SAN ANTONIO — Julian Champagnie felt something click in Las Vegas. As he and his San Antonio Spurs teammates converged on NBA Summer League last year to watch their future teammates Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant and David-Jones Garcia make their debuts, he picked up on a vibe.The connection just felt right. The group knew this season was going to be a step forward. Victor Wembanyama was being cleared to return to basketball activity following a blood clot that had ended his season in February. De’Aaron Fox was ready to go as well after a wrist injury. Steph Castle was primed for a step forward after winning Rookie of the Year. Everybody was just ready to see what the next stage of their careers would look like.And they were ready to do it together. From underwater workouts to breaking bread, they found all sorts of things to do as a group before the season ever started. It took a while for the product on the court to truly click, but the vibes were locked in long before that.“The group loves each other. It’s genuine. We’re a tight-knit group,” Keldon Johnson said. “I feel like when you see one of us, you see all of us. That’s how it’s been from the start. I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but it’s been just like it clicked from day one.”Few players have benefited as much as Champagnie. A former two-way player who barely held onto a job in the league, he entered the season as the team’s sharpshooter off the bench. Eventually, he was moved into the starting lineup, replacing veteran and 2016 champion Harrison Barnes in January. Both players handled it with grace; the team took off and has been elite ever since, culminating in an appearance in the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks beginning Wednesday night.“The team has done a really good job of keeping us together, having us do things in Summer League, where it’s team dinner, team activities. You’ve seen the video of Vic in the pool in the summertime. We all went,” Champagnie said. “Keeping ourselves connected and combined. We’ve been doing that since June, July last year. That’s why you come to the locker room, you see us on the court in June this year, it looks like that. It’s credit to that. We’ve been doing that for quite a while now.”They could tell, watching Wembanyama’s offseason workouts, that they were all on board for something special. He was about to charge ahead and disrupt the league, and they were the chosen few there to support it.It’s a lot easier to put aside your own goals in support of the next great thing, knowing that the rising tide will lift all ships. That’s what happened, with Champagnie breaking the franchise 3-point record, Fox returning to the All-Star game and Johnson winning Sixth Man of the Year.“There’s a point where you look in the mirror and you want to be a part of something special or you want to chase personal goals,” Johnson said. “Being here and being throughout this season and winning has been an ultimate reward. It just shows that everything was worth it.”Julian Champagnie has fit right in with the Spurs after bouncing around the NBA. (Christian Petersen / Getty Images)Now they are approaching a place ruled by their Spurs forefathers. It’s no longer easy to say “this is the beginning of a dynasty” — just ask the Oklahoma City Thunder. There hasn’t been a repeat champion since Kevin Durant teamed up with Steph Curry with the Golden State Warriors last decade.