The Spurs went into the 2026 NBA Draft with enough young talent to make the whole exercise feel almost optional, then traded up twice anyway. San Antonio came away with Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance at No. 20 and UConn center Tarris Reed at No. 26, but a recent ranking of every rookie wasn’t especially kind to either pick.
That’s the odd part of the Spurs’ draft story: the roster already has Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant, a core that looks plenty stocked with upside. Even so, the front office added two more first-rounders, hoping to deepen a group that already had no shortage of promise.
Reed has at least given people something to talk about. His Summer League showing was strong enough to get some fans wondering whether he could push Luke Kornet for the backup center role next season. But there are real questions about how much he can do on both ends of the floor, and that’s where the shine starts to fade.
Across four college seasons, Reed built a reputation as a winning player who was willing to accept a smaller role if it helped the team.
Quaintance brings a different kind of appeal. The upside is obvious, but injuries have kept him from showing much of it. He sat out all of Summer League and could miss even more time.
"Quaintance had right knee surgery, missed all of summer league and is possibly headed to a redshirt rookie season," wrote The Athletic's Law Murray, before pivoting to Reed. "Reed is a nuts-and-bolts center, but he has to be much better as a finisher, as he made only 40.9 percent of his field-goal attempts despite being mostly paint-bound. The Spurs will likely slot him in as a third-string center."
For a Spurs team that will enter the 2026-27 season as contenders, if not outright favorites, the bar for those rookies is high. Neither player looks close to the starting five, and it may be a stretch to expect either one to crack the rotation at all.
Kornet’s Finals showing may not have been pretty, but he still profiles as one of the league’s stronger backup centers, and San Antonio isn’t likely to rush Wembanyama off the floor. That leaves Reed and Quaintance on the outside looking in, at least for now.
In Other News...
Spurs May Need To Ask A Tough Devin Vassell Question
Devin Vassells role for San Antonio has settled into something more defined over the past season, and the numbers show how steady that became. He played 67 games and started 65 of them, the most starts he has had in any season, while giving the Spurs about 14 points, four rebounds and 2.5 assists a night in the regular season. In a roster that has grown deeper and more balanced, Vassell has still been one of the more reliable pieces, even if his box-score production has drifted a bit from where it was a couple of years ago.
The postseason only reinforced that importance. Vassell started all 23 playoff games and averaged 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, giving San Antonio a consistent veteran presence when the games tightened up. But as the Spurs keep sorting out their long-term rotation, his steady workload also raises a tougher question about where he fits best going forward and whether the teams current shape will ask him to keep carrying the same kind of load. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Fans Have Every Right To Be Furious Over Tim Duncan Debate
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The heart of the argument is era context, and that is where the conversation gets heated. Russell built his legend in a much smaller league with different defensive demands, while Duncan spent nearly two decades holding down the middle for a Spurs team that rarely slipped defensively and often set the standard for the rest of the league. Even at the end of his career, he was still showing up in the metrics that matter, which is why this debate feels less like a simple ranking and more like a challenge to how greatness should be measured. [Read more 🡒]
NBA 2K27 May Have Just Hinted At The Spurs Starting Five
The new NBA 2K27 gameplay trailer gave Spurs fans a fresh look at Victor Wembanyama and several of his teammates, and it did more than just show off the games visuals. Along with the Finals imagery and the new uniforms on display, the trailer also leaned into San Antonios recent rise by revisiting the kind of moment that has changed the franchises trajectory and put a spotlight on the roster around its young star.
What really caught attention, though, was the way the trailer seemed to sketch out a potential starting group for San Antonio. With a newly acquired veteran folded into the mix, the video offered a glimpse at how the Spurs might line up when the real games begin, leaving just enough room for the usual preseason questions about roles, fit and who ultimately gets the nod when the rotation settles in. [Read more 🡒]