Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley called the Spurs’ bench issues an “overreaction” in his roundup of every NBA team’s start, but that label doesn’t really fit what San Antonio has shown so far. The numbers and the eye test point the same way: this second unit has not been nearly as reliable as the record suggests.
Buckley’s own breakdown backs that up. He has the Spurs’ reserves 19th in offensive efficiency and 18th in net rating, and he says the group has gone from creating advantages to simply hanging on.
For a team sitting at 10-2, that’s a pretty quiet warning sign, even if the starters have carried plenty of the load. San Antonio did get a boost last night in Chicago, where Keldon Johnson, Luke Kornet, and Carter Bryant helped close out a win, but the bigger issue has been consistency.
Compared with last season, the drop-off is hard to miss. Johnson was a bona fide Sixth Man of the Year candidate a year ago, putting up 13.2 points off the bench, and Dylan Harper was right there with him as a productive reserve. Seven Spurs finished last season in double figures, and Harrison Barnes was just a tenth of a point shy of making it eight.
That’s not the shape of this roster now. Only six Spurs are scoring at least 10 points per game, and Julian Champagnie is the only reserve in that group.
Johnson is down to 8.0 points per game on 44.6% shooting, Barnes is at 5.5, and Kornet is at 3.4. The result has been a second unit that has, at times, simply tried to survive its minutes.
Harper’s move into the starting lineup changed the equation, too. He was expected to be the Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner before the announcement that he’d start, and he’s averaging 18 points in that role. The production makes the decision easy to defend, especially with the way his case for a bigger role has grown since last season’s playoffs.
But the bench lost something important when Harper moved up. Champagnie has been excellent as a floor spacer, but he isn’t the kind of creator who can manufacture offense for everyone else. He’s more of a pressure-release option than a player who can ignite a unit on his own.
The Spurs were also counting on Tobias Harris to help steady that group, but a calf strain has kept him sidelined. Buckley pointed out that Johnson and Barnes can still offer more, and that seems fair.
The same goes for Tarris Reed Jr., who deserves a longer look at some point. ESPN’s Michael C.
Wright reported that the Spurs’ staff has been “pleased” by Reed’s progress, so it would make sense to see him get meaningful minutes.
In Other News...
Wembanyama Just Gave Spurs Fans Another Unreal Moment To Debate
Victor Wembanyama keeps finding new ways to make the ordinary look absurd, and his latest highlight came in the third quarter against the Bulls. The Spurs big man launched into a two-hand dunk from the free-throw line, the kind of play that instantly turns a regular night into another entry in the growing Wembanyama highlight reel.
It also came in the middle of a game where he was already stuffing the stat sheet, with San Antonio ahead in the fourth quarter and Wembanyama sitting on 32 points, eight rebounds, two steals and four blocks. Given the way he has been playing all season, with elite production on both ends and a shooting touch to match, the only real debate left is how many more moments like this he can still create before the league runs out of ways to react. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Have A DeAaron Fox Problem They Cant Ignore
DeAaron Fox has been one of the Spurs most important creators since arriving from Sacramento, and the ball is in his hands more often than ever. He still leads San Antonio in assists, which speaks to how much the offense has leaned on him to organize possessions and get others involved, but the scoring punch that once made him such a difficult cover has not traveled with him.
Fox is averaging 13.9 points per game this season, a steep drop from the level he showed when the Spurs acquired him. The bigger concern is not just the number itself, but the way it has come about: he looks less aggressive hunting his own shot, and that shift has put his offensive role under the microscope while also raising questions about how the league will view his trade value if this version of him sticks around. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Hot Start Still Leaves One Big Tobias Harris Question
Nine straight wins have given the Spurs plenty to like early, but the one major piece they have not yet been able to factor in is Tobias Harris. His absence has left San Antonio to keep sorting through a rotation that is already working, even as the veteran forwards expected return looms as a potential boost in size and shooting.
Harris is the kind of addition that can change the shape of a lineup without forcing the Spurs to tear up what has gotten them off to such a strong start. The open question is where he fits once he is available, since his role could be determined by the coachs decisions and could land anywhere from the starting five to a more defined bench role. [Read more 🡒]