The Spurs have a good problem on their hands after adding Tobias Harris, but it’s the kind that can force a real choice when training camp rolls around.
San Antonio now has two legitimate options at power forward, and both come with a case. Harris brings the resume of a proven veteran who has started on winning teams, while Julian Champagnie has already shown he can help the Spurs play at a higher level when he’s in the first five.
Harris makes sense on paper. He started at power forward for a 57-win Detroit Pistons team that reached the Eastern semifinals, and he brings more than a thousand games of NBA experience with nearly 1400 career threes.
Even late in his career, he’s still producing like a player who understands how to bend a defense. He can score in a few different ways, working smaller defenders in the post, taking bigger players off the dribble on closeouts, and knocking down mid-range looks at a high rate.
Defensively, he can handle larger matchups, including Karl-Anthony Towns, even if he’s not an elite stopper.
But the Spurs already have evidence that Champagnie fits the starting group better.
He spent the second half of the season as San Antonio’s starter at power forward, and the team was clearly better with him there. His size, three-point shooting, defense, and rebounding gave the Spurs the kind of balance that works next to De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and Victor Wembanyama. That lineup posted a +17.6 net rating in the regular season, and it was even stronger in the playoffs at +22.4.
That’s not a small sample worth ignoring. It’s the kind of lineup data that tells a coach to stay the course.
For Mitch Johnson, the temptation will be to find a way to get Harris’ scoring into the mix right away. And he should have a role.
Harris is good enough to start for plenty of teams. But the Spurs may be better served keeping Champagnie in the opening lineup and letting Harris bring his offense off the bench.
If Fox bounces back and Castle and Wembanyama keep improving, San Antonio’s best version may already be sitting in front of them. The safer move, and maybe the smarter one, is to leave that group intact and let Harris change games from the second unit.
In Other News...
Spurs Missed On A Dream Target For One Frustrating Reason
The Spurs spent part of the offseason chasing a forward they believed could have fit neatly into their frontcourt plans, with Rui Hachimura drawing interest from San Antonio and several other teams before the market settled. Golden State, Minnesota and Brooklyn were also in the mix, a reminder that Hachimura had plenty of options as he weighed his next move.
San Antonio ultimately had to pivot after missing out, and the answer came in the form of veteran forward Tobias Harris, a steadier addition who helps address the same area of need. The Spurs would have liked to land Hachimura and keep building around a younger, more versatile look, but the search for frontcourt help did not end with one swing. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Send Tarris Reed Jr. A Tough Message Right Away
Tarris Reed Jr. already has a clear early-career assignment in San Antonio, and it has little to do with putting up points. The Spurs took Reed alongside Jayden Quaintance in the 2026 NBA Draft, bringing in the former UConn and Michigan big man with the expectation that his value will come from defense, rebounding and a physical presence around the basket.
In Summer League, coach Corliss Williamson made the message plain: Reeds lane is the gritty stuff, not a featured offensive role. For a Spurs roster that already has plenty of scoring to go around, the rookie will need to earn his way by doing the dirty work and showing he can hold up in the details, with a chance to push into the regular rotation if those traits translate once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]