The San Antonio Spurs have played games without Devin Vassell, Tre Jones, Jeremy Sochan, and even coach Gregg Popovich. With three key players out, it could be weeks for the Spurs to have a full lineup, though Vassell will soon return.
In the meantime, the Spurs have made do by playing rookie Stephon Castle in the starting lineup, getting him more minutes. It’s tough enough to get wins, but putting Julian Champagnie and Castle in to hold it down until they get Vassell back has depleted their bench and led to bigger questions about the lineup when everyone is fully healthy.
The Spurs have struggled to balance a much-improved defense with scoring, and their lack of shooting has been a major problem. Through their first nine games, the Spurs rank just 24th in three-point percentage, and it’s clear to see why.
Last night’s game aside, they have at least five players who are either below-average or low-volume three-point shooters who play regular minutes. Creating the optimal lineup will be challenging and made more challenging by Pop’s absence, which will hopefully be short.
When San Antonio has a full deck, the Spurs should have a 10-man rotation with Chris Paul, Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Sochan, and Wembanyama starting. Additionally, the bench should consist of Jones, Castle, Keldon Johnson, Harrison Barnes, and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
That would leave Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley, and Zach Collins on the outside looking in of the rotation, but it may be for the best. The Spurs bench doesn’t have much shooting, and while Collins has shot it well to start the season, he doesn’t fit as well as Mamu does offensively.
San Antonio tends to play Wembanyama with the second unit, and Mamu has played well alongside him without costing them spacing. The Spurs can also play Barnes beside Wemby, breaking up the Sochan-Wembanyama pairing that has struggled offensively together.
Keeping a spaced floor around their best player is key to the team improving their offense, as well as Wembanyama finding his footing on that end. Meanwhile, the team has enough good defenders to surround him, ensuring their defense isn’t a fluke.
They will even have depth with Wesley being able to fill in for Paul when he DNP’s, the same going for Branham and Vassell or Collins and Wemby. Therefore, Paul, Vassell, Champagnie, Sochan, and Wembanyama, plus Jones, Castle, Johnson, Barnes, and Mamu, should be the team’s lineup when everyone is healthy.
