As the NBA season is officially well underway, the NBA G League season is coming together quickly. In just over a week, the 30 teams prepare to compete for the 2022 Showcase Cup. With the conclusion of last week’s G League draft, the teams entered training camp this week with nearly 14 days to determine their rosters for the winter tournament. On Monday, the 2022 Austin Spurs training camp roster was released. It featured a few names that San Antonio fans are familiar with, but a lot of new ones as well.
Last season, Austin finished at the bottom of the Western Conference at 13-19. The only holdovers from last year’s unit on the training camp roster are small forwards Denzel Mahoney and Jordan Murphy. They both factored in contributing roles in 2021. The staff will evaluate them along with recent San Antonio roster cuts Alize Johnson, Jalen Adaway, Tommy Kuhse, and Chaundee Brown Jr. Of course, two-way contract forward Dominick Barlow will see a lot of opportunities in the 5-1-2 as well. The team will also have its newly signed center, Charles Bassey, who is on a two-way contract as well. Rosters are limited to 10 players, not including two-way players.
2022 Austin Spurs Training Camp Roster Breakdown
*Denotes two-way contract player
Guards: Jalen Adaway, Jordan Goldwire, Justin Kier, Tommy Kuhse, Xavier Smith
San Antonio is pretty set at the guard position. Still, the organization seems intrigued by the prospects of Adaway and Kuhse who the Spurs had signed in the preseason. Trimming the roster to 17 for the regular season, Kuhse was released in the final cuts after making a pair of appearances against the New Orleans Pelicans and the Orlando Magic, averaging six points. Adaway never saw the floor, but is an intriguing player. At 6’5”, he has the length at the position that the Spurs like. After starting his collegiate career at Miami University (OH), Adaway transferred to St. Bonaventure where he averaged 14 points per game, scoring well inside and out.
Justin Kier is another tall guard at 6’4” and was Austin’s only selection made in last week’s G League draft, taken with the seventh pick in the second round. He flashed potential in his early years at George Mason, but a stress fracture in his foot in 2019 seemed to interrupt his momentum. Xavier Smith is a small-school product who shined at Central Washington as a scoring guard.
Perhaps the most interesting of this group, however, is Jordan Goldwire. Before transferring to Oklahoma for his last year of college to be a starter, he played at Duke. In the 2020-2021 season, he earned All-ACC Defensive Team honors. A crafty ball thief, he recorded at or near 50 steals in his last three seasons. In the 2019-2020 season, he was named team Co-Defensive Player of the Year at Duke, sharing the designation with current San Antonio starting point guard Tre Jones.
Forwards: Alphonso Anderson, Dominick Barlow*, Chaundee Brown Jr, Alize Johnson, Denzel Mahoney, Jordan Murphy
The Spurs seem to have found a stud at power forward in Jeremy Sochan, the organization’s top pick this summer. Still, they are looking for depth at the position and could be looking to develop some in Austin. On a two-way contract, only Barlow will likely get an opportunity to help San Antonio in the present. Between the summer and last year’s Austin roster, the staff appears to have liked what they’ve seen from Alize Johnson, Mahoney, and Murphy to have them on the training camp roster.
Brown is an interesting talent that the Spurs wanted to make sure they landed an extended opportunity to check out. First, they traded the returning player rights to Galen Robinson Jr. to the South Bay Lakers for Brown’s returning rights. San Antonio then briefly signed and released him as well, further cementing their hold on him. Brown had stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks last season.
Alphonso Anderson is a floor-spacing forward, a valuable position in today’s league. He had a strong season with the University of the Pacific Tigers after previously playing at Utah State. Averaging 12 points and six rebounds per game, he played well against premier programs USC and Gonzaga.
Centers: Charles Bassey* and Stephen Zimmerman
Bassey is the most recent addition to the Spurs organization, signing a two-way contract on Monday. The move meant the release of forward Jordan Hall and brings Bassey back to Central Texas where the 6’11” center shined at St. Anthony Catholic High School in San Antonio. He played in 23 games for the Philadelphia 76ers last year after the team selected him in the 2021 NBA Draft. Bassey was a double-double averaging block machine in his three seasons at Western Kentucky and could be playing in the Alamo City again soon this time with the Spurs.
Stephen Zimmerman is a true seven-footer, who has had stints with the Lakers, Pelicans, Knicks, and Magic organizations since turning pro in 2016. In the last two seasons, however, he has played abroad, most recently in Australia. Zimmerman had his best stat line in years last season, averaging 11 points and nine rebounds per game.
How to Watch the Austin Spurs
The 2022 Showcase Cup begins on November 4th, the day after rosters are finalized. Austin opens the 16-game tournament with back-to-back games against the Texas Legends inside the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. If they qualify, the Spurs will have a chance to compete at the G League Winter Showcase from December 19-22 for the Showcase Cup. The 32-game regular season will begin on December 27, 2022, and Austin’s opener will be on December 29th as they host the Oklahoma City Blue.
Austin Spurs games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and NBA TV throughout the 2022-2023 season.
