The San Antonio Spurs are still keeping Carter Bryant in a pretty specific lane for now, but the message around him is getting louder: the team wants more, and it expects him to show it in 2026-27.
Bryant barely saw the floor in his rookie season, yet his second year is shaping up as the one where he starts looking like the lottery pick San Antonio drafted. The Spurs are loaded on the wing already.
Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie were in the starting mix last season, Keldon Johnson won Sixth Man of the Year, Harrison Barnes is still around as a reliable veteran, and Tobias Harris joined in free agency. Even with that crowd, Bryant still stands out as the player with the highest ceiling.
That upside has a lot to do with his defense, but the real swing skill is his shooting. In Summer League, where he was the only returning player on the roster, Bryant made it clear that his offensive growth was the priority. He backed that up in San Antonio’s 123-103 preseason win over the Phoenix Suns, scoring 16 points with five rebounds off the bench while knocking down four of seven shots from deep.
If Bryant turns into a dependable volume shooter, he could climb quickly into a major role, even as the third or fourth-best player on the roster. For him, the issue isn’t whether he can defend or do the little things. It’s whether he can bring enough confidence to his jumper to make teams pay.
"I've known I've been a capable shooter," he said after the game. "I think I said it not too long ago, maybe even like last week, just shooting the ball with confidence.
Just the confidence component to my game. I believe I'm very skilled, very talented.
But talent means nothing without confidence at the end of the day. I understand I work hard enough to make shots, handle the ball, defend at a high level, rebound at a high level, do whatever you need me to do on the court.
But that was something that I just really dialed in on this summer."
With Victor Wembanyama, De'Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, and Stephon Castle in the mix, Bryant doesn’t need to force offense off the dribble. The cleanest path for him is to settle into catch-and-shoot opportunities and make those chances count.
Mitch Johnson said Bryant has already started doing that.
"I think he's done a good job of seeing where his shots will come from," praised Mitch Johnson. "I think for young players to expect where their shots will come from and then kind of anticipate, in terms of getting themselves ready, whether that's mentally or physically, for their mechanics. A lot of times, when they shoot good ones, a shooter like Carter, you'll start seeing that where they make shots at a high clip."
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Spurs May Have Found An Early Answer Behind Wembanyama
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Devin Vassell has already noticed, and that matters for a young player trying to carve out a role before the games count. Reed appears to have the edge right now for the third big-man spot, especially with fellow rookie Jayden Quaintance still coming back from a knee procedure, but the Spurs will still have to decide how much of that preseason momentum turns into real minutes once the rotation tightens. [Read more 🡒]