U
Um... no. If they make the western conf finals, get embarrassed, then they're not going to magically surpass the teams that beat them this year.
They will likely run it back but at what cost? Jalen McDaniels is up for an extension. Gobert too. What happens with KAT? Conley, their glue guy, is aging out. The window gets smaller next year, not bigger. The only thing they have going in their favor is Antman gets better.
The worse they do in the playoffs, the more likely they don't rinse and repeat. Regardless, their level of play influences their decisions and where they end up.