The San Antonio Spurs had a fairly quiet summer, at least externally. Harrison Barnes and Julian Champagnie were both re-signed, bolstering their depth. Victor Wembanyama signed a maximum contract extension, which was expected (although his pay cut wasn’t!).
The Spurs added Jayden Quaintance and Tarris Reed in the draft, although neither of them is expected to be a major impact player right away. They didn’t lose a single rotation player, and their biggest offseason addition was Tobias Harris.
Harris is one of the more underrated players in the NBA. He’s a capable defender and versatile scorer, and brings a steady, veteran presence to the starting lineup alongside De’Aaron Fox. On the floor, he’s expected to take the Spurs to the next level, perhaps solving one of their biggest issues.
Harris might be the difference between losing the NBA Finals and winning another banner, but their splashiest (and most overlooked?) move could kick off a dynasty.
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Spurs Shovel Praise on Billy Donovan
Billy Donovan spent the last six seasons as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, becoming a fixture of the NBA’s play-in tournament. While he never found major team success in the Windy City, he’s settled nicely into an assistant coaching role in San Antonio.
“He’s kicking his feet up and telling stories,” gushed Mitch Johnson. “He’s rolling his sleeves up and getting his hands dirty, so very, very honored and excited to have him here, and he’s going to help all of us and me probably specifically a ton this year.”
Donovan is a Hall of Fame coach, getting his NBA start with the OKC Thunder. Before that, he won two national titles while coaching the Florida Gators.
When he stepped down as the Bulls’ head coach, team ownership offered him a front office role, although he decided he wanted to remain on the sidelines and start fresh with a new team.
He’s already taking the young Spurs under his wing.
“I’ve had quite a few conversations with him since he’s been here so far, talking to him, picking his brain about guys he’s coached previously, what I need to do to just keep improving my game, just getting on the floor and just expanding my game as a whole, where he sees me, where he thinks I can do better, where he thinks I could be of use to better our team, and just talking to him, man-to-man, just learning from him, picking his brain on and off the floor,” said Carter Bryant.
Donovan hasn’t been an assistant coach since 1994, when he was on Rick Pitino’s staff at Kentucky. He helped turn Al Horford and Joakim Noah into blue-chip NBA talents.
The Spurs are hoping that in a reduced role, Donovan can get back to what he’s best at: turning raw, promising players into capable or elite starters. Seeing him work closely with Bryant is a great sign.
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