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The San Antonio Spurs plan to finish the season with their current roster despite their trade assets, ESPN’s Michael C. Wright reported Thursday. The coaching staff has been pleased with how quickly rookie Tarris Reed Jr. has progressed, Wright reported.
That roster is 10-2 and second in the Western Conference entering Friday’s 8:30 p.m. CT home game against the Golden State Warriors. After losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 20 and the Houston Rockets on Oct. 23, San Antonio has won 10 straight.
Two of its frontcourt players have yet to play. Veteran forward Tobias Harris is still waiting on his Spurs debut and is listed as day-to-day with a calf injury for Friday, while Jayden Quaintance, the 20th overall pick in June, is listed as out with a knee injury.
Victor Wembanyama is averaging 30.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, and a league-leading 4.4 blocks at center. Behind him, Luke Kornet has appeared in all 12 games and is averaging 3.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in 14.9 minutes.
San Antonio acquired Reed, the No. 26 pick, from the Denver Nuggets for No. 35 and two future second-round picks on draft night. Reed spent two seasons at Michigan and two at UConn.
Tarris Reed Jr. Got His First Real Minutes In Dallas
Reed’s NBA debut lasted one minute, at the end of a 116-104 loss to Oklahoma City on Oct. 20.
Four days later at Dallas, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson sent him in to open the fourth quarter with San Antonio up 92-89. The Spurs stretched that lead to 103-94 during his 3:38 on the floor, according to San Antonio Spurs On SI. Reed grabbed 3 rebounds in the stint and scored his first NBA basket on a feed from Devin Vassell. San Antonio beat the Dallas Mavericks 122-106 for its first win of the season.
Reed had not expected to get into a three-point road game. He prepared for one anyway, studying film and scouting video that first week as though he would play 30 minutes a night, with the glass as his first priority.
“That’s my game,” Reed said. “That’s what San Antonio brought me here to do.”
Through eight games, Reed is averaging 2.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 5.4 minutes on 7-of-12 shooting. His best night came Nov. 2 against the Utah Jazz, with 4 points and 7 rebounds in 7 minutes of a 119-97 win. He played 9 minutes in each of the road wins over the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 7 and the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 9.
Mitch Johnson Pointed To Reed’s Rebounding In The Preseason
On Oct. 12 in Salt Lake City, Reed grabbed 17 rebounds, 8 of them offensive, and added 4 steals in 24 minutes of a preseason loss to Utah. Johnson said afterward that he loved the physicality and the motor the rookie was playing with.
“He just has a nose for the basketball,” Johnson said.
San Antonio reached the NBA Finals last season and lost to the New York Knicks. After Friday, the Spurs visit Utah on Sunday and host the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 17.
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