The San Antonio Spurs have built something rare enough that you can play a wild little game of “what if” and still come away thinking they’d be fine.
Take away every starter. Yes, all of them.
The whole group goes down with twisted ankles while rounding up chickens on Keldon Johnson’s ranch, and suddenly the bench is forced into the spotlight. Even then, the idea of Mitch Johnson rolling out Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant, Keldon Johnson, Tobias Harris and Luke Kornet doesn’t feel like a disaster.
It feels like a lineup that could steal a win.
That’s the point. San Antonio’s depth isn’t just made up of filler minutes and end-of-roster placeholders. There’s real talent sitting behind the starters, enough to give other teams problems if the Spurs ever had to lean on it.
Harper and Bryant are the headliners in that backup group, and both come with reasons to believe they’ll be even steadier from the perimeter in their sophomore seasons. Harper already has the kind of finishing package that makes life miserable for defenders.
He can get to the paint in a bunch of ways, and when the lane is cut off, his step-back and change-of-direction work stand out. Bryant, meanwhile, looks poised to sharpen his shooting while continuing to bring that “D” that already makes him such a tough assignment.
Then there’s Keldon Johnson, who may not be the favorite of every fan right now, but that has more to do with how much talent is packed onto this roster than any lack of ability. He might not log a ton of minutes this season, but he’d absolutely earn them in a lot of other places.
He’s already shown he can carry a team offensively and score 20 points per game as the focal point. At this stage of his career, he could do that again.
The frontcourt pieces on this second unit give it even more shape. Tobias Harris would slide into the kind of role that suits him best, working as the support player while Harper drives the action. That lets Harris read the defense, make secondary decisions and do damage off the catch.
Luke Kornet would handle the defensive center of the operation, stepping into the Victor Wembanyama role as the anchor. His size helps him set strong screens, which opens space for the ball-handler when the defense has to step up and stop the action.
No, it wouldn’t be flawless. If the Spurs were forced to live that way for a long stretch, they’d drop plenty of games.
But for a short spell? There’s every reason to think they could hang in there.
In Other News...
Spurs Have A Real Reason To Watch OKCs Latest Power Play
Oklahoma Citys latest roster move has a ripple effect that reaches well beyond its own depth chart. By handing out a two-year, $12 million offer sheet to restricted free agent Spencer Jones, the Thunder added another layer to a summer spent pressuring the Western Conferences established teams, and Denver already felt the squeeze as its luxury-tax situation got even tighter in the process.
For San Antonio, the intrigue is less about Jones himself and more about what Oklahoma City keeps doing around the margins. The Thunder also have future first-round picks from Denver, including the 2025 and 2029 selections, and their dealings with Atlanta remain worth monitoring because of how they could influence the Spurs own draft outlook through a swap on the Hawks 2026 pick. In a conference where every asset matters, the Thunder keep finding ways to make their moves matter for other teams, too. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Rookies Bring One Immediate Frontcourt Question Into Focus
The Spurs used their two first-round picks in the 2026 NBA Draft to add more size up front, bringing in Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed Jr. as part of a frontcourt that already includes Victor Wembanyama, Luke Kornet and Tobias Harris. After a recent run to the NBA Finals, the move fits a clear goal: deepen a group that was already one of the most closely watched on the roster.
Even with the new arrivals, the early read on how San Antonios front line will come together is still complicated. Quaintance is working through an injury that will keep him out to open his rookie season, while Reed is the one the Spurs can count on sooner, which makes his role worth tracking as the team tries to sort out how all that size fits together. [Read more 🡒]
Wembanyama May Have Already Given Spurs Their Next Offensive Breakthrough
Victor Wembanyamas postseason usage already offered a glimpse of where the Spurs can push their offense next. San Antonio experimented with putting the 7-foot-4 star in pick-and-roll situations as the ball handler, and the results were hard to ignore, giving him cleaner scoring chances and a more varied path to the basket than the usual big-man menu.
For a team still trying to define the best way to maximize its franchise centerpiece, that matters. Wembanyamas combination of ball screens, three-point shooting and downhill drives could become the Spurs most dangerous offensive lane if they lean into it more often, especially with his post-up game proving less reliable than the rest of his skill set. [Read more 🡒]