What GM Brian Wright's Draft Picks (And Words) Say About How Spurs Build Around Wembanyama

"You can see we had a type," Wright said after the first round, as he works methodically to turn San Antonio from a contender to a champion.

Jun 24, 2023; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs general manager Brian Wright speaks at a press conference at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

SAN ANTONIO -- For the first time in his seven-year tenure, Spurs General Manager Brian Wright went into draft night without a lottery pick.

After selecting Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper in the top four in consecutive drafts, it should be the first of many where Wright has to look for diamonds in the rough outside the top 15. He came out of this one with a good variety of players who seem to fit the culture in San Antonio and fill some gaps that got exposed at the end of this talented young team's run to the NBA Finals.

"We're excited tonight to get a couple guys that we think can really help our team now and also into the future," Wright said after his war room selected Jayden Quaintance at 20 and then moved up for another first-rounder to grab Tarris Reed Jr. at 26.

The non-Wemby minutes became a storyline of the playoffs, and while Luke Kornet still figures to be the main backup next season, Wright used the first round to add over 500 pounds of beef to the mix in the frontcourt.

"You can see we had a type, we added a couple of big bodies, physical, athletic," Wright said. "Different profiles... one being younger with huge upside, and obviously one being a little bit older, we've seen develop, we also think with a really good upside, so we're excited to add both young men to the program and continue to build from here."

Apr 6, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Michigan Wolverines forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) shoots against Connecticut Huskies forward Tarris Reed Jr. (5) in the second half during the national championship of the Final Four of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Both of these guys bring NBA-ready bodies and a focus on cleaning the glass and protecting the paint. They're big and strong but quick and nimble, and all of that combined gives them a good chance of contributing in the ultra-physical world of playoff basketball.

"I think both guys that we added tonight do that," Wright said. "I talked about rim protection, I talked about rebounding. We're a fast-paced, fast-playing team, and in order to do that you got to get stops, you gotta rebound, you gotta protect the rim, play off your defense, and we think both in a variety of different ways and different coverages help us do that."

Kentucky Wildcats forward Jayden Quaintance (21) slams home two as the Wildcats face the Bellarmine Knights at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky on Dec. 23, 2025. | Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the second round, the Spurs picked up two more 22-year-olds who fit that mold. Ja'Kobi Gillespie is a guard out of Tennessee who brings shooting, playmaking and pesky defense. Two picks later they grabbed Duke's Maliq Brown, a 6-foot-9 power forward with great hands who was one of the best defenders in college basketball last year.

At 18, Quaintance is one of the youngest and most athletic players in the draft. After two years at Michigan and two more at UConn, Reed is one of the oldest and most polished. A lot of teams would shy away from selecting a kid with injury concerns or a four-year college player with seemingly less room to grow into a star, but the Spurs are one of the few teams that could be comfortable spending a first-round pick on either of them. It makes even more sense that they got both ends of the spectrum.

Taking a risk on a developmental prospect and then hedging with a high-floor guy at the same position a few picks later is something the Spurs have done before. Just before RC Buford handed the reins over to Wright, he used the 19th pick of the 2019 draft to take Luka Samanic, a 6-foot-11 wing who could have been special if he put it all together. With the 29th pick acquired in the Kawhi Leonard deal, they grabbed Keldon Johnson out of Kentucky.

Jun 20, 2019; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Keldon Johnson (Kentucky) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-nine overall pick to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The developmental prospect in that case didn't pan out, to the point that he got cut after a preseason game just two full seasons after he got drafted. The high-floor guy just won Sixth Man of the Year, and is the only player in San Antonio who wasn't acquired in some way by Brian Wright's front office.

It's impossible to tell on draft night how these things will go. It's like stepping up to the plate, swinging for power or for contact, and not knowing if it was a home run or a strikeout or somewhere in between until years later.

By taking both Quaintance and Reed, the Spurs got themselves a lottery ticket and a stable investment with reliable dividends and reasonable potential to grow.

Quaintance had top-5 buzz coming into his sophomore season, but only played four games for Kentucky due to swelling in his right knee after he tore his ACL and meniscus in 2025. After he was drafted, Quaintance said that his knee will likely need an additional cleanup surgery. That was news to fans and the media, but probably not to a Spurs team that did extensive work to evaluate him as a player, person, and patient.

"He came in and visited, so our doctors have spent some time, but we'll get the people much smarter than us to take a look and come up with the best plan for him, and if [surgery] is the best plan for him, then we will do that and take a very long-term approach," Wright said. "He's got tremendous, tremendous talent, and unfortunately that was cut short a little bit due to injury, but you know, had it not been, maybe we don't have the opportunity to draft him. We do our due diligence to the best of our ability, and we feel good about where he is."

If Quaintance can eventually return to the court without swelling and pain in that knee, he'll be a defensive wrecking ball with an insane wingspan and the ability to block everything on one end and dunk everything on the other. Put him next to Wemby and any of the talented guards on this team and you're cooking with gas defensively. If he manages to succeed in his stated goal of becoming a much better shooter, the gas is on fire, the court is on fire, everything is on fire.

"Obviously, I didn't get to show everything I could do as much as I wanted to last year," he said. "A lot of people picked over me, I didn't get to show that I could go and be one of those top guys. So, again, just getting to see which squad picked me, and get to prove that I belong, and get to be one of those top guys, prove that I should have been higher and just make a point to all the teams that passed up on me."

Feb 1, 2025; Tempe, Ariz., U.S.; Arizona State Sun Devils forward Jayden Quaintance (21) dunks the ball over Arizona Wildcats forward Henri Veesaar (13) during a Big 12 menÕs basketball game at Desert Financial Arena. | Cheryl Evans/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Spurs can afford to be patient with Quaintance's recovery and development, partially because they have a great team already and additionally because they grabbed a guy in Reed who can immediately come into the NBA and contribute in his role. Wright said that they try to look at every player as an individual in a vacuum, but it's probably not an accident how different these two are as prospects.

"In the draft, you try not to look at fitting the roster and trying to do things for the now, but it is an added benefit that Tarris has experience," Wright said. "He comes from a very great program, playing for Coach Hurley. We had a little luck there, taking somebody from that program once before, and so we felt very comfortable that if needed he can come in and provide some help."

Mar 21, 2025; Raleigh, NC, USA; Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley with center Tarris Reed Jr. (5) during the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

In his senior year, Reed became a force that helped drive UConn to the national championship game against Michigan. He had a tournament game with 31 points and 27 rebounds. At the next level he projects as a dirty work guy who cleans the glass, screens and rolls, finishes inside and blocks shots but there are layers to his game. His footwork in the post is impressive. He can defend smaller guys in space. He's a willing and creative passer. He thinks the game at a high level, and demands a lot of himself.

When he gets all those rebounds it's not just because he's a big guy with a 9-foot-1 standing reach; it's because he knows where to go before the ball hits the rim. In a pre-draft film session with No Ceilings, Reed broke down the nuances of his game in great detail and revealed that he's studied the most likely landing spots for missed shots based on where the shots are taken.

"Some great rebounders say watch the ball," he said. "I'm not really a 'watch the ball' type of guy, I'm more like, 'Where is the ball being shot? Where are my guys? What do the analytics say is gonna happen with this shot?' Definitely the corner shots, always try to go opposite... when the ball is shot from the corner you at least want to get inside position."

The way Reed talks about tactics, it's clear that he already has a Ph.D in basketball and won't need a ton of instruction on theory.

Reed is a bookworm who is excited to dig into a copy of Art of War that he got as a gift. Quaintance is reportedly more into manga and chess, so he and Wemby will have plenty to talk about.

"Being able to spend time with both and doing your homework, you get to know some of the things that guys are into, hobbies, see how they fit in the locker room," Wright said. "We were fortunate some of our players had actually played with Jayden, so I got to pick their brain a little bit. They've interacted with him and know him. He likes chess, so we'll see if we have a little match up with him and Vic."

Asked why he likes chess as a way to test his mind, Quaintance gave an answer wise beyond his years.

“They say it's like almost an infinite amount of different positions, you never have the same game twice, which is sort of like basketball," he said. "You have to be adaptable, you have to be able to adapt to different situations and be pliable.”

While Quaintance focuses on becoming more adaptable on the court and on the board, Brian Wright remains adaptable in the board room. He took over a team that needed to go down before they came back up, and operated like a fiduciary who had an obligation to bring in as many future-focused assets as possible. The team bottomed out at just the right time and hit the lottery of all lotteries with Wembanyama, and when they did Wright had the assets, the vision, and the measured approach to build a true contender in just Wemby's third year.

Jun 5, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) and guard Stephon Castle (5) and guard De'aaron Fox (4) and forward Victor Wembanyama (1) and guard Dylan Harper (2) walk back on the court in the fourth quarter during game two of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

It was an incredibly easy call to take Wembanyama first overall, and not much harder to take Castle and Harper. The harder part was building slowly, adding veteran mentors like Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes instead of trading Castle or Harper and a bunch of picks for Giannis Antetokounmpo or someone else. The vision is to build a title window that lasts for a decade or more, and the only way to do that is by taking a measured approach with the accumulated assets.

Even with that being the case, Wright was able to build a team that could've won a championship a few weeks ago, well ahead of the schedules others had set for this team.

"You guys got all these schedules that we never get," Wright joked with the media on draft night. "So the next schedule that you guys come up with, send it to me so we know."

The talent was ahead of schedule, but so was the chemistry. All season, up and down the roster, players sacrificed individual achievement for team success.

"I think all the credit for that goes to those individuals in the locker room," Wright said. "It's our job to continue to try to do the work to find the right type of person and player, and it's their job to take a mature, professional approach, an unselfish approach, an approach that's led by a bigger picture and a goal, and how they come together, and those guys to a man in that locker room all accepted and embraced togetherness and a bond, and doing it for one another more so than themselves."

That bond is something that Wright wants to strengthen by providing support and stability. After falling short in the Finals some fans want to see coach Mitch Johnson fired, or star point guard De'Aaron Fox traded, but Wright voiced his belief in both of them. While other teams may feel pressure to make a huge trade to move the needle, Wright and the Spurs will probably just keep their feet on the gas and trust this thing they built to stay together and keep accelerating in the right direction.

"There's a lot of noise oftentimes that happens around the game," he said. "The NBA is an amazing sport. It's a big spectacle. We've been on the biggest stage, and those guys never falter. They're always together, they're always rooting for one another. I've been in NBA a little bit, and it's not something you see all the time. When you have it, you have to foster it, you have to encourage it, and I know they all believe that was a huge part of why we had the success that we did."

It's rare that patience leads to fairly immediate success, but with this collection of basketball talent and genuine camaraderie it's not exactly surprising.

"It's a great group, we've got a lot of that group coming back, and so we'll continue to do our due diligence, but we believe in the team that we had. We believe that we were there for a reason," Wright said. "We do feel like we have something that can continue to be good. You're not promised anything, you're not guaranteed anything, but I know the group that we have is committed to doing the work and staying together, and that's what we do."