The San Antonio Spurs of the early 2020s were a work in progress. In fact, the San Antonio Spurs of early 2025 still very much are. Their starting lineup, however, feels outdated rather than a developing project. Let’s face it, this starting five has no future. And, to put it bluntly, it’s hard to make a case for its present.
6’3 De’Aaron Fox has to start at shooting guard, next to a guy who is even smaller than him. 6’5 Devin Vassell, neither strong nor long enough to play more than emergency minutes at the three, is used as a full-time small forward. 6’8 Harrison Barnes is the power forward who, though he has averaged more than 30 minutes a game for his career, also averages fewer than five rebounds per contest. Bismack Biyombo is a wing-sized center. With tongue firmly in cheek, these are the San Antonio Smalls. And I can’t say I’m a fan.
The reality is, the Spurs’ season is as dead as a doornail. And guys that have a future on this team are forced into positions that are less than ideal to accommodate one concept: Chris Paul as a starter. While Paul continues to do a good job, it just doesn’t make sense to me in the grander scheme of things.
The Sacramento Kings, without Domantas Sabonis, aren’t a particularly tall team either, but they still had a massive height advantage Friday night. They out-rebounded the Spurs 65 to 46. That was the foundation of their superior performance — one rebound equals one possession.
Granted, it’s tough to expect the sans-Wemby Spurs out-rebound anyone. But this team right now isn’t playing to its strengths, and it’s probably not even playing for the best of its future. And that’s a hard pill to swallow.
**Takeaways**
Stephon Castle is quite probably the Spurs’ best fit player right now. Why doesn’t he start? The only explanation I can come up with is that he works so well off the bench. Still, next to Victor Wembanyama, there isn’t a guy on the roster whose future in Silver and Black is as secure as his. He’s a starter in the long term. The question is: Where will he start in the future?
If Fox and Vassell start at the one and the two, Castle will probably start at the three. There are two major problems with that: The Spurs will be undersized from one through three, while lacking shooting all three positions. Fox is who he is: a 33-percent (and therefore below-average) shooter from deep. Vassell, shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc over his career so far, is slightly above average, but hasn’t turned into the deadeye most hoped he could be. And though his advanced metrics are worrying – but they’re not conclusive because he hasn’t played on any well-constructed teams.
Roster construction is something the Spurs need to eventually address. They did well to blow it up at exactly the right time. They’ve done extremely well in positioning Dejounte Murray’s production in order to oversell him in the Hawks trade (it’s staggering that a total of five first-round picks have thus far been traded for a player as limited and inefficient as Dejounte). The most difficult task is ahead, though: finding the right players to build around Wemby. That’s where the picks from the Hawks trade come in, with the first one conveying this off-season.
If Fox, Vassell, and Castle play at the one, two, and three next season, the Spurs must find a better four. While Harrison Barnes has done an admirable job, but the Spurs need a power forward who’s a better shooter and a better rebounder. Let me put it this way: If the Spurs were to call Danny Ainge, I think that would be a good idea.
Maybe it would be a good idea for the Spurs to make some more calls in the offseason. Rumor has it that Mitch Johnson is the favorite for the head-coaching job in case Pop doesn’t return. Considering the latest branches of Pop’s coaching tree, like Ime Udoka or Will Hardy, Mitch Johnson so far doesn’t strike me as a head coach of similar caliber. Year-three Wemby will deserve a coach capable of establishing a working system and making smart adjustments in-game as well as from game to game. So far, I fail to see that from Mitch. But I can remember Becky Hammon whispering tactics into Pop’s ear that ended up working. Could she be at least considered for the role? That would make me a happy Pounder!