The San Antonio Spurs’ second unit looks like it could become a real problem for opponents, and that might be the clearest sign yet that this team is built to survive the minutes without Victor Wembanyama.
After what stood out in their first preseason game, the bench no longer looks like a patchwork group trying to stay afloat. It feels more intentional than that.
The Spurs didn’t tear the unit down and start over; they sharpened it. Tobias Harris, Tarris Reed Jr., and the returns of Keldon Johnson, Dylan Harper, and Luke Kornet give San Antonio a bench with far more punch than it had a year ago.
That matters because the non-Wembanyama minutes have to stop being a problem area. Great teams usually survive their stars’ rest stretches, but they don’t always thrive in them. San Antonio might be different.
Harper looks ready to be the engine of that group. He’s capable of carrying the offense for the second unit, and that alone could lift a bench that ranked ninth in scoring last season. If he can climb from 11.9 points per game to something closer to 16.5, the Spurs’ reserves should do more than tread water.
And that’s before you even get to the rest of the rotation. The starting five already includes two all-stars, Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, plus a group that gives San Antonio a serious edge from the opening tip.
The challenge is making sure that advantage doesn’t disappear when Wembanyama sits. Last season, that wasn’t easy for opponents anyway, since he posted a staggering plus 21.3 net rating.
He was on the bench for 19 minutes per game, and teams still struggled to make up ground.
Now the Spurs may be in position to keep pushing instead of simply holding on.
Harper’s ability to get to the rim opens the door for a useful two-man game with Kornet, who brings exactly what a guard like that needs: strong screens and a clean roll to the basket. Johnson adds the kind of relentless effort that changes possessions, and Harris gives the second unit a steady shooter and a scorer who can do a little of everything.
The depth doesn’t stop there. Harrison Barnes opened last season as a starter, but he now sits third on the team’s depth chart at power forward.
Even so, he still has plenty left, and he shot the ball much better once he moved to the bench. Reed Jr., meanwhile, looks ready to give the Spurs immediate help at center.
That could be huge if Wembanyama ever misses time, because San Antonio finally has a third center it can trust. And even if he’s healthy and simply resting, the Spurs should be in far better shape than they were a season ago.
For a team with Finals ambitions, that kind of bench could end up being the difference.
In Other News...
Spurs Are Finally Testing A Lineup That Could Define This Season
Mitch Johnson is using the preseason to take a first real look at a guard-heavy look that could shape the Spurs season, naming Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle and DeAaron Fox as starters for an upcoming exhibition. Harper showed enough promise last season to make this feel like more than a routine early-October experiment, and San Antonio clearly wants to see how his game fits alongside two established guards who can handle the ball, push pace and create stress for defenses.
The focus now is less on results than on fit. The Spurs want to sort out spacing, ball movement and defensive balance with this trio on the floor, using these preseason minutes to build chemistry and learn how much they can ask of the combination. It is the kind of lineup question that can linger well beyond the exhibition schedule, because the answer could help define how San Antonio structures its backcourt rotation when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
P.J. Washington Is Already Shaping A Mavericks Rookie Behind The Scenes
The Spurs got an early look at Dylan Harper in Fridays preseason opener, even if the lineup script changed before tipoff. Mitch Johnson had planned to start Harper in place of Julian Champagnie, but the personnel shuffle opened the door for Champagnie to keep the spot while Harper still made a strong first impression, giving San Antonio another reminder of why his arrival has become such a focal point for the fall.
Harpers debut fit neatly into a broader camp theme around the Spurs: the young core is being asked to grow fast, and the veterans are being asked to help steer it. Johnson and several players have already pointed to Devin Vassells progress as a leader, while across the division, Dallas has shown how much behind-the-scenes teaching matters, with P.J. Washington already working with rookie Morez Johnson Jr. on the Mavericks side of things. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Face A Big Backcourt Decision Around Dylan Harpers Growth
Dylan Harpers second season could turn into one of the Spurs more interesting developmental forks, because the path to his growth is tied directly to how San Antonio sorts out its backcourt responsibilities. The idea is straightforward enough: if Harper is going to keep expanding as an offensive threat, the Spurs may need to let him spend more time as the primary initiator, where he can learn to run the show instead of simply fitting into it.
That is where Stephon Castle comes in, since the conversation around the roster has increasingly centered on whether he is better used in a secondary playmaking role or as more of an off-ball presence. For San Antonio, the appeal is obvious. Getting both guards into the spots that suit them best could sharpen the offense and make the pairing more natural, but the bigger question is whether the Spurs are ready to commit to that kind of hierarchy this early in the process. [Read more 🡒]