Just 13 games into the San Antonio Spurs regular season, and an intriguing trend has begun to emerge. Backup center Luke Kornet has quickly emerged as a vital piece to the team success. Although he's only appeared in six games thus far, the Spurs are 4-2 with him in the lineup, and he has made a surprisingly large impact offensively.
Although [he was brought in for his defense and rebounding](https://airalamo.com/luke-kornet-already-proving-why-perfect-free-agent-signing-was-crucial-spurs), he has been a far better offensive player than expected, with him proving to be an unlikely lob threat. In fact, he has found a terrific two-man game with Dylan Harper, Victor Wembanyama, and especially Stephon Castle.
Castle found Kornet three different times during the nail-biter Chicago Bulls game, including a clutch alley-oop with less than five minutes left in the game. During the team's first game against the Golden State Warriors, he caught five alley-oops: three from Castle and one each from Wembanyama and Fox.
In fact, over his first six games, he has caught a total of 14 alley-oops, and he is shooting a shocking 77% from the field as a result. That adds a different layer to the Spurs offense, with San Antonio being able to run pick and roll with a more traditional rim-running center.
Luke Kornet is giving the Spurs what they haven't had in years
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That has been missing from the team in recent years, with Victor Wembanyama not being a pick and roll big man. Instead, he often catches and shoots after setting screens as opposed to rolling to the basket.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Sochan is more of an undersized center who can roll to the basket but isn't as good as Kornet as a roll man. However, having an honest-to-goodness 7-foot center who can set hard screens and sprint into the paint—drawing defenses in with him in the process—has given San Antonio's burgeoning offense a big boost.
It's clear that Coach Mitch Johnson trusts him, considering Kornet has already closed most of the games he's played thus far. That has taken minutes away from Sochan but unlocked a tantalizing lineup that includes Fox, Castle, Harrison Barnes, Wembanyama, and Kornet.
Luke Kornet could be the missing piece to the Spurs' playoff hopes
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That lineup only has two shooters. But with Castle or Fox running pick and roll with Kornet, they'd have Wembanyama and Barnes spacing the floor and Kornet providing vertical spacing, giving them a wealth of offensive options.
Especially once Fox gets going, with Kornet being able to free him up with drives. That would allow Fox to effortlessly get to the rim while also freeing Kornet up for more lobs when he rolls to the basket.
Ultimately, Kornet has been a surprisingly good offensive player for the Spurs, with him emerging as a perfect lob threat. He has more than filled the Spurs' need at backup center with his strong play on both sides of the ball, helping to raise the Spurs' floor and potentially their ceiling.