free agent. Aside from their run at Jason Kidd in the summer of 2003, the Spurs had never even been players for the top free agents on the market. The biggest name they'd signed via free agency was either Brent Barry or Rasho Nesterovic.
That changed in a big way this summer, as San Antonio's contracts and the willingness of veterans to take less money lined up perfectly for the Spurs to land the most accomplished free agent to change teams, four-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge. With Aldridge joining the core of the roster that won a championship just 16 months ago and was perhaps the NBA's best team after the 2014-15 All-Star break, the Spurs are poised to make a run at yet another championship.
The other thing San Antonio hasn't done with Duncan is repeat as champions. The Spurs began last season with realistic hopes of defending their title, but they struggled early. Injuries were a major factor -- center Tiago Splitter missed the first month with a calf injury, forward Kawhi Leonard lost a month to a torn ligament in his hand and while point guard Tony Parker stayed in the lineup, he wasn't himself because of a lingering hamstring injury.
San Antonio was 34-23 after losing at Portland on Feb. 25 and nearly as close to the lottery as home-court advantage in the Western Conference. But the Spurs put together one of their trademark runs, reeling off 21 wins in their next 24 games. Still, a loss on the final night of the regular season doomed San Antonio to the sixth seed and a brutal matchup against the L.A. Clippers.
The two West powers waged a seven-game series for the history books, trading blows through a Game 7 that wasn't decided until the final buzzer. Alas, Chris Paul's late jumper eliminated San Antonio for the team's earliest playoff exit since 2011.