Saves Denver a ton of guaranteed money and they have cap issues

Well that is a nice surprise. Got some much needed size.

FTAG 2000 said:

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Reed pick makes me feel a million times better about the JQ stretch off.

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Saaaaaaaaaame

Cavs did the same thing as Denver

Surprised to see Karaban go in the first

Sources: Cleveland is trading No. 29 to Sacramento for No. 34 and a future second-rounder. The Kings are interested in UConn's Alex Karaban at 29.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 24, 2026

Spurs get Tarris Reed for win now help inside while Jayden is the long term bet.

Tough rebounder, elite finisher, can create offense as a hub. He’ll be the threat to score in secondary actions that Kornet was not.

He will be a harder cover for teams in DHOs as a hub around the… https://t.co/xSf7Yt1nGp

— Eric Salinas (@EricSal_7) June 24, 2026

Dang wanted Karaban. I like Jack Kayiil out of Germany, major project.

Mavs traded to shot Sergio La whatever. I really liked him. Good pickup

Who do y'all want at 42 and 44? Veesar will be gone, or i would trade both of those picks for him.

Guitarsoup said:

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Mavs traded to shot Sergio La whatever. I really liked him. Good pickup

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He has some Ginobli in him. He might end up being one of the top 4 or5 players in this draft.

I wish Cenac would have been the 2nd pick, even though he's a project, he was the last player on the board that has the potential to be a 3 and D forward that could play offensively alongside Wemby.

I don't hate the Reed pick, but it's hard to envision him sharing the court with Wemby which limits his role tremendously. Even more so when you account for Luke's presence unless the plan going forward is to not play Like at all and give the non Wemby minutes to Reed.

Hollinger's analysis: I would have liked to see San Antonio select a true power forward sitting right there in Karim Lpez. However, the temptation to snag Quaintance and, if healthy and he hits, pair him with Victor Wembanyama was possibly just too tempting for San Antonio. Questions about Quaintance's health and offense had hurt his draft stock. I think the Spurs could have moonwalked back a few spots and still made the same pick. Grade: B-

When I watch Quaintance, the name that comes to mind most is Robert Williams III, who has been one of the best defensive players in the NBA when healthy. Williams and Quaintance have a tremendous blend of length and fluid athleticism that allows them to be proactive on defense instead of reactive.

If you told me Williams was going to be healthy for a significant portion of his career, he'd be worth a top-10 pick. In that vein, as long as his knee recovery goes off without a hitch, I feel similarly about Quaintance. He's versatile defensively in a way that allows you to keep offenses guessing. You can switch, play at the level or play drop coverage and be successful in any situation. That makes life harder for offenses trying to plan for what you're going to do. And Quaintance's offensive game should be just good enough within a motion offense when you start to get him on the move and making decisions that he'll be valuable on that end.

I don't know that I see massive offensive upside for him unless he undergoes outlier jump-shot development an area for improvement that I still see as worthwhile for him but his defense has a chance to be game-changing in the NBA. It's hard to find potential All-Defensive guys; he's one of them.

I buy Reed as a solid backup big man in the NBA. He's big, physical and unafraid of contact. He's exceptionally strong and can hold his ground on the interior against physical drivers and bigger post players. He has consistently been an elite rebounder who will help you win the possession game and has good touch around the basket.

Defensively, there is room for improvement, and I'm curious to see how the jump shot develops, even though it's hard to project him as a shooter. He lacks elite size and athleticism, and that will likely stop him from reaching NBA-starter level. But the league is always looking for bigger bodies who can come in and play 15 minutes per night, and Reed can probably do that. He should stick around and be useful for a while. He is above the Adama Sanogo line, to compare him to another Connecticut big, as a potential backup center because he's bigger and more versatile on defense.

Hollinger's analysis: Spurs off the top rope with two second-round picks to move up from No. 35 and select … another center? I'm confused. Is Victor Wembanyama moving to power forward? I thought they tried this with Luke Kornet last year, and it didn't work? Anyway, San Antonio has acquired another basketball player, one I didn't have a first-round grade on but who can likely stick as a backup. You have to think he would have helped the team that traded the pick (Denver) more than San Antonio. Grade: C-

UCONN players are a bunch of team first winners too.

Sign me up! Wish either of them had an inkling of a 3pt shot to build on but guess they wouldn't be there in the 20s if they did.

San Antonio Spurs young core (25 & under):

Jayden Quaintance - 18
Dylan Harper - 20
Carter Bryant - 20
Stephon Castle - 21
Victor Wembanyama - 22
Tarris Reed Jr. - 22
Julian Champagnie - 24
Devin Vassell - 25

Best young core in the league and they just made the NBA Finals. WOAH

— Zach (@ZachNBA_) June 24, 2026

So where do we go from here for the rest of the draft and FA? Are we still looking for a more traditional PF and we need more shooting?

Makes me think of that stat where with Wemby off the court we had one of the worst Defensive ratings in the league.

I wouldn't give the Spurs a C- since the cost to move up was so low, but I definitely share the concerns about how the minutes workout between Luke and Tarris. You usually don't take a big in the 1st round planning for him to be your 3rd string guy.

Guitarsoup said:

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I buy Reed as a solid backup big man in the NBA. He's big, physical and unafraid of contact. He's exceptionally strong and can hold his ground on the interior against physical drivers and bigger post players. He has consistently been an elite rebounder who will help you win the possession game and has good touch around the basket.

Defensively, there is room for improvement, and I'm curious to see how the jump shot develops, even though it's hard to project him as a shooter. He lacks elite size and athleticism, and that will likely stop him from reaching NBA-starter level. But the league is always looking for bigger bodies who can come in and play 15 minutes per night, and Reed can probably do that. He should stick around and be useful for a while. He is above the Adama Sanogo line, to compare him to another Connecticut big, as a potential backup center because he's bigger and more versatile on defense.

Hollinger's analysis: Spurs off the top rope with two second-round picks to move up from No. 35 and select … another center? I'm confused. Is Victor Wembanyama moving to power forward? I thought they tried this with Luke Kornet last year, and it didn't work? Anyway, San Antonio has acquired another basketball player, one I didn't have a first-round grade on but who can likely stick as a backup. You have to think he would have helped the team that traded the pick (Denver) more than San Antonio. Grade: C-

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I was thinking Reed was going to be a power forward, and Quantance a Defensive backup big to Wemby. Kornet kind of disappeared in the playoffs. When the spurs played their 3 point guards, Vasser and Wemby, on offense they had no interior presence. They pushed wemby outside the arc.

Cave Johnson, CEO said:

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So where do we go from here for the rest of the draft and FA? Are we still looking for a more traditional PF and we need more shooting?

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I think we go with best player available and hope for the best. Just looking for somebody to make a two contract at this point.

Reed is as pure of a center as you could imagine. 4 years in college and he made exactly 1 three pointer.

He has a good power offensive game with some bully ball potential, but as Hollinger mentions, Wemby would have to roam the perimeter to give Reed the room to use that power game. And maybe that's the big lesson of tonight, maybe Wemby wants to be more of a perimeter oriented scorer.

I don't know that either of these players fit great next to Wemby, at least at first glance and against the elite teams, since neither is an outside threat to clear the lane for Harper and Castle. At a minimum should spell him some more rest and provide defense. I see both as younger, more athletic Kornet like players that won't be as exposed on the perimeter.

I personally think we still need at least two players that can improve our shooting and ideally an athletic stretch 4 that can defend, rebound and shoot the 3.

Of course, I think there is a chance that we don't go after a PF at all and we all were looking at this differently than the front office. Perhaps Wemby is that PF that we all think we need, who rebounds, defends, stretches the defense and provide the elite outside shooting and these two end of being the primary paint protectors when Wemby gets pulled outside. Maybe we all thought we needed a PF and really we needed a center. Interesting thought to consider,. depending on what we do via trade or free agency.

AggieEP said:

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Reed is as pure of a center as you could imagine. 4 years in college and he made exactly 1 three pointer.

He has a good power offensive game with some bully ball potential, but as Hollinger mentions, Wemby would have to roam the perimeter to give Reed the room to use that power game. And maybe that's the big lesson of tonight, maybe Wemby wants to be more of a perimeter oriented scorer.

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Beat me too it, by a minute. That may be exactly what this is signalling. At least at this point of Wemby's career.

I would guess the Spurs are content on having Quiantance not contributing this year and let the knee heal up(hopefully) after the upcoming surgery.

AggieEP said:

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I wouldn't give the Spurs a C- since the cost to move up was so low, but I definitely share the concerns about how the minutes workout between Luke and Tarris. You usually don't take a big in the 1st round planning for him to be your 3rd string guy.

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Luke will be primary C behind Wemby entering the season but this draft tells you all you need to know about how the Spurs view him and his long term outlook here.

It will be interesting to see how Reed plays with Wemby in year 1. I can see it going both directions. Maybe it allows Wemby to play more of an extreme Dirk kind of role with more time on offense on the perimeter or maybe the intent is a second team center improvement as Kornet was borderline unplayable the last two series. If we got just a touch more out of our second unit, we probably win it all. So maybe a 1st round pick is worth it for a backup Center just for that alone for a team that was that close to winning it all.

I'm very curious who else we go after now in free agency to see if it leans one direction.

The other thought, is these are just good basketball players and this team and Wemby is like a chameleon that can play and beat you a bunch of different ways, so maybe we are just collecting talent and needed some bigs and time will tell how it fits together without any grand strategy behind it.

You can almost bet your ass Kornet will be going with Fox when that trade materializes. After the upcoming season he's basically an expiring deal for 27-28 with a team option for a 2nd year.

If he doesn't go when we ship Fox he will probably find his way into another trade.

Cave Johnson, CEO said:

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So where do we go from here for the rest of the draft and FA? Are we still looking for a more traditional PF and we need more shooting?

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I think MAYBE we take someone in the 40s, but I think more than likely we call it a day unless we figure out a deal with someone we love.

Trade those 2nds for future seconds.

In free agency, we still need a starting PF and a backup PF. Assume Quintance isn't playing at all this year to be super conservative.

Current Roster:

C: Wemby - Kornet - Reed
PF: ???? - ???? - Quintance
SF: Vassell - Julian - Bryant
SG: Castle - Keldon - ????
PG: Fox - Harper - ????

We still need PFs.

Assets:

MLE: We can trade a player in making up to 15M or sign a player. We can split between multiple players via FA or trade.
BAE: We can sign a player for up to 2y starting at ~5M.
Bird rights: We can resign our old players
Vet Min

Bring back Jordan McLaughlin
We can trade for or sign a FA to play PF.

PFs to trade:
Jalen Smith has 1y9M left. Would love to send off a couple seconds for him.
Jarace Walker has 1y8M left. With Zubac, Huff, Pascal, and Toppin, he is odd man out.
Beef Stew could be traded into the MLE
Portis is off the table.
Grant Williams is undersized and not well liked as a teammate
Royce ONeale or DJJ for undersized older guys

FA PFs:
Dean Wade. Great role player.
Kenrich Williams. Honestly, split the MLE between those two and I am cool.
Marvin Bagley
Rui: awful rebounder and passer, gives intermittent effort on defense, shooting doesnt make up for it IMO
John Collins: Do you love missed rotations and defensive assignments? He's your guy. Spurs have passed on him multiple times when he was only valued as a 2nd round pick in a trade.
Tobias. Same as Harrison Barnes, but different
NBA Champion Jeremy Sochan

Dean Wade+ Kenrich Williams would be perfect. JQ can stay on the bench and play someday in the future. Wade and Kenrich can shoot and play quality minutes on defense. Kenrich was kind of like a Keldon soul of the LockerRoom guy for OKC.

For that last guard position, IDK draft some guy and hope he works out of give DJG a contract. Or bring back Barnes.

Wemby - Kornet - Reed
Wade - Kenrich - JQ
Vassell - Julian - Bryant
Castle - Keldon - DJG
Fox - Harper - Jordan McLovin

That's a killer team.

2h ago
Jared Weiss
Staff Writer reporting from Victory Capital Performance Center

Spurs first-round pick Jayden Quaintance says he still has a little pain in his knee and will need another procedure to clean up his meniscus, which has not been scheduled yet.


So assume a redshirt year.

Jayden Quaintance makes perfect sense from a skill perspective as a long-term backup to Victor Wembanyama that can serve as a defensive linchpin for the second unit and keep the ball moving as a short-roll passer in the pick-and-roll.
The finals showed the Spurs' biggest need is a backup five that can give Wembanyama the rest he needs in big games. The Spurs can't be afraid to play their backup center as many minutes as needed. A healthy Quaintance can be that guy.
But the ACL tear remains a concern. The Spurs must be confident in their medical evaluation of him, because his defensive ability is lottery-worthy if he can be healthy.
Perhaps the Spurs figured that at this spot, they might as well take a big swing here and take on the medical risk.

Sam Vecenie's Preview

Analysis
When I watch Quaintance, the name that comes to mind most is Robert Williams III, who has been one of the best defensive players in the NBA when healthy. Williams and Quaintance have a tremendous blend of length and fluid athleticism that allows them to be proactive on defense instead of reactive.

If you told me Williams was going to be healthy for a significant portion of his career, he'd be worth a top-10 pick. In that vein, as long as his knee recovery goes off without a hitch, I feel similarly about Quaintance. He's versatile defensively in a way that allows you to keep offenses guessing. You can switch, play at the level or play drop coverage and be successful in any situation. That makes life harder for offenses trying to plan for what you're going to do. And Quaintance's offensive game should be just good enough within a motion offense when you start to get him on the move and making decisions that he'll be valuable on that end.

I don't know that I see massive offensive upside for him unless he undergoes outlier jump-shot development an area for improvement that I still see as worthwhile for him but his defense has a chance to be game-changing in the NBA. It's hard to find potential All-Defense guys; he's one of them.

Strengths

• Extremely long athlete. Came in at 6 feet 9 with a 7-5 wingspan at the combine. You can feel that length on the court, especially on the defensive end. His hands were among the biggest ones measured at the combine as well.
• Quite coordinated. Moves fluidly for his size and has quick hips that can flip and turn with ease. More of a functional athlete with an intersection of strength and quickness as opposed to an explosive one with his movements vertically or in a straight line with his first step.
• Quaintance is at his best on defense. Has a chance to be an All-Defense guy in the NBA if things break right with his development. Has natural instincts for using his athleticism and keeping offensive players guessing, and he also covers an immense amount of ground.
• I love Quaintance's defense in ball screens. He's versatile in how he can play within them. At Arizona State, Quaintance had no problems playing in drop, playing at the level or even hedging screens at times. He also showed some switchability, even if I wouldn't necessarily call him a lock-down defender on the perimeter against opposing guards. He should have no problem allowing defensive coaches in the NBA to get creative with him schematically in how they play. Will be a versatile defender who plays within multiple coverages.
• Whereas many bigs in ball-screen coverages are reactive to what the offense presents, Quaintance is proactive. I love him at the level of a screen more than anything. Should be a weapon against pull-up specialists out of ball screens in the NBA. When playing at the level of a screen, Quaintance will jab-step or stunt out to ballhandlers to drive them backward, then recover back into his position with ease. Has very active hands in these moments. Because he's so long, defenders have to be cognizant of where his hands are as he goes for the ball. Can easily get little deflections if a ballhandler is laissez-faire with his handle. But then he'll immediately recover and get back into position to cover the rolling big or stay attached to the guard.
• Because he's so long, Quaintance takes up space in the gap between ballhandler and roller. Very good at baiting offensive players into doing what he wants them to do. Loves to play the cat-and-mouse game with those little stunts and lunges to the ballhandler. Often gets deflections. Has enough fluidity and speed to recover back into plays after he plays aggressively at the level or even in drop.
• In drop, he has enough length to react and get out to pull-up shooters for a reasonable contest. Seems to catch opposing players by surprise with his length. Blocks an inordinate number of jump shots because of how quick his reaction time is and how long his arms are.
• Quaintance is also a tremendous rim protector. Rotates well across the paint. Always makes himself available to help out his teammates if they get beaten (and they got beaten often at Arizona State). Unbelievable recovery defender and playmaker. Swatted 2.6 shots per game at Arizona State, which was third in the Big 12.
• Despite not being massive for a center, he's a good post defender. Does a good job playing with bend and bodying up on the block, then uses his length well to force defenders to shoot over the top of him. Great with verticality. Excels at using little pokes on entry passes and uses his length to try to get deflections from behind.
• Offensively, Quaintance's best skill is his ability to crash the offensive glass. Averaged three offensive rebounds per game at Arizona State. Very good at trailing his roller and cleaning up misses. Also good with tip-outs. Seemed to get about one put-back bucket per game. Uses his length well to high-point the ball despite not leaping all that high.
• Has some capable moments as a ballhandler for a big man. Comfortable with the ball in his hands. Can string together some crossovers on the perimeter and put the ball on the deck. Doesn't typically get much of anywhere, but he will have no issues running dribble handoffs and different actions on the perimeter with ballhandlers.
• Quaintance is also a sharp passer, particularly in short rolls.This will allow him to play on the perimeter with the ball and be involved in actions as a big. Averaged 1.5 assists per game at Arizona State, but I thought he threw more impressive passes than that. Makes quick reads when he sees advantages open up. Can hit high-low dump-offs out of short rolls. Hit an occasional kickout. Also had some nice moments hitting cutters from the top of the key. Because he's so young, Quaintance should continue to grow in this regard and become a playmaker.
• As a scorer, Quaintance is best in the dunker spot. Has solid hands and catches most balls in his area. Good at sinking into soft areas of the defense around the rim and creating open opportunities for dump-offs. Uses his length well to finish. Didn't create much pressure at the rim, taking under three attempts in half-court settings per game, but made shots at the rim efficiently. Hit 69.1 percent of his attempts at the rim at Arizona State, which is an above-average number. Averaged about one dunk per game.
• Quaintance showed some upside as a pick-and-roll diver, but he didn't get many chances to do so because Arizona State's guards didn't pass the ball well. The Sun Devils finished 12th in the Big 12 in assist percentage despite Quaintance being an excellent passing big, which speaks to how rough the offensive ball movement was as a whole.

Areas for improvement

• The big question for Quaintance is whether he's too far in-between positions at the four and the five. The answer is probably no, given his length. He should be able to play the five regularly, which is where his offensive game best profiles right now. But does he think that? He often tried to act as more of a four offensively at Arizona State. How his offensive role pans out in the NBA will be critical.
• There's a wide range of opinion on Quaintance after he missed most of this season. Teams are hopeful he'll be the same athlete he was before the ACL tear. But there is a degree of uncertainty after the year off.
• Not an explosive vertical athlete for a guy who is undersized. More of a long athlete as opposed to a bouncy one. Could hinder him as a rim protector if he ends up having to play center full-time against bigger, longer fives.
• Offensively, Quaintance is limited. That starts with his shooting ability. The jumper doesn't look terrible, and it could end up being an area for growth. However, his results were exceptionally poor as a freshman. He made just 47.9 percent from the free-throw line and 18.8 percent from 3. Also had some strange moments around the rim that made you question how soft his touch is.
• At the very least, Quaintance needs to improve from the foul line. He tends to straighten his legs too early and gets no involvement there. That makes the ball flatten out because his rhythm is all out of whack. The ball comes out in a flat trajectory, and his finish tends to be forward toward the rim. Also can take his guide hand off the ball too early, and the ball can drift on him. Needs to rep out the foul routine and get his lower half in sync with his upper half.
• Likes to take jumpers but is not very good at them. He made 14 of his 54 jump-shot attempts at Arizona State, including midrange shots. Even though the release comes out in one motion, he still looks stiff as he takes them. His jump-shot prep isn't good enough right now. Often seems to hesitate before taking them, as if shooting from distance isn't necessarily his first option. His base gets wide. It would help if he took them in rhythm. His lower half just does not look connected to his upper half.
• A good shooting coach could help iron this out, but has Quaintance proved to have enough touch to where it'll ever be a threat? I'm not convinced his jumper will ever get to a level that draws a closeout from a defender. He might be at his best in a movement-based offense where he plays in dribble handoffs, screens, rolls and quick decisions. He's young enough, though, to where it's worth continuing to see if he can develop the jumper.
• As a play finisher, Quaintance might be resigned to being an interior scorer. And if he is, will his lack of vertical pop come up as an issue in the NBA against bigger, longer players? That remains to be seen. Can he become a consistent double-figure scorer in the NBA? Or is he going to be the fifth offensive option on the court who moves, screens and passes, then sits in the dunker spot or rolls to the rim?
• He's a good ballhandler for a center but probably is not good enough as a ballhandler at the four if that's the position he wants to play long-term. Has tightness of handle and can string together moves. Can use hesitations into crossovers but doesn't tend to advance the ball. Guys stay in front of him. This part of his game would likely open if he could shoot it. But without that threat, it allows defenders to sit on the drive too easily.
• Not a shot creator out of the post, either. Wasn't efficient in his limited chances there on the block at Arizona State. Doesn't have particularly impressive moves. Not sure he's capable of isolating wings or bigs even to get to the rim. Can attack closeouts but doesn't create a ton of advantages.
• All this leads to him occasionally getting more invisible on offense than what you'd expect from a potential lottery pick. Will be helped by being in a situation with players who can pass and make plays. But he doesn't feel like a massive part of the offense all the time. Will need to make his mark on the defensive end first and foremost.
• By and large, I love Quaintance on defense. But he can get overaggressive and choose to make some wild reaches on the perimeter and take himself out of position. Can also be overaggressive on closeouts and close out onto shooters too heavily to try to swat or contest jumpers although, in the NBA, where denying the 3-point shot is so essential, that could be valuable. Still, he needs to better maintain his balance.

https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-wildcats/news/top-knee-doctor-confident-jayden-quaintances-injury-not-a-long-term-concern-but-clean-up-procedure-possible/

Quote:

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Dr. Riley Williams III head team physician and orthopedic surgeon for the Brooklyn Nets and famous for performing surgery on Paul George's gruesome open tibia-fibula fracture with USA Basketball in 2014 gave a second opinion on Quaintance's injured right knee that limited him to four games in Lexington and recommended a follow-up procedure that could keep him off the floor for six months. The 6-foot-11 prospect's ACL remains fully intact and his knee can be maintained at its current state, but a clean-up is preferred for a permanent resolution.

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Cave Johnson, CEO said:

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So where do we go from here for the rest of the draft and FA? Are we still looking for a more traditional PF and we need more shooting?

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We should spend our second rounders on 3&D guys and hope one hits.

Second round guys I like:

Isaiah Evans (D&3 wing from Duke)
Trevon Brazille PF that shoots from Arkansas
Izaiyah Nelson defensive PF and rebounder, not a shooter
Tyler Bilodeau 46% shooter at 6'7 228 from UCLA
Tyler Nickel - 40% shooter at 6'6 220lb from Vandy.
Ryan Conwell - D&3 guard, but 6'2 215lb
Henri Veesaar (D&3 center from UNC; was Carter Bryant's teammate at Zona)
Meleek Thomas - instant offense from Arkansas
Baba Miller - crazy athlete, may or may not be able to shoot
Richie Saunders. - BYU senior, so he is like 34 years old, but a shooter
Emanuel Sharp - Houston G. I think he is going to be a bit like Pat Bev. Small D&3 guy.

But I think we likely move out. We have our 3rd string center and our project already.