The Spurs already have the kind of roster that can beat you from just about anywhere on the floor, and that’s part of the problem. When a team is loaded with talent, it can start trusting pure ability a little too much, and San Antonio spent plenty of time last season making basketball tougher than it needed to be.
That didn’t stop the offense from finishing the year as one of the NBA’s best. But the frustration came from watching all that skill fail to turn into the simplest possible advantage on a given possession.
The Spurs were often good enough to get away with it. That doesn’t mean they were always playing the smartest version of themselves.
The biggest adjustment is pretty straightforward: when the Spurs create an advantage, they need to slow down and cash it in.
Mitch Johnson wants the team to play fast, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The key distinction is between playing with pace and rushing through an opening before it’s fully there. San Antonio can still push the tempo, but once the matchup turns in its favor, the possession should change gears.
Victor Wembanyama is the clearest example. When he ends up with a smaller defender switched onto him, the play should naturally tilt toward him. Instead, he’ll sometimes dump the ball out to reset his position in the post, expecting to get it right back and go to work.
That’s where the possession too often gets away from them. Rather than returning the ball to Wemby, a teammate will swing it to the opposite side or drive into the paint themselves.
And sure, because the roster is so talented, that usually still leads to something positive - a basket, a foul, some kind of payoff. But it’s still harder basketball than it needs to be.
The same logic applies to Tobias Harris and Stephon Castle. If any of them has the edge in a matchup, the Spurs should be leaning into it almost every time. Recognizing that moment matters just as much as feeding a hot shooter or moving the ball crisply around the perimeter.
There’s another layer here, too: energy. For a team that leans on its defense, taking the direct route on offense can help preserve more in the tank for the other end. Over the course of a game, that matters.
This is where the coaching piece comes in. Johnson has to hammer home the discipline to spot the mismatch and attack it with purpose.
It’s a small critique of a team that was already very good last season, but it’s a real one. If the Spurs clean that up, they can make life a lot easier on themselves.
In Other News...
Spurs Have A Real Reason To Watch OKCs Latest Power Play
Oklahoma City keeps finding ways to make life harder on the rest of the Western Conference, and San Antonio has a legitimate reason to pay attention. The Thunders latest move was a two-year, $12 million offer sheet for restricted free agent Spencer Jones, another aggressive swing from a front office that has spent the summer squeezing value out of every angle while piling up future draft leverage.
The ripple effects matter far beyond Denver, where Oklahoma Citys maneuvering has already touched the Nuggets roster and tax situation. Spurs fans should have their eyes on the Thunders broader web of deals too, because Oklahoma Citys transactions with Atlanta can chip away at San Antonios own draft outlook through a swap on the Hawks 2026 first-round pick, a small but meaningful wrinkle in a conference race built as much on asset management as wins and losses. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Rookies Bring One Immediate Frontcourt Question Into Focus
The Spurs latest draft haul only sharpened the conversation around a frontcourt that already looked different after a run to the NBA Finals. San Antonio used two first-round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft to add Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr., giving the group another layer of size around Victor Wembanyama, Luke Kornet and Tobias Harris as the team tries to keep building on its momentum.
Both rookies fit the Spurs long-term need for more depth and physicality inside, but their paths to that role are not identical. Quaintance arrives as a promising piece with a delayed start to his rookie year, while Reed is positioned to make a quicker case for minutes, leaving the Spurs with an immediate question about how quickly this new mix can settle into place. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs May Have Found A Sneaky Move That Matters In June
San Antonio added a familiar kind of veteran insurance in Tobias Harris, a 15-year NBA veteran whose presence should give the Spurs a sturdier look in the frontcourt. The move is aimed at strengthening the power forward rotation and adding another option who can score and handle different lineup combinations, a useful trait for a team still sorting out its depth.
For the Spurs, the appeal is less about changing the top of the roster and more about finding dependable minutes when the second unit comes in. Harris brings the kind of bench scoring and versatility that can settle a game when the offense stalls, and the hope in San Antonio is that a seemingly modest addition now could pay off when the margins get tighter later in the season. [Read more 🡒]