State of the Spurs: Breaking Down San Antonio's Roster Ahead of Pivotal Offseason

SAN ANTONIO — Eleven days ago, the San Antonio Spurs played the final game of their 2025-26 season. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they welcomed the freshest faces of 2026-27.

With the No. 20 pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Spurs selected Kentucky center Jayden Quaintance before completing a surprise trade with the Denver Nuggets to move up and select UConn's Tarris Reed Jr. with pick No. 26 to round out Day 1 of selections.

In Round 2, the Spurs added Tennessee guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie with pick No. 42 and Duke wing Maliq Brown with pick No. 44, completeing a four-player rookie class.

Gillespie averaged 18.4 points and 5.4 rebounds on 41 percent shooting for the Volunteers last season; Brown logged 4.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game for the Blue Devils.

Quaintance suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee in February 2025, which cut short his tenure at Arizona State. The center transferred after his surgery and recovered in time to make his Kentucky debut on Dec. 20, but was ruled out again four games later and missed the remainder of his second collegiate season before declaring for the draft.

The rookie admitted to reporters on Zoom after his selection that he still has another surgery planned to "clean up" his meniscus. His recovery timeline remains unclear.

"Still a little pain," Quaintance said, "(but) feeling better. Pushing toward improving."

Jan 7, 2026; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Jayden Quaintance (21) reacts during the second half against the Missouri Tigers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

In his limited run time last season, Quaintance averaged five points and five rebounds on 57 percent shooting from the field. During his freshman year with the Sun Devils, he averaged 2.6 blocks and 1.1 steals and earned a spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive team.

After spending two seasons with the Michigan Wolverines, Reed transferred to join a UConn squad fresh off its 2024 title run. In his second and last season with the Huskies, Reed averaged 14.7 points, nine rebounds and two blocks on 60 percent shooting from the field.

Reed, like his counterpart, stands 6-foot-10 with a wingspan over 7 feet. Both players weigh in at 250 pounds or heavier, giving the Spurs substantial size in units without Wembanyama or Luke Kornet. The pair of rookies now join a talented frontcourt behind the Frenchman.

"I'm excited to get to work," Reed said. "Just being able to use my strength, my size, my physicality to help this team as much as I can ... (and) keep the momentum going."

With Quaintance and Reed joining the fold, the Spurs now have a clearer idea of what their roster will look like next season in pursuit of another NBA Finals berth.

Ahead of a pivotal offseason, here is Spurs On SI's "State of the Spurs":

The Guarantees

San Antonio has 13 players currently on guaranteed contracts for 2026-27, including Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, whose team options were exercised back in October after the conclusion of the team's five-game preseason slate.

The Spurs' full list of guaranteed players for next season are as follows:

Victor Wembanyama (Year 4)
Dylan Harper (Year 2)
Stephon Castle (Year 3)
De'Aaron Fox (Year 10)
Devin Vassell (Year 7)
Julian Champagnie (Year 5)
Keldon Johnson (Year 8)
Luke Kornet (Year 11)
Tobias Harris (Year 16)
Carter Bryant (Year 2)
Harrison Barnes (Year 15)
Jayden Quaintance (Year 1)
Tarris Reed Jr. (Year 1)

With the addition of Quaintance and Reed, the Spurs now have three open regular season roster spots and two two-way contracts. Up until the day before the regular season, three additional spots are available to be filled by players on training camp/10-day contracts.

Quaintance's contract, using this season's rookie scale figures, will be worth ~$3.9 million in Year 1 and will include team options for Years 3 and 4. Reed's will begin at ~$3 million.

Champagnie, who entered draft night as the only player on the roster with an outstanding team option worth $3 million, came to terms with San Antonio on a three-year deal worth $45 million beginning in 2026-27. It will likely include more money in Year 1 than Year 2, but the exact breakdown has not been disclosed by the team.

Similarly, Barnes agreed to return to San Antonio on a one-year deal worth $8 million, becoming the first of the team's free agents to return for another season. His deal keeps the Spurs' available cap exceptions intact; the forward was eligible to re-sign on bird rights.

Perhaps the only other true guarantee? Mitch Johnson will return for his second season as the Spurs' full-time head coach after officially taking over for Gregg Popovich in 2025.

The Expected

Most of Johnson's staff, beyond Sean Sweeney, is returning for the 2026-27 season. After Sweeney departed for the Orlando Magic, the Spurs hired veteran coach Billy Donovan, who recently finished a six-year tenure with the Chicago Bulls, as their lead assistant coach.

Of San Antonio's eight impending free agents, a few of them are primed to return in similar capacities. David Jones Garcia, after undergoing successful right ankle surgery in January, has returned to on-court activities in anticipation of a 2026-27 return.

Jones Garcia is a strong candidate to return on a two-way contract in his second season. Harrison Ingram, who the Spurs selected in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, is ineligible to return on a two-way contract, meanwhile; he would have to return in standard capacity.

Per Spotrac, Jones Garcia and Ingram were tendered their respective qualifying offers on June 29, making them both restricted free agents this offseason.

Here’s #Spurs two-way guard David Jones Garcia getting shots up, five months removed from right ankle surgery. #PorVida pic.twitter.com/VdaW0TmjvT
— Matt Guzman (@mattgzman) June 8, 2026

The Spurs also have another expected financial move regarding Wembanyama. Their 7-foot-4 big man is due for the first new contract of his career.

Wembanyama's expected extension can be worth up to $301 million over five years with a starting salary around $50 million beginning in 2027-28. The Frenchman will need to be named to one of the league's three All-NBA teams, win Defensive Player of the Year or MVP.

When the deal is announced, it will be a rookie max extension worth ~$251 million (25 percent of the salary cap) over five years. If Wembanyama hits his escalators, it’ll increase to the higher figure (30 percent of the salary cap). He can sign the deal as early as July 1.

Two other Spurs who either are/will be extension eligible before the start of the regular season are Keldon Johnson and Vassell. The latter must wait until Oct. 1 to sign anything.

The Unknown

The rest of the Spurs' pending free agents are listed below:

Kelly Olynyk (Year 14)
Jordan McLaughlin (Year 8)
Lindy Waters III (Year 6)
Mason Plumlee (Year 14)
Bismack Biyombo (Year 16)
David Jones Garcia (Year 2)*
Harrison Ingram (Year 3)*

*David Jones Garcia and Harrison Ingram are set to become restricted free agents.

Outside of Barnes, who still averaged close to nine minutes per game in the playoffs after Champagnie entered the starting lineup at the end of January, the bottom five Spurs free agents hardly logged time with the club once the postseason began.

San Antonio has maintained its positive stance on both Biyombo, who it sees as a strong locker room presence, and McLaughlin, who provided reliable injury insurance behind Fox, Harper and Castle. The rest of the list may not return after a short stint in South Texas.

The Spurs signed Tobias Harris to a two-year, $31 million contract to bolster their wing depth and 3-point shooting. The 16-year veteran shot 38 percent from 3 last season for the Detroit Pistons and played a large role in them earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

After Day 2 of the draft, the Spurs locked down a few more players for their Summer League roster in Brown and Gillespie. Emanuel Miller currently holds one of three available two-way contracts, but it remains unclear if he will keep his spot. Between Jones Garcia, Miller, Brown, Gillespie and the rest of the summer roster, space will be tight.

By signing Harris using the full NTPMLE, the Spurs are now hard-capped at the first apron. Their total payroll for next season currently sits at ~$195,142,246.

Using that figure, they're $5,285,754 below the tax and $13,872,754 below the first apron.

What's Next?

Now that the Spurs have handed current assistant coach Corliss Williamson the keys to their Summer League squad, the team is set to embark on a West Coast voyage to San Francisco and Las Vegas for the California Classic and NBA Summer League 2026.

From there, the lull of the offseason will commence until the end of September, when Media Day and training camp begin. At that point, the Spurs will have a chance to defend their title as the Western Conference champions and chase their sixth Larry O'Brien trophy.

Before then, they'll finalize a regular season roster with new faces and several familiar ones and prepare to play another 100-plus games next season.

"I've always said the guys on the court will dictate how fast we go," Wright said. "They drove really fast this year ... and we're proud of that. It was obviously a great season. A lot to learn and grow from. I know the guys will take that into the summer and continue to improve."

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