What to watch for on the Spurs Summer League team

07/03/2024 12:56 PM

There are plenty of storylines to follow with this year's summer Spurs.

It's been nearly three months since the San Antonio Spurs have suited up to play organized basketball. Suddenly, it's become a busy summer for the team. Victor Wembanyama, Jeremy Sochan and Sandro Mamukelashvili are playing internationally to prepare or make the final cut for the Paris Olympics. Now the younger Spurs are practicing for their summer schedule. The Spurs Summer League team will head to Sacramento on July 6th for their first game, against the Charlotte Hornets.

Summer League is a time for opportunity, whether it's rookies looking to make a good first impression, undrafted guys fighting to make a roster or veterans looking for a second chance. The Spurs roster has plenty of intrigue and stories to pay attention to. All eyes will likely be on their first-round draft pick, Stephon Castle. Here are a few other storylines to look out for.

Kenny Trevino gets a shot

San Antonio's summer team will be led by first-time coach, Kenny Trevino. It is not his first role within the organization. Trevino started as a Spurs' ball boy when he was 11-years-old. Flash forward 20 years, and Trevino is now the team's video coordinator. His ultimate goal is to become a head coach, this summer will be his first chance to show what he's got.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Trevino cited Utah Jazz head coach, Will Hardy, as an inspiration for his path. Hardy went from the video room to an assistant coach with San Antonio before getting his first head coaching gig. Trevino is a name to watch this summer and going forward in the Spurs coaching ranks.

Spurs rookies debut

Harrison Ingram and Castle will don the Silver and Black for the first time in the Summer League. Both players should have ample opportunities to show what they've got in Sacramento and Las Vegas.

Watch how the Spurs use Castle this summer. Giving him some pick-and-roll reps to get ready to take on more ball-handling responsibilities at the NBA level makes sense. Castle's poise running an offense and ability to create his own shot are skills to watch. His three-point shooting is perhaps his biggest question mark, as the former UCONN guard shot under 30% from deep last season. Knocking down a three or two would surely make the Spurs coaching staff happy.

Ingram has stiff competition to crack San Antonio's rotation this season. The Summer League is his first opportunity to make a good impression. Ingram is a three-and-D player who can play inside and out. Bringing elite effort and knocking down shots will do him favors with the staff, and would build good momentum heading into training camp.

Familiar faces return

Last summer, Julian Champagnie, Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley had strong summers that led to rotation minutes during the regular season. This year, San Antonio will have a few second and third-year players looking to do the same.

Chief among them is Sidy Cissoko, who told the press he's fully recovered from a knee injury that hampered him last season. He also claimed he lost 20 pounds since the regular season. An agile and strong Cissoko could be a disruptive defensive force for the Spurs this summer. Questions remain on his offensive game. Cissoko will need to provide some playmaking and signs that his jumper is improving.

San Antonio is bringing four players who spent time on a two-way contract last season. David Duke Jr., Seth Millner Jr., RaiQuan Gray and Jamaree Bouyea will suit up for the summer Spurs. Duke Jr. was recently made a restricted free agent by the Spurs, who value what he brings defensively. Millner Jr. has a sweet stroke from three, Gray is a bully inside and Bouyea is an undersized guard who gets buckets. All of them spent time with the Austin Spurs last season.

Undrafted rookies looking for a spot

Last season the Spurs gave two-way deals to undrafted rookies like Sir'Jabari Rice. This year's crop of undrafted rookies have a chance to stick with the Spurs if they have a solid summer. A few names to watch include DJ Horne, Riley Minix, Jameer Nelson Jr. and Darin Green Jr.

Basketball fans will likely recognize Horne from the NC State team that made the Final Four. Horne is a scoring guard who averaged 16.9 points while shooting 40.4% from deep in his fifth college season. He's an exciting player to watch who has the potential to fill it up this summer.

Minix is another highly productive college player who had 27 points in his lone NCAA Tournament game last year. Minix played just one year of D1 hoops at Morehead State after four years at an NAIA school, Southeastern University. Despite being 6-foot-7, Minix is a dominant back-to-the-basket post player. He averaged 20.9 points and 9.7 rebounds last year while shooting 34.9% from deep.

Nelson Jr. is the son of former NBA point guard, Jameer Nelson. He was a solid guard for a TCU squad that made the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 11.2 points and 3.3 assists last season. Darin Green Jr. was a knockdown shooter for Florida State last season. He hit 41.7% of his threes.

Don't be surprised if one of these players breaks out and earns themselves a spot in San Antonio or Austin.