The San Antonio Spurs will have to wait before getting a look at Jayden Quaintance in Summer League action. The rookie big man is set to sit out the entire 2026 NBA Summer League while he continues recovering from a right knee injury, though he will still travel with the team to San Francisco and Las Vegas.
Even without playing, Quaintance has already made his presence felt around the group. Summer League head coach Corliss Williamson said the 18-year-old has been active in practices and around his teammates.
"He's here at every practice. He's engaged.
Good young man. I like his talent and look forward to seeing him for some years," Williamson said.
The Spurs are being careful with him because of a lengthy injury history. Quaintance tore his ACL and meniscus as a freshman at Arizona State, then had ACL surgery in February 2025.
His knee issues carried over to Kentucky, where he appeared in only 4 games last season. Swelling has remained a concern, and he is expected to need another procedure to permanently stabilize the joint.
The team has said he may not be available to play in the NBA until around December, which leaves his status for training camp in the fall uncertain.
For now, Quaintance is being treated as a long-term development piece, and San Antonio has enough frontcourt depth to handle his absence. The Spurs re-signed Luke Kornet and landed UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. in a draft-night trade, giving them two more big-man options behind Victor Wembanyama while Quaintance works back.
General manager Brian Wright made size and defensive talent priorities in the 2026 NBA Draft, and the organization still sees Quaintance as a player with major defensive upside. But the Spurs clearly aren’t in a rush to push him into a major role.
Quaintance won’t be the only young Spur waiting his turn. Carter Bryant, the team’s top prospect and a 2025 first-round pick who logged minutes during San Antonio’s NBA Finals run, is not expected to play until the team gets to Las Vegas.
That means he will also miss the California Classic in San Francisco. With Bryant sidelined early, more of the initial workload shifts to Reed, Tennessee guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie, and Duke forward Maliq Brown, the other rookies working under Williamson.
San Antonio opens the California Classic against Miami on Friday, July 3, at 7 p.m. CT at Chase Center in San Francisco before heading to the NBA 2K Summer League in Las Vegas the following week, where Bryant is expected to make his summer debut.
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