The Spurs still haven’t found a preseason win, but Monday night in Utah offered something more revealing than a final score. With the starters watching from the sideline, two rookies made a strong case that their expected roles may be too small.
Ja'Kobi Gillespie was the headliner. The 42nd overall pick poured in 25 points to lead all scorers, giving San Antonio exactly the kind of pop that can change a roster conversation fast.
Tarris Reed Jr. wasn’t far behind in impact, even if his damage came in a different lane. The 26th pick came away with 17 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, and added four points, four steals and a block.
That kind of night matters because the preseason script had both players pegged for the bottom of the rotation. Reed was supposed to sit behind Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet and mostly live in garbage time.
Gillespie was viewed as a candidate for the final roster spot, a depth option behind De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Jordan McLaughlin. Maliq Brown, David Jones Garcia and Taelon Peter were in that mix too.
For now, they all still are.
But Reed and Gillespie looked like more than hopeful end-of-bench pieces against Utah. With Wembanyama resting, Kornet got the start and finished in 22 minutes without scoring, grabbing three rebounds along the way. Reed’s activity level stood out the moment he got on the floor, and there’s now a real argument that he belongs in the conversation as a backup behind Wembanyama.
Gillespie’s performance may have carried even more practical weight. The Spurs have 14 players on standard contracts, leaving room for one more.
Reed already has that type of deal, and Gillespie is on a two-way contract. Once the season begins, San Antonio can sign him to a one-year deal, which would make him eligible for as many games as the team wants and allow him to play in the postseason.
After a night like this, that possibility looks a lot less like a formality and a lot more like a decision waiting to happen.
In Other News...
Spurs Just Added A Camp Body And The Next Cut Matters
The Spurs filled the open spot on their preseason roster by bringing in free agent forward Terry Taylor on a non-guaranteed training camp contract, a move that gets San Antonio to the preseason maximum of 21 players. To make room, the team waived RJ Davis, and Taylor is widely expected to land with the Austin Spurs, where he can remain in the organization and keep working through camp.
For San Antonio, the transaction is less about the immediate rotation than about the next round of roster trimming, since camp bodies often become the first domino to fall. Taylor brings NBA experience from stints with multiple teams, and the Spurs will also be watching how other clubs manage their own depth, including Sacramentos recent decision to bring back center Viktor Lakhin on an Exhibit 10 deal as injury concerns continue to shape frontcourt plans. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Rookie Battle Is Heating Up After A Brutal First-Round Setback
The Spurs entered camp with plenty of rookie intrigue, but the early picture changed quickly when Jayden Quaintance, the No. 20 overall pick, was expected to miss most or all of his first season after meniscus surgery. For a team already trying to sort out rotations and sharpen its depth, that kind of setback puts extra attention on the rest of the rookie class and how quickly it can help fill in the edges.
Tarris Reed Jr. and JaKobi Gillespie have both flashed in preseason, giving San Antonio something to evaluate as the lineup takes shape around a group that is expected to keep improving. Mitch Johnson has already singled out Gillespies energy and competitiveness, and with Carter Bryant expected to make a leap in his second year, the Spurs have more developmental pieces to monitor than answers locked in place just yet. [Read more 🡒]
De'Aaron Fox Just Changed How Spurs Fans Will View His Finals Struggles
De'Aaron Fox has been around long enough to know how quickly the conversation can turn in the postseason, and he made it clear he does not spend much time swimming in it. After Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Fox said he steers clear of basketball chatter on social media and does not entertain the negative opinions that tend to pile up when a stars production dips at the wrong time. For fans trying to make sense of his struggles, the bigger context now matters: the guard said he was battling through a high ankle sprain he suffered in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Foxs revelation changes the way his playoff run should be judged, especially for a player whose reputation has been built on speed, toughness and staying on the floor. He stressed that he kept competing anyway, even as the injury clearly affected him deep into the postseason. For San Antonio observers, it is the kind of detail that reframes a rough stretch without erasing it, and it leaves the broader discussion where it often ends up in the Finals: somewhere between what the box score showed and what the body was quietly enduring. [Read more 🡒]