The San Antonio Spurs are 9-2 heading into Wednesday’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls, and are fully expected to be the second team in the NBA to reach 10 wins, behind only the Los Angeles Lakers.
On offense, Luka Doncic is very clearly the best player in the NBA, with his stellar play pushing Los Angeles to the top of the Western Conference. Victor Wembanyama, though, is the best and most complete player in the NBA, averaging 25 points while being perhaps the single most dominant defender the league has ever seen.
That’s not to discredit the rest of the Spurs. After some growing pains early on, the three-guard starting lineup ranks among the best in the NBA, and the bench overcame some struggles and now ranks 18th in the NBA in net rating, generally holding onto the leads the starters build.
Their biggest strength as a unit is their rebounding. Wembanyama leads the way, of course, but De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper can get into the paint with the best of them. Keldon Johnson, Julian Champoagnie, and Devin Vassell aren’t too shabby, either.
In limited action thus far, rookie Tarris Reed Jr. fits right in.
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Tarris Reed Jr. Fits With Spurs’ Mentality
The Spurs, for the second year in a row, rank second in rebounds per game. For the most part, Reed has been relegated to garbage time, although he’s managed to snag an impressive 3.1 boards per game, or 19.3 per 36 minutes.
Per 36 is an imperfect measurement, but it’s impressive nonetheless.
As Reed stands out, Luke Kornet’s struggles have been amplified. Of the Spurs rotation players, Kornet is ahead of only Keldon Johnson and Carter Bryant in box plus/minus, sitting at -0.6. He is also much less effective on the boards than Reed, and doesn’t have the put-back ability that makes Reed an effective scorer.
So far, there’s no discernible plan for Reed to get more minutes, but if he does, he’d improve their already-great rebounding and fix their bench troubles, especially down low.
“It’s probably not enough, unfortunately,” said Mitch Johnson of Reed’s playing time. “It’s one of those things. He’s a young man who’s chopping at the bit, and he probably wishes he was playing more, and he’s done a good job with limited opportunities. We just have to continue to find ways to be creative in his development.”
In the past, Johnson said that there “aren’t enough minutes to go around.” As Reed thrives in garbage time, especially on the glass, his tune has started to change.
As the Spurs look to find a sustainable rotation that they can rely on deep into the playoffs, don’t be shocked if Reed’s number starts to get called more and more.
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