In Spurscast episode 671, Spurscast host Paul Garcia and Project Spurs director of digital content Joe Garcia discuss:
- The Spurs’ Starting Five for the Regular Season
- The second unit for the Spurs
- The end of the bench for the Spurs
- Who is most likely to get waived before the season begins
The Starting Five
After five preseason games, the San Antonio Spurs starting five is set with Tre Jones at the point, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson on the wings, and rookie Jeremy Sochan at the power forward spot. According to Head Coach Gregg Popovich, Jakob Poeltl is the center, though his position was solidified even before the preseason began.
While the Spurs’ new starting five doesn’t have a lot of shooting from three aside from Vassell and Johnson, they have more length and versatility on the defensive end, being able to switch 1-4 and having Poeltl as the anchor near the rim.
Poeltl before the game on the Spurs being able to switch with their new starting 5: “That’s a good thing to have, Keldon was guarding 4s for the most part last year anyway. Sochan’s very versatile, like I said, he can switch onto a 5 and hold his own.”
— Paul Garcia (@PaulGarciaNBA) October 14, 2022
The Second Unit
The second unit off the bench will likely be Josh Primo, Josh Richardson, and Doug McDermott as scoring sparks off the bench, Keita Bates-Diop or Isaiah Roby at the forward spot with their defensive versatility, and Zach Collins as the backup center.
In Case of a Blowout or Injury
In the event a game is out of hand for the Spurs or their opponents, or if a player gets injured, rookies Blake Wesley and Malaki Branham are available to play, as is veteran center Gorgui Dieng.
The Spurs are going to have to waive two players before Monday and while training camp invites Alize Johnson is probably one of those players, it’s unknown if Joe Wieskamp or Romeo Langford will be the other player who gets waived.
Headed to Austin once G-League Play Begins
Coach Popovich has already said once the G-League season begins, Dominick Barlow will play most of his minutes there. Jordan Hall, who is also on a two-way contract, will also see most of his minutes in the G-League.
Pregame, Pop said the plan is for Dominick Barlow to get most of his mins in Austin: “He’s at the beginning. He’ll spend some time in the G-League and play lots of minutes. If he was with us right now, he’s not going to get on the court that much which doesn't help him develop"
— Paul Garcia (@PaulGarciaNBA) October 14, 2022
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