The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder both turned in their injury reports ahead of opening night at the Frost Bank Center, and there wasn’t much drama on either side.
For San Antonio, Tobias Harris is out and Jayden Quaintance is also out. Oklahoma City listed Nikola Topic, Thomas Sorber, and Otega Oweh as out, with Oweh out for the season.
The notable name to watch was Chet Holmgren. He missed the preseason because of a quad injury, which left some uncertainty around his availability, but he appears ready to go as the Thunder head into the opener close to full strength.
That sets up a rematch-style backdrop for a matchup that already has plenty of heat. These teams met in the Western Conference Finals, and the next chapter arrives Tuesday night with both sides bringing fresh wrinkles.
The biggest one belongs to San Antonio: its new starting five.
Mitch Johnson is expected to roll out De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell, and Victor Wembanyama as the opening unit. Oklahoma City’s likely group features Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams, Chet, and Isaiah Hartenstein.
San Antonio’s guard-heavy look showed promise in preseason against the Suns’ backups and the Sacramento Kings, but that’s a very different test from facing Oklahoma City. The real questions are simple: can the Spurs shoot well enough to make this work, and can they hold up on the glass?
The Fox-Castle-Harper trio didn’t click much last season, though the sample size was limited and the setup around them has changed. This summer gave them something they didn’t have before: a full offseason and training camp together. That mattered, especially after Swipa’s 2025 summer injury kept that process from happening earlier.
Oklahoma City, meanwhile, will answer San Antonio’s new look with size of its own. The Thunder lost Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins in the offseason, but the roster still gives Mark Daigneault plenty of flexibility.
Aday Mara is part of that equation. The 7'3" 2026 12th overall pick out of Michigan made a strong impression in preseason and is expected to have a major role. He was immediately labeled the "Wemby stopper" after being drafted, a tag that puts him right in the spotlight if Victor Wembanyama gets rolling while Mara is on the floor.
Still, this won’t be a one-on-one showdown. Both teams can throw different looks at the problem, and that’s part of what makes this matchup so compelling.
The previous seven-game chess match between these teams wasn’t enough. Tuesday night gives basketball fans another round.
In Other News...
Spurs Just Got A Bigger SGA Problem Than Last Season
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is already a headache for the Spurs, and this preseason suggests the problem may be getting bigger rather than smaller. Oklahoma City is folding more off-ball movement and catch-and-shoot looks into his game, which adds another layer to a scorer San Antonio had already worked to slow down. The Thunder are also getting Jalen Williams back as a secondary playmaker, giving their offense another way to create pressure before Gilgeous-Alexander even catches the ball.
For San Antonio, the challenge is no longer just about picking up SGA at the point of attack and hoping the defense can hold up after that. The Spurs now have to track him through actions away from the ball, while also finding ways to clog Williams' passing lanes and keep Oklahoma City from turning simple movement into easy looks. It is a tougher assignment than last season, and one the Spurs will have to solve if they want to make life uncomfortable for the Thunder again. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Hit With Early Tobias Harris Setback Fans Feared
Tobias Harris arrived as one of the Spurs bigger offseason additions, brought in to add scoring punch and a veteran voice to a young locker room. But the first chapter of his San Antonio stint will have to wait a little longer, after the forward suffered a left calf strain in the preseason and has been ruled out for the season opener.
Head coach Mitch Johnson said Harris is still progressing, but he needs more time on the court before he is ready to go. For a team that signed him to help steady the rotation and provide leadership, the early absence is a reminder that the Spurs will have to open the year without one of the most experienced pieces they added. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs 2022 Draft Class Just Took Another Brutal Hit
The Spurs 2022 draft class has taken a rough turn as preseason roster cuts continue to reshape the league. Jeremy Sochan, Blake Wesley and Malaki Branham, all first-round picks from that class, were waived by their respective teams as clubs trimmed down ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season, a reminder of how quickly early draft momentum can fade when a young player never quite finds a long-term fit.
Sochan was waived by the Knicks after earlier stops with the Spurs and the Blazers, while Wesley and Branham were let go off Exhibit 10 deals and could wind up with G League affiliates. For San Antonio, the bigger picture is hard to miss: the franchise has already moved on to players who bring more versatile offensive tools, leaving that once-promising draft group looking more like a cautionary tale than a foundation. [Read more 🡒]